help with power shut off

Are you wanting them to power off or just go dark? If you power off, they will have to warm up when you need them again. I don't believe any controller can actually shut the fixture off. However, if you want them to just go dark, try the blackout button. That will also make all the other fixtures you have connected to go dark as well.

Are the lights installed in a venue or are they for a mobile application?

When you say breaker, do you mean something like in the wall panel of a back room/basement/garage? Or some type of strip surge?

In general, intelligent lights, and your lights specifically cannot be powerd off via DMX/Analog control. Like you said, you can turn the lamps off, but the fan will still run until the unit is unplugged, or switched off via some other means (wall switch, breaker panel, strip surge switch, etc).

Let me know, and I give you some more advice.

Best,
-Tech

that's exactly what I needed. yes they are installed in a venue and they are kind of hard to reach so Y will have to shut the braker from the back panel of the stage. I guess my question now would be if this affects my fix? in the long run like if I do this one or two times a week.

The breaker panel is the smartest and safest way to go when powering down your fixtures for the night. That way they are essentially disconnected from the power source so they are protected from surges and unecessary running when not in use.

Just make sure you turn the lamps off before powering them down.

The other advantage of the breaker is that you can flip one switch and they both receive power.

Using a controller for power issues is not a very good idea. It can lead to more problems and potential damage.

Stick to the breaker panel, it's the best route.

Just wanted to follow-up after reading something over on the Elation board.

It would probably be worth investigating wheter a a secondary switch would be better that using the breaker to control direct flow to the fixtures - as a surge may come through when the breaker is flipped. I'm not sure how this works, but apparently it can happen.

Still use the breaker, but perhaps put a wall switch or something in between the fixtures and the breaker (it would all still be on the same circuit though).

-Tech

one more question. can I send dmx signl thru the acuu spots even if they are off. I want to add a dmx dimmer to control more pars and I would link them to be in the same bord that the spots are on but with out the accu spots being on. thanx for the help.

do you mean power is off or just the lamp? cause if it is just the lamp you should be able to send a signal thru the spots to your dimmer pack. i think. if i am not right somebody else will tell you for sure.

tech the surge has the potential to occur if both the lighting fixture and the console are sharing the same neutral/ground. If both the lighting board and the fixture are essential "connected" back at the same electrical panel they are sharing a neutral/ground. You then can attain a flow through the ground pin from your gear since everything is essentially in a big loop via the ground lines. Typically this isn't a problem b/c power will always take the path of least resistance and normally that doesn't include feeding back through the fixtures and dmx lines. Normally the path of least resistance is back to earth ground.

However, in a venue with poor grounding this problem as you can see can become much more intruding.

The answer, opto splitter, always should have one installed between the console and dmx fixtures. opto splitters do not allow any current to flow in either direction. The actual circuits are all divided from each other, the messages sent across the circuits are converted into light pulses and then back into electrical pulses.


-Mike

Installing a secondary switch is not a bad idea. If you are worried about surges, installing a surge protector is well worth the investment. When pwoering the unit off, do make sure the lamp is turned off first!

The opto-isolator is another worthy investment.

Understand that these are "insurance" policies. What is a couple hundred dollars compared to replacing your light fixtures?

hey thanks for the help so far. now I am having problems turning the lamp on. in the accu spot, in 9 channel mode, the lamp off is channel 8 at 60-79,if I leave it the for a while the lamp tuns off, that is perfect. but when y put channel 8 to 40-59 the lamp unsent come back on I had to get up on the rig to reset the hole fix. any advice would help. by the whey I am using an elation programmer 192. addressed as 1 for fix 1 and 17 for fix 2.

how long in between did you wait before sending it the reset command to strike the lamp back on? Fixtures like the one you are using will not be able to strike the lamp right away after dowsing it (turning it off). The lamp needs to cycle itself, sometimes taking from 5-10 minutes before being able to be turned on again....

How long is the total run of your DMX line? Consider installing a terminator at the last fixture of the Dmx line.