4 15 amp sockets on school lighting rig not working with lighting boar

[Knatchbull]

Dear experts and enthusiasts in all things lighting

I wonder if anyone out there has a suggestion for what could be wrong with our lighting system at school. The 15 amp Sockets 1 to 4 on our internally wired lighting bars do not come up on the lighting board, despite power going to the sockets (caretaker, a trained electrician tested them). We have tested different lights in the sockets, all of which were working on the other sockets. The caretaker thinks the issue is with the dimmer.

 

We have a 12 way Anytronics Contractor dimmer. On the documentation it says if phases on the dimmer stop working (in this case channels 1-4) then the channels will stop working. The four lights on the dimmer that are supposed to be lit indicating this phase are all off. Is this issue? How do I best go fixing this?

Many thanks in advance.

 

[GridGirl]

It sounds like your dimmer has lost one phase of power (presuming it’s three phase). It could be a problem with the supply coming into the dimmer, or it could be an issue within the dimmer. It looks like it’s a model which is hardwired in, correct? If so, I’d be calling Anytronics - you’ll probably need a service tech to come to site and have a look at it I would suspect.

[Junior8]

Get a trained specialist electrician in. You are not qualified to begin to deal with this. It is a fixed installation.

 

Edit - Sorry GG I didn't note your post.

 

This is why I have always argued strongly against hard wired dimmer installations in school and community settings. It is almost impossible for the amateur to fault find let alone repair and anyway you will struggle to get yourself out of trouble if let down on show day. With a basic 15amp tail patch system you could in extremis bring in a few mini packs plug them into the 13 amp sockets and busk. I used to have shouting matches with salespeople about this.

Edited July 21, 2020 by Junior8

[Gerry]

.... despite power going to the sockets (caretaker, a trained electrician tested them). We have tested different lights in the sockets.....

How did he test the hardwired sockets to determine that there was power going to them?

If there was power going to them then when a light was plugged in it should work.

Cheers

Gerry

[adam2]

Ask a suitably experienced person to check the power supply into the dimmer, this may be a three phase supply with only two phases working and one phase not. There may be a blown fuse or defective connection, a suitably experienced person can then either correct this or send for an electrician. There is no point in calling a dimmer service technician if the fault is in the power supply into the dimmer. I would suggest that the experienced person should use an approved type of test lamp and not a test meter. High impedance meters can give misleading results.

 

If all three phases are present into the dimmer, then double check that there is still no output on 4 circuits. Are there any intermediate plugs and sockets between the dimmers and the lanterns ? that could be accidently unplugged ? Are there fuses on the dimmer ? double check that these are sound, by testing or by swapping them for the fuses in working channels. Make certain that the fuses are the correct sort.

 

If none of the above, then yes call a dimmer service company.

 

 

 

[TomHoward]

When you say “don’t come up on the lighting board”, are you familiar with the patching on the board - this couldn’t be a patch issue?

[Brian]

The dimmer has in-built test facilities. See this...

 

contractor-24-dd06.pdf

[Junior8]

Seemingly you have to set the DMX testing addresses on the pcb using three switches. This is something that a beginner may not wish to do.

[Brian]

Seemingly you have to set the DMX testing addresses on the pcb using three switches. This is something that a beginner may not wish to do.

 

But the caretaker is a trained electrician so may be willing to undertake this.

[david.elsbury]

Seemingly you have to set the DMX testing addresses on the pcb using three switches. This is something that a beginner may not wish to do.

 

But the caretaker is a trained electrician so may be willing to undertake this.

?? I can see how you came to that conclusion but I read it as “the caretaker AND a trained electrician “

[bigclive]

.... despite power going to the sockets (caretaker, a trained electrician tested them). We have tested different lights in the sockets.....

How did he test the hardwired sockets to determine that there was power going to them?

If there was power going to them then when a light was plugged in it should work.

Cheers

Gerry

 

It's worth mentioning that many "facilities" companies give their caretakers a box-ticking electrical presentation to allow them to change lamps and possibly replace things like switches or sockets. You may need a real electrician to find this issue. Preferably one familiar with theatre equipment who does real electrical work for a living as opposed to a disk jockey.

[Andrew C]

I'd guess that a Martindale plugged into a dimmed socket would show 'working', but if control voltage not getting to the dimmer no light will come out.