12 channel chilli dimmer repair

[SteveKW]

Looking for recomendations to investigate/repair faulty 12 channel chilli dimmer which intermittently restarts causing all channels to flash on/off.  The dimmer is 1 of 4 in a school in the UK, Cambridge (cambs) area. I have already swapped the control panel with another rack in the same installation, the fault remains on the original rack with the alternative control panel fitted and the donor rack works as expected with the panel from the faulty rack.   Any help or suggestions appreciated.

 

 

[iank99]

@SteveKW  have you swapped the processor card and the keypad? The processor is the long board mounted on the back of the centre section...

If you have swapped both and the fault is still happening then it's not a problem with the Chilli but it's power supply and/or earth... From experience - loose connections on the mains input can cause a 'sparking' that can generate RFi that resets the processor - you need an electrician to check the power connections for that unit back to the distro board it's fed from. It might even be a symptom of a problem with one of other racks - they all need opening & checking.

The earth to the unit is also another potential source of interference if there's voltage on that earth (there shouldn't be but sometimes it happens from something else that shares that earth i.e sound equipment, work lighting and so on) - it might even be a lantern connected to that rack that has an earth fault that's not been picked up by a PAT test.

[SteveKW]

I only swapped the key pad so i will try swapping the processor board next time I'm at the venue. If that does not resolve the situation then i'll request that a electrician checks the mains connectivity. I will update this thread with any progress butn it might be a couple of weeks before that happens. Thanks for the advise so far!

[SteveKW]

It's been a long time since my previous post. The upshot of the situation is that the rack has been swapped out with the fourth rack in the rig leaving 36 ways rather than the 48 of the original install. I now have to re-address the rack as DMX 1-12 but am locked out of the control unit by a code that no body at the school has a record of. I will have to try and find out what the over ride code is. 

[kgallen]

Given the serial number, in theory if the database still exists and the will is there with the new support arrangements, Vari-lite should be able to give you a master code (I would expect, but I don’t have experience of this product).