Strike issues with StudioSpot 575

Hi,

I have some older (99-01 era) Studios Spot 575s.
One of them just today started having lamp strike issues. After powerup and homing, the display says STRK for a few seconds, then goes black. There is no "strike" sound, and the lamp remains dead cold. after about 30-60 seconds I get a "LITE TOUT" error. I've replaced the lamp with a new one, but I know both lamps work fine, I tested in other SS fixtures. This fixture was working fine last I turned it on about a week ago. Any thoughts on where I should start my troubleshooting?

Thanks,
David Woodworth
Lighting Technical Director
World Revival Church
  • David,
    There are a couple of things you should check first. Check the control cable going from the logic board to the LPS. It should be a grey cable. Make sure that it is fully seated. If the cable connection is fine then try swapping the LPS with a known good one. Also, there are two fuses on the input of the LPS, check these for continuity. If you are still having trouble please feel free to give me a call. My extension at High End is x1311.
  • 1. Id check the 2 fuses on the LPS.
    2. If fine check the voltage (or lack of) going to the ignitor.
    3. Because of the age I'd look at the lamp socket and the wires feeding it back to the ignitor. Check those and let us know what you find.
  • I am having the same problem with on my spots, the ignitor card in the are has been replaced with a known good unit, same result, lamp replaced, same result.

    One thing i noticed is the relay clicks whilst it is trying to strike, it does not if the lamp is out of the socket. There is continuity with the lamp holder pins and the connector in the arm.

    Bob
  • I bet it is the lamp power supply, They do go out, especially if they have been connected to a dimmer, and yes a dimmer is still a dimmer even if it is set to Full, they are still recieving a square wave. I would meter the power comming from the lamp power supply into the ignitor. You should be seeing around 400V. Be careful not to shock yourself, it hurts a lot. I have a scar on my hand from touching the wrong part of an x-spot by accident, needless to say the lamp powersupply was good.

    As a quick refresher, dont you meter the black leg and the white leg of the lamp power supply independtly, and the chasis is the ground, and dont you measure in DC? I cannot remember its been a while.
  • [quote=TimMiller]I bet it is the lamp power supply, They do go out, especially if they have been connected to a dimmer, and yes a dimmer is still a dimmer even if it is set to Full, they are still recieving a square wave. I would meter the power comming from the lamp power supply into the ignitor. You should be seeing around 400V. Be careful not to shock yourself, it hurts a lot. I have a scar on my hand from touching the wrong part of an x-spot by accident, needless to say the lamp powersupply was good.

    As a quick refresher, dont you meter the black leg and the white leg of the lamp power supply independtly, and the chasis is the ground, and dont you measure in DC? I cannot remember its been a while.

    It was the chokes on the mother board, the glue securing them had worked loose alowing them to break free
  • [quote=TimMiller]I bet it is the lamp power supply, They do go out, especially if they have been connected to a dimmer, and yes a dimmer is still a dimmer even if it is set to Full, they are still recieving a square wave. I would meter the power comming from the lamp power supply into the ignitor. You should be seeing around 400V. Be careful not to shock yourself, it hurts a lot. I have a scar on my hand from touching the wrong part of an x-spot by accident, needless to say the lamp powersupply was good.

    As a quick refresher, dont you meter the black leg and the white leg of the lamp power supply independtly, and the chasis is the ground, and dont you measure in DC? I cannot remember its been a while.

    Not that it has any bearing on this problem, but dimmers *NEVER* output a square wave . . . ever! The chopping of a sine way that occurs in an SCR or Triac dimmer will yeild a very fast rise on the leading edge of the wave, and a normal waveform on the backside . . . and when at full, the "chop" is typically .7 to 1 volt or so before the device conducts, so if you were to look at the sine wave, it would be almost perfect, with one little "glitch" right after the zero crossing point . . .

    Granted, chokes and voltage regulation makes the situation a wee bit more complicated than this with inductive loads, but my underlying point holds true.

    (I tried to find a graphic online of a phase control output, but couldn't come up with anything in a timely manner, nor do I have an oscilloscope camera to generate my own . . . sorry!).

    - Tim
  • [quote=tadawson]Not that it has any bearing on this problem, but dimmers *NEVER* output a square wave . . . ever! The chopping of a sine way that occurs in an SCR or Triac dimmer will yeild a very fast rise on the leading edge of the wave, and a normal waveform on the backside . . . and when at full, the "chop" is typically .7 to 1 volt or so before the device conducts, so if you were to look at the sine wave, it would be almost perfect, with one little "glitch" right after the zero crossing point . . .

    Granted, chokes and voltage regulation makes the situation a wee bit more complicated that this with inductive loads, but my underlying point holds true.

    (I tried to find a graphic online of a phase control output, but couldn't come up with anything in a timely manner, nor do I have an oscilloscope camera to generate my own . . . sorry!).

    - Tim

    Point is running an intel off a dimmer is a bad Idea :nono: so on that point I agree with TimMiller. I have seen guys blow up a lot of gear just because they were too lazy to run up another soco cable. It happens. One company blew 21 :eek: in one weekend. 16 on another show and 8-10 on a few others.
    It's just not the thing to do. It's not a matter of "if", but when,.. it will happen.
    It's protocol here to never run a fixture with a dimmer. It's one of my 'laws'. Break the law, blow up the gear, you pay for it.:dunce:
  • [quote=Puffyfish]Point is running an intel off a dimmer is a bad Idea :nono: so on that point I agree with TimMiller. I have seen guys blow up a lot of gear just because they were too lazy to run up another soco cable. It happens. One company blew 21 :eek: in one weekend. 16 on another show and 8-10 on a few others.
    It's just not the thing to do. It's not a matter of "if", but when,.. it will happen.
    It's protocol here to never run a fixture with a dimmer. It's one of my 'laws'. Break the law, blow up the gear, you pay for it.:dunce:

    No disagreement there, I was just trying to correct the misinformation in that post RE: dimmer waveforms . . .

    - Tim
  • I am Also having the same problem with 2 of my 575 cmy zoom's. Having changed out a working ballast, checked bulbs and the fuses, i am still getting Lite out or STRK on the display, intermittently the lamp LED flashes on and off. i have check voltage on the bulb mounting and an getting 0V, Does this mean a wiring problem or something more complex?

    Thanks..
  • Holy Crap,
    Don't meter at the lamp socket.
    Its a great way to blow the hell out of your meter...
    Have you tried the ignitor card located in the arm?
    if you have replaced the lamp, and Lamp power supply, that is pretty much all that is left, other than a control issue.
    Do you hear clicking as the lamp tries to strike?
    Does it come from the Lamp power supply, the arm of the fixture or both?
    Joshua Wood
  • Nope no clicking sound from the lamp on strike, But i will check the power supply in the arm (didnt know it was located there).

    on another note....

    Is there anyway to get a service manual for the HES 575 spot, as the UAE has just lost its dealer/service center for HES?
  • If there is not any clicking coming from the fixture while it tries to strike,
    There most likely is something still wrong with the lamp power supply.
    When you strike the lamp you should have clicking coming from both the lamp power supply as well as the ignitor card.

    As for Service Manuals,
    They don't really exist.
    Most of the information is available on the website in the form of exploded diagrams..
    Good Luck,
    Joshua Wood
  • well you were bang on with the power supply, just opened it up and parts of it had melted, but the ballast is also making a buzzing noise which leads me to believe the ballast is damaged also (dont think the lights like operating in the summer temps over here @ 40oC +).

    Thanks very much for the help it much appreciated.
    :notworthy::notworthy::notworthy::notworthy:
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