Technobeam newbie

I work with a church that just purchased 2 technobeams from a Blockbuster that was closing. They claimed that they worked great for about a year until the lamps went out and they never replaced them. Upon firing them up, I have found an issue with each of the fixtures.

On fixture 1, the mirror will not pan or tilt. The motor LED on the control panel is red, which according to the manual is normal. I tried going through the test menu to the Pan and Tilt tests and the mirror still does not move. With the power off, the mirror can be moved with little resistance. With power on, there are definite "steps" as I pan and tilt the mirror. I read on the forum that this is likely a result of a bad 3773 chip. I will try moving the chips around to see if I get the problem to move ,but I wanted to see if I am on the right track with this one.

On the second fixture, things seem to be working, but the display shows sensor 2 error. Upon inspecting the fixture, I noticed that some of the teeth on the FX Drive gear are damaged. I was wondering if that was causing the sensor 2 error.

I look forward to any input.
  • So I was looking at my 2 technobeams again, and have discovered a couple of things.

    First, the Pan on both fixtures does not work, however when I try to actuate the pan, the gobos/lithos rotate. If in the test mode on the T-Beam's menu, I will test the Pan, the gobos rotate. Is that normal? The also rotate when I test the Litho's too.

    This leads me to my second issue. On both fixtures, the I was getting a Sens 2 error, which I have now discovered is because the gobo wheel does not turn. In test mode, the gobo will rotate, then when the gobo wheel is supposed to change, the direction of the gobo rotation changes, but the wheel does not move.

    I have moved the Driver chips, and the problems have not moved. Is it safe to assume that I need new motors for the gobo wheels, pans and the one tilt?

    Thanks

    Brian
  • as you pan the mirror on a techno, the gobos/lithos will rotate.. thats just the way technos are.. theres nothing wrong when they do that... basically the gobo is "following" the mirror.. unless they are spinning ridiculously fast when panning.. as for the sens 2 error i just replaced a motor on mine for the gobo wheel and its working fine so far
  • as you pan the mirror on a techno, the gobos/lithos will rotate.. thats just the way technos are.. theres nothing wrong when they do that... basically the gobo is "following" the mirror.. unless they are spinning ridiculously fast when panning.. as for the sens 2 error i just replaced a motor on mine for the gobo wheel and its working fine so far
  • Richard,

    Thanks for the info. I had come to that realization, but it is nice to have the confirmation. I figured the litho rotation was to maintain its orientation as the mirror pans.
  • Just wanted to post a thank-you to all the very helpful posts on this forum (many of them several years old). I just finished rehabbing my first T-beam by replacing the Pan, Tilt, and Litho motors. Now I just have to tear into the second fixture and replace the Pan, and Litho motors and the FX driver gear. Also, thanks to Sean at Lightparts.com for making sure I got the right parts.
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