Alpha Pack Buzz

[The Vault Arts Centre]

Just bought a used Alpha Pack off eBay and, on trying it out, it's got quite a loud buzz between the 1-9 slider settings, but is completely silent or 0 or full.  Is this normal?

Can anything be done to reduce the buzz or do we just accept that it's lights on full, permanently, during performances?

Thank you
NJ

[Edward Z88]

Hi NJ,

Due to the way Alphapack dimmers work, they will always buzz when they are dimming the load - and therefore make a sound between around 20% and 90%. They are usually at their loudest, depending on the load, at around 70%.

It is obviously hard to tell what you mean by quite loud buzz. If all channels are dimming at full load (for example 1KW on each channel), the noise would roughly be about as loud as a fan in a projector for example. 

If it seems to be excessively louder than this, there potentially could be a fault. If you are still concerned I’d recommend dropping us an email to support@zero88.com, along with the Alphapack’s serial number. 

If you have any questions let me know. 

Edward

[iank99]

Yeah - these dimmers are usually very quiet in use unless you're trying to use them with some sort of transformer'd load e.g. birdies or fairy lights - then they do get a bit upset.

Is the dimmer working smoothly between 0 and 100% or do you see flickering/steps in the intensity as you move the fader? I'd also be interested to know if the problem exists with just the internal faders or via a DMX or analogue desk plugged in to the unit.

Of course, you might have discovered the reason it was being sold - the previous owner didn't realise it's an easy unit to repair (sort of :P)