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Idiot's guide


DrT

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Hello everyone. I come seeking help. Apologies if my terminology is wrong but I'm not a lighting engineer. I've inherited a Zero 88 Solution and I need some guidance to make it do anything. As far as I can tell, it's connected to one (or two?) ChilliPro dimmer units. There are certainly two of these mounted on the wall in a separate room. Since the cable coming out of the back of the Solution is plugged into a socket labelled DMX2 I assume that's CilliPro number two. The wiring into these dimmers is all inside trunking so I can't determine much from that. I can power up the Solution but from there I'm stuck. We have dozens of lights up in the ceiling which are connected but I can't get any light out of any of them. I know they are connected because I've seen them working and controlled from the Solution in the past. All I'm looking for is a simple slide this, press that, and hey presto, a light comes on. I'm not looking for fancy programming or anything like that.

Thanks in advance

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Hello,

Firstly, your best bet is to check the dimmers. Are they switched on? If so, what do the LCDs display? If they display “DMX Patched”, then they are receiving DMX data. If they are receiving “No Data”, there’s no DMX input. Unfortunately you also can’t guarantee the port labelled “DMX 2” is for dimmer unit 2. This may instead be the building’s second DMX cabling input, which goes to a DMX patch panel somewhere. More likely than each dimmer having its own input port, they’ll likely be daisy chained, meaning DMX will go into the first dimmer, and then out into the second.

If both dimmers are receiving data, turn the Solution on, and ensure the Grand Master, A Master, and B Master faders are all at full. Note that the B Master fader is in fact inverted, so this will need to be at the bottom of its travel to be at full output. Now, use the channel faders labelled Preset A and B. These should simply control each individual lantern plugged into each channel of the dimmers.

Let us know how you get on with this, feel free to give me a call when you’re using the system, and we can talk through and hopefully get you up and running. You can call me on 07976 791850.

Edward

Edward Smith
Product Specialist

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  • 3 years later...

Hi guys,

Firstly sorry if I am being silly, not used the gear in about 7 years.

Having Issues With My Zero 88 Light Master XL - Worked for years with out any issues but now shows SU and the OP Flashes and I get preview and flash indicators but nothing from the dimmer.

 

My setup is:

  • 8x Par 56 Short Noise 300 Watt Power Cans
  • Additional Par 56 Short Noise 300 Watt Power Floor Cans
  • Zero 88 Light Master XL Lighting Desk
  • Zero 88 Beta Pack 2 With 6x UK Blue 16Amp Power Sockets
  • A Soundlab 4x Channel Power IEC Sockets

 

I'm only getting light on the Zero 88 Beta Pack when I switch the manual channel override switches on the Dimmer itself.

The Soundlab 4x Channel Power DMX Dimmer flashes to indicate the it is getting power and DMX is saying it need to have revered polarity in my DMX Cable some where although I never remember have these issues with I was would with the gear all the time.

Is the Light Master XL revered Polarity Already

 

Would it be worth doing a factory reset on the settings to ut it back to basic as I have never really used the desk in anything else but manual, even the flashing can I did by hand

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