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View Full Version : Just bought a Followspot 1200



Ntertainment
05-02-2012, 11:43 AM
I was going to rent a followspot 1200 for an event coming up, they wanted to rent me 1 @$150 or 2 @250. I was fine with that. I thought i'd ask how much to buy, they wanted just under $1800 that includes the case, and stand though. I searched online and found them at musicians friend for a whopping $220 a piece with free shipping.

I wanted to wait until they showed up to make sure everything was legit before i posted, but yeah I bought 2 of them at this price and might buy some more just for the cases, and pieces. They were $220 with free shipping, stand, light, case, lamp and they are huge. Looks like they have since changed there deal, sorry i didn't post right away i was pretty skeptical that it was just the light, no case, no lamp, no stand... and didn't want to

Does anyone know why they would have done this???

Ntertainment
05-02-2012, 03:31 PM
These lights come with bare wires on the end. I installed a 115v plug on it plugged them in and everything except for the lamp worked. I called chauvet, he told me the need 220v of power. How do i get that kind of power if the venue doesn't have an outlet available?

Mystic
05-02-2012, 03:57 PM
You could get a distro but you'd need an electrician to tie you into 3 phase to do it. A lot of people have said that many hotels and common wedding venues have 220v outlets but I've never seen one myself in the room I was in.

BillESC
05-02-2012, 09:09 PM
Maybe they were selling them for $ 220.00 because a fixture requiring 220v is stupid and will require the owner to spend money on a distribution system and pay licensed electrician every time you want to use it.

JPelli73
05-02-2012, 09:20 PM
Why do you need a distro box? Could the OP by a step up transformer rated for 2000 watts or so ($60) and be good to go?

Pelli

Ntertainment
05-02-2012, 11:28 PM
Yes what about a step up transformer?

Mystic
05-03-2012, 09:30 AM
Never used one myself, but I'd assume that would work? I'm guessing the lamp is 1200w?

DJ M&M
05-03-2012, 09:45 AM
step ups work, but if theres anything else running on that circuit you;ll more then likely trip the breaker (speaking from experince)

JPelli73
05-03-2012, 09:43 PM
That's true- you would want a 15A circuit by itself or a 20A circuit you could share with something else.

I use step up transformers at work all the time- one office in US, one in Germany, not enough universal power supplies :-)

Pelli

Ntertainment
05-04-2012, 10:41 AM
I got it figured out, turns out the plug i bought had a different wiring configuration than the followspot did. I had the ground and on of the hot wires switched on the plug so it still wasn't getting enough power. Holy cow are these things bright. I'm having the hotel make sure that we have enough power available. Obviously this is an add on at this point for normal events, and they will have to provide enough power for them.

Silver Man
05-04-2012, 12:46 PM
I got it figured out, turns out the plug i bought had a different wiring configuration than the followspot did. I had the ground and on of the hot wires switched on the plug so it still wasn't getting enough power. Holy cow are these things bright. I'm having the hotel make sure that we have enough power available. Obviously this is an add on at this point for normal events, and they will have to provide enough power for them.


In reading this, it sounds like you still have it wired wrong. A 220v fixture is designed to run off a 220v line. By only running off a 110v line, you are only giving 1/2 the power needed to run the fixture. If you are plugging this into a regular house outlet, then you are still not wired right. If the fixture only has 3 wires, there is going to be 2 hot lines and 1 ground on the fixture. If there are 4 wires, then there is 2 hot, 1 common, and 1 ground. A common 110v line will only have 1 hot, 1 common, and 1 ground connection. If you are not sure how to hook up the fixture to a 220v line, leave the fixture unplugged until you can talk to an electrician. There is no correct way to plug a 220v fixture directly into a 110v outlet (standard house outlet.) You would need to plug it into either the dryer, range, or an outlet of the same type that is 220v.

Incognito
05-04-2012, 03:13 PM
These lights come with bare wires on the end. I installed a 115v plug on it plugged them in and everything except for the lamp worked. I called chauvet, he told me the need 220v of power. How do i get that kind of power if the venue doesn't have an outlet available?

You do realize that these products do come with this thing called a manual right? If you open this manual to page 7 it tells you everything you need to know & you would see that you presently have this thing wired incorrectly. It states that this light requires either 208 volts or 230 volts, you also need to be sure to set the correct frequency (60hz for the U.S.) & even on the actual barrier strip where you make your connections it tells you this is a 208/230 volt device.

http://www.chauvetlighting.com/products/manuals/Followspot_1200_UM_Rev5_WO.pdf

http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/9777/voltagesetting.jpg

you're going to require two hot wires fed from an appropriately sized double pole breaker (making sure they're from two separate phases of the panel & if you're in an industrial or commercial building then beware of high legs) & a ground.

