Fog machine control

[sunray]

Yes this old topic again.

I have a couple of cobra (24 & 48 fader) desks with IEC males to control fog machines.

Are these wired in a standard way?

A circuit diagram of the cheap desks would be a bonus if anyone has something available. I have looked on-line in the past without success but not again recently.

Yes I'm aware the machines have all 3 pins live etc, this situation is a Martin fogger with cabled remote (Yes old but I've been assured it worked at Christmas) however the cable was cut during de-rig and remote has now been lost., it tests as 2 pins live and third has restive continuity to neutral.

 

It seems too good an opportunity to try the desk method. 

[Ynot]

Erm, huh?
Lighting desks with IECs for controlling fog machines?
That's definitely a new one on me.

Can't see anything obvious on Google for any Cobra LX desks, so maybe a good start pointing us at what that is to start with...

[themadhippy]

Quote

Lighting desks with IECs for controlling fog machines?

yep,typically found on el cheapo discodave type things ,best avoided like the plague.

 

[Ynot]

28 minutes ago, themadhippy said:

yep,typically found on el cheapo discodave type things ,best avoided like the plague.

Would explain why I've never seen one then...
Haven't dabbled with DJ Dave Doubledecks gear in over 35 years!

[sunray]

Whether members like them or not there have been hundreds of thousands of similar desks sold over the years and many still in use in a wide selection of buildings. Straight off the top of my head I know of schools, churches, village halls, pubs, amdram groups etc amounting to tens of them.

I have 2 Cobra 24 & 48 channel with such an IEC male and I've certainly come across other makes, but without doing a www search I can't start quoting which.

The subject has been discussed on here before, mostly relating to the dangers of using a C13/14 for 3 live connexions.

[Ynot]

No idea what the pictures are you've posted as all I see (atm) are a couple of 'no entry' icons... 😮

But while I acknowledge that there are very basic LX desks out there, they're really not really the meat & 2 veg for this sort of forum. 

They MIGHT be usable in some small capacity for a very small amateur outfit, but they're really more suited to the DJ sector, which isn't really us, and whilst it may sound a little snobbish, it's not what the vast majority of serious users here (be they am-dram or pros) will be using.

[Don Allen]

The Showtec Showmaster 48 Mk1 V4 were used in a lot of schools and amdrams in Perth, WA as they were cheaper than Jands Event desks. These had an IEC socket on the rear panel with an internal relay for switching fog machines. We disabled these sockets as some schools used these sockets as mains inputs, instead of the supplied DC plugpack and if someone pressed the fog button, it went bang !

The Showmaster 48 kill mode  post in 2018 has more details.

50356_Showmaster48_Mk1_V4_ManualE_.pdf

[sunray]

10 hours ago, Ynot said:

No idea what the pictures are you've posted as all I see (atm) are a couple of 'no entry' icons... 😮

Thanks to Don for posting the manual to a different unit I'm able to refer to items 34 and 44 on pages 6 and 7

10 hours ago, Ynot said:

But while I acknowledge that there are very basic LX desks out there, they're really not really the meat & 2 veg for this sort of forum. 

They MIGHT be usable in some small capacity for a very small amateur outfit, but they're really more suited to the DJ sector, which isn't really us, and whilst it may sound a little snobbish, it's not what the vast majority of serious users here (be they am-dram or pros) will be using.

Yes I'm very aware of the differing requirements of the various sectors of the industry, and come to that my experience and capabilities, to put this into perspective the venues containing installed DMX kit I use/help/work for etc on a regular basis amount to 28 of which 2 have computer based control, 19 have permanently installed desks of the style I'm looking at, ranging from 6 channels to 48 and they MIGHT be working perfectly for their needs - 2 are hotels with maybe a dozen desks between them, the remainder have no permanently fitted control desk with only a few channels. Such as the village hall yesterday for rehearsal and in 2 weeks for the event with 22 channels of lighting (2* 4 channel dimmer packs and 2 sets of 7ch LED {recently changed from 3 pairs of 4 ch}, although I often add a little more) and the most frequently used desk there is a 16 channel transcension by a user every Saturday morning and Wednesday evening for dance classes.

Edited April 24, 2023 by sunray

[sunray]

19 hours ago, sunray said:

Whether members like them or not there have been hundreds of thousands of similar desks sold over the years and many still in use in a wide selection of buildings. Straight off the top of my head I know of schools, churches, village halls, pubs, amdram groups etc amounting to tens of them.

I have 2 Cobra 24 & 48 channel with such an IEC male and I've certainly come across other makes, but without doing a www search I can't start quoting which.

The subject has been discussed on here before, mostly relating to the dangers of using a C13/14 for 3 live connexions.

Original was simply copy and paste photos.

Does this from 'paint' work please?

[alistermorton]

That is visible to me whereas the originals weren't. 

[sunray]

20 minutes ago, alistermorton said:

That is visible to me whereas the originals weren't. 

Thank you I'll try to remember it for the future.

Edited April 24, 2023 by sunray