[SML] DMX Troubleshooting

[Ford Sellers]

Hi Steve,
Open up the unit, and blow out the insides with compressed air.  If you still see the issue, hit the DMX board (internal) with that aerosol electronics cleaner (I have Bullfrog brand, but any will do).
There is likely some loose piece of crap floating around inside the unit that is making an electrical connection somewhere that it shouldn't.

Should all of that fail, the iso chip on those was notoriously sketchy.  It is the little 8 prong socketed chip that sits on the main pcb, right next to where you plug in the DMX pcb.  Lightparts should have them in-stock.

HTH,
-Ford

-----Original Message-----
From: Stagecraft [mailto:stagecraft-bounces at theatrical.net] On Behalf Of Stephen Litterst via Stagecraft
Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2015 12:19 PM
To: Stagecraft
Subject: [SML] DMX Troubleshooting

Dear hive-mind,

I ran into an unusual situation this weekend.  I moved three of my wash units from one electric to another.  In the new location, they had no DMX signal, despite everything being plugged in.

Going through them step by step, I discovered that it was the unit at the end of the chain that was the issue.  When it was plugged in to the DMX line, all the units lost their data signal.  When I would unplug it, the two upstream units regained their signal. I swapped out the cable, and had the same results. In the end, we swapped out the light with a spare. (I'm amazed I had a spare, to be honest)

Any thoughts on what might have changed inside the light? This is a a Coemar iWash Halo, not a common fixture and getting a bit long in the tooth. It's not worth spending a lot of money on, but neither do I have the money to replace all of them with something newer.

Thanks!

Steve L.
-- 
Stephen Litterst            Technical Operations Supervisor
litterst at udel.edu           Mitchell Hall
302/831-0601                University of Delaware


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