Ntertainment
05-04-2012, 10:50 PM
In reading this, it sounds like you still have it wired wrong. A 220v fixture is designed to run off a 220v line. By only running off a 110v line, you are only giving 1/2 the power needed to run the fixture. If you are plugging this into a regular house outlet, then you are still not wired right. If the fixture only has 3 wires, there is going to be 2 hot lines and 1 ground on the fixture. If there are 4 wires, then there is 2 hot, 1 common, and 1 ground. A common 110v line will only have 1 hot, 1 common, and 1 ground connection. If you are not sure how to hook up the fixture to a 220v line, leave the fixture unplugged until you can talk to an electrician. There is no correct way to plug a 220v fixture directly into a 110v outlet (standard house outlet.) You would need to plug it into either the dryer, range, or an outlet of the same type that is 220v.

Silver

I'm sure i didn't say it correctly but i did exactly what you said. I bought a plug for a standard dryer and put that on the bear wires. I had one of the hots connected to the ground and your right it was getting half the power, which explains why everything except for the bulb worked. I then switched them and it lit up and performed how it should.

Incognito

I read the page of the manual and changed it to 230 60hz, in other wards cable one is on terminal #1 and 2 is on terminal #5. Which when i talked to an electrician he said that everything can except between +- 4% of its stated voltage, so when I plugged it into my dryer outlet it worked just fine.

I'm not sure what the event has for power just yet. But let’s say they have 3 phase 208, then I’m assuming that all 3 of my cables will go to a hot connection and i will have no ground?? I haven’t looked this up yet, so don't freak out if I’m wrong.

Incognito
05-05-2012, 03:28 AM
Incognito

I read the page of the manual and changed it to 230 60hz, in other wards cable one is on terminal #1 and 2 is on terminal #5. Which when i talked to an electrician he said that everything can except between +- 4% of its stated voltage, so when I plugged it into my dryer outlet it worked just fine.

I'm not sure what the event has for power just yet. But let’s say they have 3 phase 208, then I’m assuming that all 3 of my cables will go to a hot connection and i will have no ground?? I haven’t looked this up yet, so don't freak out if I’m wrong.
No, you'll want to still deliver 208 volts from a 3 phase panel by still only using two of the three phases (again wired to a double pole breaker) & you'll still use a ground.

Incognito
05-05-2012, 03:49 AM
Silver

I'm sure i didn't say it correctly but i did exactly what you said. I bought a plug for a standard dryer and put that on the bear wires. I had one of the hots connected to the ground and your right it was getting half the power, which explains why everything except for the bulb worked. I then switched them and it lit up and performed how it should.



Something wrong here, if you wired a hot wire to the ground then your breaker SHOULD of tripped so I would say for you to have an electrician take a look at your panel since the main safety feature the breaker is designed for isn't doing it's job thus creating a very dangerous potential. The chassis of this light fixture should of became live (is the chassis of this light fixture metal?) thus making for a shock hazard.

Ntertainment
05-05-2012, 11:49 AM
Yes chassis is metal. I'll talk to our land lord about the breaker panel not functioning correctly. So if I'm given 3 phase power I just wire two of the cables to hot and then one ground? Why doesn't the light news all three phases to work correctly?

Incognito
05-05-2012, 03:36 PM
Yes chassis is metal. I'll talk to our land lord about the breaker panel not functioning correctly. So if I'm given 3 phase power I just wire two of the cables to hot and then one ground? Why doesn't the light news all three phases to work correctly?

Because that's not how the light was designed to function as shown in the manual.

http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/9777/voltagesetting.jpg

BillESC
05-07-2012, 01:41 PM
Ntertainment, I'd suggest you not wire anything as it is obvious you know nothing about electricity and may create a danger not only to yourself but others as well.

Ntertainment
05-09-2012, 10:47 PM
I wired the cable and everything worked perfectly. I spoke to a few electrians on the subject and while i understand people not wanting to create liability by giving advice, it's stupid to hold back what you know. I'm not an idiot electricty isn't a mystery there are rules and if you follow them then your fine.

Bill what kind of reading could I do on this matter, also do you have recomendations for reading on rigging??

Dave Daschofsky
05-09-2012, 11:52 PM
If it's got 3 wires it's probably european 220v. you can replace the transformer and convert it to 110v but they're pretty expensive. You can get devices that plug into two 110 outlets to give you a 220v outlet for couple hundred dollars too.

If you convert it from 220 to 110 keep in mind that it'll draw double the amps, so if it's 1200w it'll be 2400w after and will probably blow breakers.

andythemusician
05-15-2012, 10:29 AM
Maybe they were selling them for $ 220.00 because a fixture requiring 220v is stupid

Not if you're in every other continent :)

Incognito
05-15-2012, 09:54 PM
If it's got 3 wires it's probably european 220v. you can replace the transformer and convert it to 110v but they're pretty expensive. You can get devices that plug into two 110 outlets to give you a 220v outlet for couple hundred dollars too.

If you convert it from 220 to 110 keep in mind that it'll draw double the amps, so if it's 1200w it'll be 2400w after and will probably blow breakers.

It tells you right in the manual that this light fixture is both U.S. as well as European rated (50hz, 60hz).

2,400 watts is 20 amps, that would mean he would require either a 25 amp (not commonly found but they do exist) or 30 amp breaker & appropriately sized wire.