Ok the last fault (the mirrow wheel falling off) was a one off freak occurance i can live with that. But now i have realised that the fans are faulty on both my units. I have to kick start the fans with a pen or small screw driver. They have only done 4 gigs and it was last week when i thought there was a bit of an funny smell from something and when i looked one fan was still and the light was very hot.

Last night both fans were still and both lights were cooking, i kick started the fans and they ran for the duration but thats not good, the lights wont last long doing that will they.

have you seen any simular issues, if not i would check if i were you.

I assume you've sorted this now?

The capacitor that smooths the feed to the fans can go dry jointed, worth checking this.

The Sunon fan is a high speed one that needs replacing like for like to keep that Datamoon cool, the legendary long lamp life is surely due to the fixture being cooled properly unlike many cheap effects.

I've seen Datamoons come in for repair that have had mains AC fans substituted for the DC one (tagged across the incoming supply) because the owner has fitted a new DC fan and it hadn't worked because the supply rail itself was faulty. Needless to say the mains AC fan wasn't strong enough (DC fans are usually stronger) and the effect had overheated.

Nope



Intermittent fault, i hate intermittent faults, they never occur when somebody else is watching. 1 unit has performed perfectly tonight where as 1 needed a kickstart. Neither showed any problems when i took that backto the shop - They are good fans when they work as they do keep the units cool and i only need to run them for 2/3 miuntes at the end of a night to cool them right down before packing up.

thanks ssdj

Well first of all, check for the dry joints on the pcb as I said, particularly around D1,2,3 and C3,4. If this doesnt cure it then £12 on a new fan is probably money well spent! These DC fans are electronically commutated and its quite common for them to develop this reluctance to start without a flick, depending on where the blades stop.

Farnell are probably your best bet for Sunon fans; Papst do an equivalent but it'll probably be slightly dearer.

Surely if its still under warranty, it'd be best to get it fixed, but then intermittent faults are a right pain - they never go faulty when you want them to!

grr!


David

Thats half the problem, they still are otherwise i would do what ssdj says and have a good look. Like i said i took them back to the shop and they both worked perfectly. If i sent them for a warranty repair they would prpbable charge me.

will see what happens over time and make sure i get a warranty repair if they get worse.

The datamoons are a great light in respect of the functions available and i would certainly pay a bit more for better technology. A chassis mount IEC socket and 3 pin dmx would be a good start, with a seperate port for the controller.

Dave

I'd tell the dealer to listen to what you're saying and get their finger out, then. You say the fans don't always start, tell the dealer to get it sorted!

Sorry to hear about the problems. Warranty is with dealer so it is down to him to sort......never tried this - but have you tried turning on the light with a pen in the fan - that could stop it start so you could show him the kick needed - else it could break the fan a bit more which is not a good option.

i have had my data moons of 12 years now - and never had any problems except the mirror disc falling off and one has a defective microphone so no sound to light, but it was delivered like that i just never complained.

I wouldnt stick anything in the fan, especially not in front of a dealer whom you're trying to claim warranty from!

Besides, many DC fans will automatically cut out if the impeller is blocked to prevent further damage.