Show Designer stability

sounds like either abad or the wrong power supply. it may be the right voltage but not enough amperage.

I know with my Mighty Scans if I have channel 5 all the way up the lights go into startup/self-test mode. Maybe the Ultra Scans have a similar feature?

Hmmm... I'll ring out my power supply and see what I get. It's not the "channel 5" thing because the Show Designer went into a self test, not the Ultras. I'll let you know if the power supply was the culprit but I'm open for more ideas in the mean time. Thanks!

I've had the same stuff happen with our SD (we had it linked to some dimmer packs and some Chauvt moving heads) now we are forced to use a totally different set up (ADJ Operator II w/ new scanners and an old anlg board for the Pars) but I want to get the SD going again... any new news?

I haven't had the time to fully check this out yet. Power supply seems to check out but I need to rig up a plug so I can check it out while it is loaded down with the SD. I also want to try getting the supply on a totally separate circuit from the lights (not an easy thing to do at many gigs!) and see if that helps.
BTW, anyone know of a good way to clean out the button contacts on the Show Designer?

I think I know what happened; I have a similar set up. I bet the power for the wall socket drop to an unusable level, some where under 106-108 volts. This will cause the show designer to reset and do strange things. I�m thinking of putting a power conditioner with a VOLTAGE READOUT in my light control too. (I have one in my sound rig). This will tell you how much you are loading the AC power line. I worry if it falls under 110 volts. That is when you need to find different circuits and split up your power.

Frank

www.djotto.com

Hey Guys,

I had a similar problem with my Show Designer last year during a Halloween Show. I had 9 Dimmer Packs, two Mighty Scans and a Smoke Machine on the controller. The controller would freak out and send the dimmers on some weird cycles... the scanners were doing the same thing.

I really wasn't sure of the problem at the time,
I figured it had something to do with termination, a bad cable or the alignment of the planets.

Come to think of it, I think It could be very possible that it was the voltage that caused the SD's issues. All gear (which was mostly stage lighting, many of which were not on SD's data line) was running off a small 200A single phase power feed. I wouldn't be surprised if my voltage was unusually low.

I've used the SD at several shows since October with no problems... I'm pretty certain now that it was the power that was the cause.

-Griffin

Thanks for the replies guys. My power supply checks out so nothing there. I have my stuff on a power conditioner with volt and amp meters. Like I said, amperage wasn't an issue as I was only pulling 6-9A. Voltage moved around a bit but I didn't notice it go below 110. Could have been voltage I guess. Bummer! Not good to have such a voltage sensitive piece of gear for small live music gigs. Often lucky to get a separate circuit for lights let alone another one for the SD!! I may look into some serious filtering/UPS for my SD.
Anyone know about cleaning the buttons on the SD? Hello Support?? I got a few buttons that seem to take a second push or a hard push to activate. I've had my SD apart before so no big deal there but is there a contact cleaner you recommend?

Wow, I'm glad I found this thread! I have had the EXACT SAME kind of problems with my Show Designer, especially within the last few months and that's following a $100 (plus shipping) service visit to ADJ.... They even sent a new power supply this last time around, and it still goes into this unstable mode for no apparent reason. Most recently, it's new trick is that it won't record or play back any scenes. Factory Chases still work and full manual operation works, but that's it. I use mostly ADJ products but recently tried to add some Chuavet fixtures and can't figure out what preset to use since they're not in the fixture library (see thread on that question in the Intelligent forum)... but focusing on the instability issues... would love to get some insight regarding this problem... I really like the Show Designer and don't want to give it up, but as someone said, you can't have a stage going dark for no apparent reason !!! Help - any ideas? Thanks

PS: All my FOH gear, including the SD, gets power from an American Power Conversion UPS, plus my rack has a Furman Pro power conditioner with both voltage and ammeter, unclean power was my first guess but everything checks out and NONE of the other digital electronics have any issues whatsoever... hmmm....

anyone having this problem Please email me joey@americandj.com with your phone number, I think I might have the solution but it's a long one and I type to slow.

I know it's YEARS later, but I have the same problems.....I love the Show Designer, and do not want to give it up, especially for the price I got it for. I e-mailed support, anybody else, if you solved the problem, PLEASE respond!!!!! thanks.

actually did u e-mail joey? cause if u did i am sad to say the he has since passed away but i am sure someone there knows. give them a lil time and they might get back to you when they can. i would help but i don't know the answer. sorry. i will see if i can find out. peace! jingles!!

I did get reply..I'll try saving my scenes / file dump back to my computer, wipe the SD clean, and re-load. I'm feeling that it really is a signal / voltage/amperage issue though. Some gigs go perfect, some don't. And because each gig uses different XLR cables, cords, snakes, etc, and voltage differences, it's just a mess.

Thing is, I have an Operator, and an Operator 2, and both NEVER EVER have any problems. I've swaped power supplies from them, and the SD still goes nuts. ????? I'm disappointed, because I really like using the SD, but stability issues make me bring backup boards to each gig.