joshread Posted December 13, 2006 Report Share Posted December 13, 2006 hi An interesting situation arose the the other day when I was rigging for a concert, and I wondered If anyone could explain it. I setup a mirror ball and connected it into a channel on a Betapack 1, but when plugged in, the mirror ball was on and started to rotate even though the desk and channel tests were not switched on. I then tried it on a Betapack 2 and it worked fine without being on all the time, and I could control it from the desk fine. I put it down to some kind of fixed pre heat function on the betapack 1 which allowed a small current to flow enough to power the mirror ball. But I am not sure exacly what it was,and its been bugging me for a while!!!! thanks Josh Ps (the desk was a fatfrog if this is any help!!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted December 14, 2006 Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 Hi Josh it's not pre-heat as such but leakage. The mirrorball motor takes such a tiny current that there is enough 'stray' current coming through the dimmer. even when off, to make it turn. The usual solution is to put something like a 500W lantern on the same channel. Quote ex-Leap Frog Owner, ex-Mambo Frog Owner, ex-XLS Owner, ex-Alcora Owner, ex-Elara Owner Owner of a big pile of Betapack 2s Bozone (n): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. "Am I dreaming this?" "No, and you ain't in Kansas neither." "Longbottom's been neglecting his ear muffs." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshread Posted December 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 Thanks Brian That explains alot and I will bear that in mind next time I need to use it. What I don't understand though, is why it only happened on the betapack 1 and not the betapack 2. Does the Betapack 2 have some kind of leakage preventer to prevent this? Thanks in advance Josh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted December 14, 2006 Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 What I don't understand though, is why it only happened on the betapack 1 and not the betapack 2. Josh Different filtering arrangements, which are there to prevent the dimmer causing interference to other systems, and different firing arrangements, which are how the dimmer controls the on/off switching of the thyristors/triacs (the devices which actually contol the 'power'), can all cause varying amounts of leakage. Actually, thinking about it, the Betapack 1s do have a preset pre-heat adjustment inside. It night be worth getting a competent engineer to check that they don't need adjusting. My previous statements about leakage still apply though. Quote ex-Leap Frog Owner, ex-Mambo Frog Owner, ex-XLS Owner, ex-Alcora Owner, ex-Elara Owner Owner of a big pile of Betapack 2s Bozone (n): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. "Am I dreaming this?" "No, and you ain't in Kansas neither." "Longbottom's been neglecting his ear muffs." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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