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Author Topic: Add thermostatic switch to Chauvet moving head fans?  (Read 4438 times)

Jeff Lelko

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Re: Add thermostatic switch to Chauvet moving head fans?
« Reply #10 on: January 04, 2021, 05:03:33 AM »

P.S.  If you have any fan-less moving head names/links, I'd still be interested in those... even if I can only dream.  :-)

Too many to list unfortunately, but keep in mind that "silent" doesn't necessarily mean fan-less.  Brands such as Martin, Robe, SGM, and Ayrton come to mind when needing very quiet fixtures for a given application. 

To elaborate a little more on why messing with the thermal control of an intelligent light is a bad idea, there's much more to this than just clicking on a fan when a certain temperature is exceeded.  Several items in both the head and the base of a moving light have heat sinks.  These typically include the LED or sometimes the lamp socket as well as components on the power supply, ballast/ignitor, motor drivers, etc.  As Brian mentioned, sometimes there are engineered solutions here to maintain cooling while avoiding the need for high airflow while other times a fan is required to be running continuously when the unit is powered up.  In other words, if the unit was designed to have fans running then keep it that way.  Installing quieter fans is sometimes an options so long as you maintain the same flow rate, but outright removing them won't end well for the fixture and sometimes much worse.  Good luck!
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GlennRussell

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Re: Add thermostatic switch to Chauvet moving head fans?
« Reply #11 on: January 04, 2021, 06:27:39 PM »

I just wanted to say thank you again for all the great advice!
"For the price of a small car"  Ha! 
Right, I was aware of dimmers previously, and I certainly understand why we certainly would not want to use one of those here.  I was glad to learn of the relay/switch packs.
The portable version of the ETC Foundry relay is starting to look close.  The only thing is that everything we run is 3pin DMX.  (Obviously I could use adapters, but just wanted to see if there was a 3 pin solution instead).  Anyone have any experience with the Club Cannon DMX relay?  It's a bit less expensive.  But, I'm wondering if any of you
would know if there were quality issues with that company.  I don't think that LightKey has a profile for it yet, but I'm told they can create one really quickly.  (Which was similar to what I experienced when I was dealing with Chamsys)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HKL92ZQ/?coliid=I2B5S7NMZJR544&colid=JPNOGNUYJRT1&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Thanks again,
   -Glenn
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Brian Jojade

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Re: Add thermostatic switch to Chauvet moving head fans?
« Reply #12 on: January 04, 2021, 07:32:03 PM »

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Brian Jojade

GlennRussell

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Re: Add thermostatic switch to Chauvet moving head fans?
« Reply #13 on: January 04, 2021, 08:06:09 PM »

Good point!  :-)  Thx!
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Jeff Lelko

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Re: Add thermostatic switch to Chauvet moving head fans?
« Reply #14 on: January 04, 2021, 08:23:11 PM »

It looks like you’re on the right track here.  Two bits to add...

- Be sure to note the total amperage capacity of the relay unit.  ETC’s can switch a full 20A whereas the unit you linked can only switch 10A.  The unit Brian linked is only 5A/channel.  For what you’re doing I’d want a full 20A circuit for the fixtures, but your desires may be different.

- Make sure that any combination dimmer/relay pack is a true relay pack.  Units that just software-restrict a 0-100 input for switching purposes often don’t fully cut power output at 0% (learned that one the painful way).  This is fine for controlling older halogen lights but can cause problems with intelligent fixtures.  I vote for a simple DMX relay here to keep things easy and predictable, but feel free to shop around too.
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GlennRussell

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Re: Add thermostatic switch to Chauvet moving head fans?
« Reply #15 on: January 05, 2021, 07:59:43 AM »

@Jeff-
   Too funny... I had just found the 10A limitation of the single channel relay, and was then looking at how much my 4 Intimidator Trio's draw (2A) * 4 = 8A.  But, I'd want a bit more margin than that anyway.
   I too like the idea of a simple DMX relay over something that (also) dims, just so there is no chance we would be able to give "dimmed" power to the heads.
   All good advice.  Thanks again.
       -Glenn
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Scott Hofmann

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Re: Add thermostatic switch to Chauvet moving head fans?
« Reply #16 on: January 05, 2021, 09:38:47 AM »

That's a single channel unit.  Chauvet has a 4 channel box for less money. Channels can be configured as dimmers or relays.  More channels is more better someday in the future. :)

https://www.amazon.com/CHAUVET-DJ-Lighting-Dimmer-Accessories/dp/B004NNVPEK/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=DMX+relay&qid=1609806585&s=musical-instruments&sr=1-5
If the channels are switchable between a dimmer and a relay, it's a 99.9% certainty it uses a solid state relay as the switching device. Conventional advice is to use only mechanical
relays to switch non-dim power to LED fixtures. The only exception is the ETC Thru-Power module for their dimmer rack, which has both an SSR and a true relay.
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Scott Hofmann

Don T. Williams

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Re: Add thermostatic switch to Chauvet moving head fans?
« Reply #17 on: January 05, 2021, 05:24:19 PM »

There is actually a fairly good reason that some of the packs that have a switchable dimming/relay but still pass a small amount of power when set to relay mode -even if the controler is sending a 0% or off DMX message.  Incandescent lamps can draw a lot of inrush current when the lamp filliment is cold, so a small current (not enough for the lamp to glow brightly) is always flowing to keep the filliment warm enough to reduce the large inrush current.  That's one of the reasons LED fixture manufacturers say to never power LED instruments on dimmer circuits.
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Jerome Malsack

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Brian Jojade

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Re: Add thermostatic switch to Chauvet moving head fans?
« Reply #19 on: January 11, 2021, 01:24:14 PM »

how about a google outlet that might support 15 to 20 amp ? 

https://gridconnect.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360038983513-How-much-power-can-the-In-Wall-Outlet-supply-Will-it-power-my-tools-and-heavy-equipment-

Reliability of those sorts of devices is good enough for in home use, but I'd not likely recommend something like that for production use.
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Brian Jojade

ProSoundWeb Community

Re: Add thermostatic switch to Chauvet moving head fans?
« Reply #19 on: January 11, 2021, 01:24:14 PM »


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