Betapack 3 - two chanels fault

[alg]

We have several Betapack 3 purchased about 5/6 years ago. One rack has suddenly stopped working on the top two chanels i.e 5&6. The circuit breakers haven't tripped, the onward connection is OK., the DMX to the rack is showing as OK. The rack is driven by a 24/48 Jester and are on desk channels 11&12. Is their some internal electronics that can cause a pair of channels to fail like this? If not what is likely to cause this problem? All fine last week but would not play this morning. We have a show in the next couple of weeks and I need to sort this ASAP and I can't afford to loose a couple of channels on a heavy show.

 

[Edward Z88]

Hello,

A couple of other things to try:

Have you tried readdressing the pack to 1, to see whether Jester channels 5 & 6 are able to control the pack?
Is the screen on the pack scrolling through various numbers, or static on 007? If its scrolling, it means it's not patched as a block of channels, and each channel is patched individually.
Has the Topset been adjusted? To check this, tap MODE until the LED lights next to "Topset", and ensure all channels are reading 100.

If you've tried that, then it may be either a transformer, a phase link bar, or potentially the processor. 

Feel free to send us an email to support@zero88.com, and we'll be able to work out the best way of getting your Betapack 3 repaired.

Kind regards
Edward

[iank99]

It's very likely to be the transformer driving those two channels - some early Beta 3's had  issues with the transformers failing prematurely and the spec for the transformer was eventually changed. There's no rhyme nor reason to why the transformer fails or when - they just do, which caused lots of hassle with early Beta 3's. It happened so randomly, it was never clear whether it was a batch issue or not - I've seen a couple where the magic smoke has been released but more where the transformer has simply failed.

It is possible to swap the transformer but the powerboard will need to come out of the unit to do this - there's also some sense to swapping the whole power board so that all the channel transformers are the same age. Your rack will  now be out of warranty, so you'll need to compare costs of sorting the repair e.g. swap the whole board or an individual transformer - my advice would be to swap the whole board as Murphy's Law says you'll need to replace another transformer within about 3 weeks of doing the first