ProSoundWeb Community

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: Audio Hum caused by dimmed par cans  (Read 6343 times)

Kristian Stevenson

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 116
Audio Hum caused by dimmed par cans
« on: April 20, 2009, 09:23:58 PM »

First off I wasnt sure about which forum to post this in but since the culprit is the lights, i'll put it here. Yeah so I am getting a hum through the sound system when I dim my 12 par56 cans. They are plugged into 3 dimmer packs-4 to each pack. Each dimmer is on its own seperate 15A circuit. The Amps and Mixer are also on independant circuits from each other and the lights. My question is how do I get rid of this buzz when I dim the lights.
Logged

Christy L Manoppo (okky)

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 122
Re: Audio Hum caused by dimmed par cans
« Reply #1 on: April 21, 2009, 12:17:37 AM »

try getting to the source first... maybe keyboards if your band have them. We have the same case, and after doing the search, its a noisy keyboard... and bought the HumX, and putting a DI between them... no more hums...

also, check that all of your A/V (minus the L, for lighting) equipment are not connected to the same circuit that you plug your lights, and that means the lighting console/controller too.
Logged
Christy L Manoppo
Coordinator for AVL Dept,
Bethany Indonesian Church of GOD,
Philadelphia, PA

Perfect? we can't. Excellent? We can.

Kristian Stevenson

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 116
Re: Audio Hum caused by dimmed par cans
« Reply #2 on: April 21, 2009, 06:36:03 AM »

everything is going through a DI box. Its only when I dim the lights. And Yes the console (lighting and sound) are on different circuits from each other.
Logged

John Fiorello

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 176
Re: Audio Hum caused by dimmed par cans
« Reply #3 on: April 21, 2009, 10:18:34 PM »

Kristian Stevenson wrote on Tue, 21 April 2009 06:36

everything is going through a DI box.




Do you DI's have ground iso's on them?  I'm sure you checked them if they did...just to make sure it's definitely the lights Smile


Do you have any audio cable running along with the power for the lights?


Is the hum coming through the entire system? Only the mains? Monitors?

How many amps do you have?  Does it make noise when each one of them is on? Only when they're all on?  Do you get the noise when you listen via headphones from the board?



That info might help isolate it...



JF
Logged
Stop. Think. Speak.

Kristian Stevenson

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 116
Re: Audio Hum caused by dimmed par cans
« Reply #4 on: April 22, 2009, 06:41:17 AM »

i didnt go into that much detail when I noticed it. I will look at all that tonight. I am fairly shure it is the lights. I heard it through the mains a little then I put on my headphones and you can hear it get louder as you dim them more.
Logged

Alex Yates

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 69
    • http://www.proctorschapel.org
Re: Audio Hum caused by dimmed par cans
« Reply #5 on: May 18, 2009, 02:23:15 PM »

I had a problem like this in my church but with powered monitors. Every time we turned the dimmers on the system had a hum in it. It ended up being the DVD Player that was connected to the audio system. Make sure you have a DI between the computer, DVD Player, and the VCR if they are hooked up into the audio system.

Hope this helps. Let us know if we can assist you more.

-Yates
Logged

Greg Hertfelder

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 318
Re: Audio Hum caused by dimmed par cans
« Reply #6 on: May 30, 2009, 01:31:01 PM »

You describe the problem as "hum", which is characteristically 60 cycle hum, but I am wondering if you mean "buzz", "hash", or "sizzle", which is rich in harmonic content compared to standard 60-cycle hum. Lighting systems for years have been notorious for "SCR sizzle" from the silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR) in the dimmer circuit (not the par cans).

If you have exhausted all other possibilities described above, you most likely will need to install a 1:1 AC power isolation transformer and power all sound system audio components through it. Power isolation transformers can be installed by an electrician, or you could buy one off the shelf, such as the Furman IT-20, install it yourself and see if the situation improves.

The advantage of the Furman solution is that you could purchase it through a box house like Musicians Friend or Full Compass, and have 30 days to see if the issue is resolved (and potentially return it), whereas working with an electrical contractor forces the expenditure. There is also a possibility that you may need to upgrade the lighting dimmer system.

Prior to purchasing any solution you will need to calculate current (amps or amperage) requirements of the sound system by adding up all the amperage or wattage consumption of various devices in the sound system. Wattage (W) is voltage (V) multiplied by current (A). The Furman IT-20 is good for 20 amps. If your sound system has a potential of 30 amps usage, then you will need two units, and divide the load between the units.
Logged

ProSoundWeb Community

Re: Audio Hum caused by dimmed par cans
« Reply #6 on: May 30, 2009, 01:31:01 PM »


Pages: [1]   Go Up
 



Site Hosted By Ashdown Technologies, Inc.

Page created in 0.017 seconds with 23 queries.