DL3 loses alignment

Have you tried "Calibrate Motors" from the fixture menu? (this cannot be done via CMA and must be done at the unit)

How is the fixture mounted?

One other thing....are you shutting down power to the fixture at the end of the gig? If not, you should definitely re-boot all your servers when you lamp-on everything at the beginning of your day......just like any other computer if you leave it on too long it starts to have problems.

Hope this helps :)

Keith,

One other thing you can try, since it seems that you are only having the issue on Pan, is to make sure the Pan belt is tightened properly.

If you remove the two top box covers on the DL.3, you will see the motor plate where the two pan motors are mounted. Holding this plate down are 4 - M5 allen socket caps. Try loosening all four of these socket caps (just loosen, don't completely remove them), let the spring that is attached to the plate re-tention the pan belt, then re-tighten the 4 pan bolts.

After you have done this, run the motor calibration routine that Marty mentioned.

Hope this helps!

I am having the same issue on a show. The difference is that we have a tilt issue. Would you suggest tightening the tilt belts?
I have a very unhappy designer.

Thanks,
Chris Lighthall

Chris, yes try tightening the belts and doing a Calibrate Motors. If that does not work, please contact our support dept so they can help get you sorted out quickly.

Is that the basic same process as tightening the pan?



Chris Lighthall

Hi Chris,

There is actually no way to tighten the tilt belts on the unit, however as new as DL.3 fixtures are, you should not already be having issues with belts loosening.

One thing to definately check is that all the set screws on the tilt pinions (gears on the motors themselves) are tight and also in the correct place. There are two flat spots on the motor shaft where the two set screws are supposed to rest. If you find any issue with these, tighten in the correct place, then run the motor calibration routine. Be sure to check both motors.

If there is no issue with those, try swapping the head card from either a spare unit if you have one, or another unit on the rig and see if the issue follows the head card. This card controls the tilt motors and encoder. If this is it, you will need a new head card.

If neither of these work, please report back here and we'll help further, or call our support department at: 1.800.890.8989. They can help you troubleshoot the issue.

Hope this helps,

I should add, because it helps isolate an issue, that it loses alignment after being powered down for a few hours. It runs fine during the day. We power the fixtures down. Next day we power them up and one is off by about a click or two (a foot when projected). We powered them down at lunch today. When we came back and powered them up they retained their alignment.

What do you think?

Chris Lighthall

I would definitely do a "Calibrate Motors" for starters.

I would also check to be sure the encoder is working by physically moving the head off its' position by pushing it....if it does not come back or just sits there you might have a bad encoder.

Hope this helps:)