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[Gene Simonalle]

Hi there,

As uber-tech-volunteer at our church, I am next tackling DMX control of our existing stage lighting.  I need advice on how to add DMX control to lights that are now controlled by dimmer switches in wall plates.

Background: we are a contemporary church with about 500 in the congregation.  We added a PC DMX controller from Chauvet a month and a half ago.  We have four LED color washes on the stage that add mood lighting to the walls.

We also have seven lights on a bar above the stage.  There are six can lights and one Par, each plugged into a separate outlet that is controlled by a dimmer switch on a wall plate in our A/V balcony.

We ran the DMX cabling to four wall plates on the stage and are adding at least one DMX plate above the light bar.

So I was looking at something like the Chauvet DMX-4 dimmer/relay.  If I get two of them and daisy chain them together I would have eight channels available at the stage and could add more as needed.  I talked with a friend who has the Levitron D4DMX, but I don't see any real difference between them other than price???

Suggestions?

Thanks!  

[Jeff Foster]

It sounds like you have a pretty good handle on what needs to be done.

Just pay attention to wattage/amperage ratings so that you don't overload a dimmer or overload a feed circuit.  Also, make sure there are no dimmers in line before the dimmer pack.  Dimmer packs don't like running on circuits with a wall dimmer in line.  You could easily start a fire by overloading the wall dimmer when the real dimmer pack pulls more power through it than the wall dimmer could handle.

The Chauvet DMX4 pack is decent.  Just keep in mind that it is a small, low cost dimmer.  Don't expect to run huge rigs off of them.  We have one that we use for Christmas lights, and other small light devices as needed.  The largest things we run off of them are PAR38 bulbs.

[Arnold B. Krueger]

Gene Simonalle wrote on Fri, 24 April 2009 18:13

So I was looking at something like the Chauvet DMX-4 dimmer/relay.  If I get two of them and daisy chain them together I would have eight channels available at the stage and could add more as needed.  I talked with a friend who has the Levitron D4DMX, but I don't see any real difference between them other than price???

Check to make sure that both dimmers are UL approved.

[Mark Mattocks]

Gene -

DMX will need to be run in a sequence - in one dimmer, out of that dimmer to the next, etc and then terminated at the end to prevent echos.  The only way to run a DMX "tree", like I think you have done - one main trunk from console to many branches - is to use an optical splitter.  The splitter will have one input and multiple outputs.  Each output should be terminated at the end of its run.  Termination may not affect you at all unless you are adding intelligent lights.  Most dimmers will not be messed up by an unterminated line.  

In my opinion, cheap dimmers are a poor investment.  Most $200 dimmers will be replaced every 1-2 years.  Spending 2-4 times that will get a better product that will last for a decade or two and handle much higher loads.  I work with a couple of companies that have and still use Leprecon tree and rack-mount dimmers that were made in the 1980's and 90's.  

As always, my advice is worth exactly you paid for it,
Mark

[Arnold B. Krueger]

Gene Simonalle wrote on Fri, 24 April 2009 18:13

So I was looking at something like the Chauvet DMX-4 dimmer/relay.  If I get two of them and daisy chain them together I would have eight channels available at the stage and could add more as needed.  I talked with a friend who has the Levitron D4DMX, but I don't see any real difference between them other than price???

AFAIK the Leviton has circuit breakers, while the Chauvet has fuses.

I'd also check on the status of UL approval.

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