Control problems related to power failures

Power failures or even minor glitches to the power in the building can cause a variety of problems.  Here are a few things to check if you are having problems controlling any of the lighting instruments in the theaters. 

Problems with 3-phase power

• The portable dimmer bars in Matchbox 1, 2 and 3 are all powered by outlets that have 3-phase power running to them.  If we lose a leg of the 3-phase power, or there is a glitch for some reason, the dimmer bars could be affected and not work properly. 

• General symptoms of this would be that some of the dimmer bars are working, but not all of them, or addresses seem to be wrong.  They may also work only as a non-dim. 

Troubleshooting 3-phase power

• Each theater has a different set of breakers serving the 3-phase outlets located in different areas of the building. 

• The breaker panel for Matchbox 1 and 3 is located in the electrical closet between the booths of those two theaters; Matchbox 2 is in the General Storage closet on the 2nd floor; Matchbox 4 is located in the lighting/sound closet.

• The breakers for the 3-phase outlets will be larger and have 3 numbers identified with it.  To reset the 3-phase power, flip each breaker to cycle the power on the dimmer bars.  

Other power problems

• Power glitches can also cause the ETC rack and the switch that serves the ETC net to get "screwed up".  If a theater has no control of the lighting, and it's not something related to cable failure, or improperly set up equipment, you can check the ETC rack and dimmers.

• The ETC rack for Matchbox 1 and 3 are in the electrical closet between the booths for those theaters.  There are not any permanent dimmers in those theaters.

• The ETC rack and small rack of dimmers for Matchbox 2 are in the general storage closet.

• The ETC rack and Sensor dimmers for Matchbox 4 are in the lighting/sound storage closet.

• Things to check to see if the ETC rack needs to be reset. (please be sure to make note of any of the information you discover and report it to MATCH Production Manager)

  • Check the Paradigm system (see below) to see if you're getting any sort of error messages on the screen.  This will let you know if communication is happening properly from the ETC net.

  • Check the dimmers {Matchbox 2 and 4 only} (see below) to see if there is any sort of error message or indication of communication failure. 

  • Check the switch (see below) in the ETC rack to see if you're getting any sort of indication of communication failure.  Generally when the switch is operating normally, you will have all green flashing lights indicated on the various ports.  If there is a red indicator light, make note of what the indicator is.

  • To reset the system, press and hold the power button on the UPS at the bottom of the rack. That will reset the whole system which should get the system talking correctly.