How do I keep moisture out of LED DMX lines? Seems like the cable ends can be a tiny bit wet and my lights go beserk.
They are Chauvet Slim par 64's
They are Chauvet Slim par 64's
DMX and water..
- Thread starter Kemper Watson
- Start date
Re: DMX and water..
Get an IP rated fixture, and use the IP rated connectors. I have a feeling its not just the water that's causing the issue, do you have a terminator at the end of the DMX chain?
Get an IP rated fixture, and use the IP rated connectors. I have a feeling its not just the water that's causing the issue, do you have a terminator at the end of the DMX chain?
Re: DMX and water..
No terminator, but when its dry, they work fine. There may be a few mic cables in the mix. Gettin all DMX this week and a terminator as well. I want a splitter and a few are amplifiers as well. Will this help?
No terminator, but when its dry, they work fine. There may be a few mic cables in the mix. Gettin all DMX this week and a terminator as well. I want a splitter and a few are amplifiers as well. Will this help?
Re: DMX and water..
All DMX splitters also function as amplifiers.
Moisture can cause all sorts of issues. If you know it's going to get wet, the best approach is to use equipment and connectors designed for that environment. If the signal connections are getting wet, odds are that the power connections are as well, which can lead to an unsafe condition (electrocution hazard!).
All DMX splitters also function as amplifiers.
Moisture can cause all sorts of issues. If you know it's going to get wet, the best approach is to use equipment and connectors designed for that environment. If the signal connections are getting wet, odds are that the power connections are as well, which can lead to an unsafe condition (electrocution hazard!).
Re: DMX and water..
Amplifiers in DMX world are snake oil... Honestly the only time you should need an amplifier for a dmx run is if you are going over 300' anything less and there is no issue. The splitters will help you with your cable paths but whats going to make that difference is find a way to keep the lines from getting wet. A terminator can solve issues but it may not solve this issue.
Amplifiers in DMX world are snake oil... Honestly the only time you should need an amplifier for a dmx run is if you are going over 300' anything less and there is no issue. The splitters will help you with your cable paths but whats going to make that difference is find a way to keep the lines from getting wet. A terminator can solve issues but it may not solve this issue.
Silas Pradetto
Graduate Student
Re: DMX and water..
You are correct I had meters and feet mixed up, 300 meters is what I should have said.
Sent from my XT1060
You are correct I had meters and feet mixed up, 300 meters is what I should have said.
Sent from my XT1060
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Re: DMX and water..
While there are mixed stories regarding use of DMX line (120 ohm cable) vs audio cable (not 120 ohm) I would suggest getting all your Data lines run as data lines not on standard copper, Copper isn't just copper anymore. You may see a difference you may not but there is a reason Steve Terry helped make sure the spec for DMX required 120 ohm cable.
While there are mixed stories regarding use of DMX line (120 ohm cable) vs audio cable (not 120 ohm) I would suggest getting all your Data lines run as data lines not on standard copper, Copper isn't just copper anymore. You may see a difference you may not but there is a reason Steve Terry helped make sure the spec for DMX required 120 ohm cable.
Re: DMX and water..
Kemper,
Do you have any digital snakes? Cat5e - 6 will work fine for DMX. So you could just standardize your cables and have different break ins / outs for your different applications.
Sent from my iPhone
Kemper,
Do you have any digital snakes? Cat5e - 6 will work fine for DMX. So you could just standardize your cables and have different break ins / outs for your different applications.
Sent from my iPhone
Re: DMX and water..
After getting all DMX cables and the splitter I've found that some of my lights, Chauvet Slimpar 64 RGBA no longer pass DMX..Is this fixable? Or are they now trash?
After getting all DMX cables and the splitter I've found that some of my lights, Chauvet Slimpar 64 RGBA no longer pass DMX..Is this fixable? Or are they now trash?
Re: DMX and water..
Anything's fixable, it just comes down to time and cost. If you've verified that the fixtures are in the proper mode, that DMX data flows properly with the fixture bypassed, and that the XLR connectors are actually making good contact, the issue is probably internal to the fixture. An internal failure is probably the RS485 transciever chip, or any related protection circuitry (likely to be minimal on this fixture). If you know your way around PCBs and are decent with a soldering iron, repair shouldn't take longer than an hour or so (probably less), and you'll pay more in postage than for the parts. On the other hand, an hour of bench time for a bench tech equipped to do SMT rework will probably be more than the fixture is worth, so repair probably isn't worth it unless you do it yourself.
Anything's fixable, it just comes down to time and cost. If you've verified that the fixtures are in the proper mode, that DMX data flows properly with the fixture bypassed, and that the XLR connectors are actually making good contact, the issue is probably internal to the fixture. An internal failure is probably the RS485 transciever chip, or any related protection circuitry (likely to be minimal on this fixture). If you know your way around PCBs and are decent with a soldering iron, repair shouldn't take longer than an hour or so (probably less), and you'll pay more in postage than for the parts. On the other hand, an hour of bench time for a bench tech equipped to do SMT rework will probably be more than the fixture is worth, so repair probably isn't worth it unless you do it yourself.