The world of intelligent lighting can sometimes be confusing. You may at times wonder if the
lighting is more intelligent than you are. The next section lists a few common problems you may
encounter, with solutions.
No light from the unit
Check the ‘Power on’ (red) LED is lit and the fan is running. If not, there is no mains supply. Check
your mains wiring and the fuse in the back panel.
Check if the lamp is alight. You should be able to see some light escaping through the fan. If power
is present but the lamp is not alight it may need replacing.
Note: if the unit is in standby mode because all its control channels are at ‘zero’ position, it may
have turned the lamp off. Set some controls to non-zero positions.
If the lamp is alight, check that the unit is not in “blackout”. If you are using a controller, change
the setting. If in stand alone mode, tap the microphone.
Unit not responding to DMX
Check if the green DMX LED is lit. If not, check that your DMX cables are connected properly and
are wired correctly (the unit is wired with pin 2 ‘hot’; some controllers may have pin 3 ‘hot’). Also
check you have connected the cables to the right connectors; it does matter which way round they
are.
If the DMX LED (green) on the rear of the unit is lit, the unit is definitely receiving DMX but is
probably not responding to the channel you think it is. Check the dipswitch settings. Also check the
DMX polarity, as the green LED can sometimes light when the DMX is inverted.
If you have intermittent DMX problems, one ‘leg’ of the DMX may be disconnected, either in this
unit or the previous one, or in your wiring (sometimes the connectors become loose on the
electronics board). The DMX may work intermittently using the mains earth as a ‘common’.
Try using a different DMX source (controller or another scan) to check if that is the problem.
If you’ve tried all these and the DMX still doesn’t work, the DMX interface circuit may have been
damaged by a line transient or induced interference (this happens occasionally). The unit will
require repair. Check where your DMX cables run - if they are near or run alongside high voltage
cables, power lines, or neon, you may have problems.
Some units respond to the controller, others do something different
You have a break in the DMX cabling - one unit is not receiving the DMX and is generating its own
light show. Check the green LED’s - one of the units which is misbehaving will be flashing its green
LED in time to the music. The DMX link between this unit and the previous one is faulty.
Unit does not respond to sound
Check that the unit is not receiving DMX (the green LED should be off). Also check that the unit is
not set to ‘display’ mode (see page 6) as it does not respond to sound in this mode. Otherwise,
tapping the microphone should cause the green LED to flash. Quiet or high pitched sounds will not
activate the unit.
Unit keeps resetting itself intermittently
Sometimes the fuse holder on the electronics board becomes loose. This results in an intermittent
power supply, which may cause the unit to reset itself. You can rectify this by removing the fuse
and squeezing the terminals on the fuse holder gently together. This fault can sometimes cause the
fuseholder to get hot and desolder itself from the board, so check that as well.
If still you cannot resolve the problem, it may be that the unit has a fault. You should contact your
Abstract dealer for assistance. If you have Internet access you can go to:
http:\\www.abstract-lighting.co.uk
which has a technical help page.
Abstract CE Manual
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