Hello friends,
I'm a volunteer lighting guy for my church. Recently I've been having issues with our two DJ Spot 250 units. Here's the problem. The units come when I select them. I can change the settings gobo's move, etc. once setup they remain stationary during the service. What happens is they after a short time the lamps turn off. Then after a while they both come back on. I haven't been able to time it but I'm guessing it is kind of random. I ordered new bulbs since they've never been changed and are about two years old now. I'm wondering if anyone else has had issues like this. Maybe an overheating issue? I'm open to ideas. Thanks in advance for any suggestions and advice.

Chris

Hi Chris and welcome to the forums.

Sounds like you are on the right track. Where are the lights located? Is it a well ventilated area? Since you have had the fixtures for 2 years now, have they ever been cleaned? It is quite possible the lamps are just going, about how many hours a week are they in use?

Hopefully you get those lamps and the issues go away. Let use know if there is anything else we can help you with. Once again, welcome to the forums.

Hi SerraAva,
The lights are on top of a wood soffet that contains ductwork for the hall. There are not many fixtures around and they have not been cleaned internally. I have cleaned externally around the fan and all several times over the past two years. Total hours per week is around 1- 1.5. They are not used in the summer as we only have one service so that number is probably closer to 1 per week. I ordered the lamps today and will give that a shot. Thanks for your time!

Chris

There may also be issues with duty cycles. Some fixtures have to have a period of "off" followed by a set maximum "on" period.

Not a like for like but my Mystic and my Sunray III High-Tech FX have 10 minute duty cycles On for 10 minutes, off for 10 minutes. I bounce back and forth between those two, and my Vertigo in the "old days".

I'm not sure if the DJ Spot 250 has a duty cycle. Check your manual. If it says "run all night", then you don't have duty cycle issues. ADJ is moving into their lights not needing to worry about duty cycle concerns, as are most other brands as well. The best part is they've found a way to do it without raising costs to end users, or maybe that's just due to inflation. Either way, it's a good direction to point in becuase it can be very easy to forget about duty cycles. Worse case is the bulb gets too hot and dies an early death.

Hmmm, might want to crack those suckers open and blow the dust out. Wiping down the outside is great, but doesn't help with the dust that accumulates on the inside. It is highly possible this is a temperature issue with the inside of the fixtures never being cleaned over the course of two years.

I generally break down and clean my fixtures once a month or every other month depending on usage. With how much you are using them, you could probably go once every 3-6 months to be honest. Normal usage before I clean them is somewhere between 30-40 hours with lamp struck.

Thanks for the tips. I'm going to change out the bulbs and give them a good cleaning. I'll let you know what I find out. Also, as far as duty cycle they used to run the entire hour long service with no interruptions. Now it seems like a matter of 5 or so minutes then they shut off and come back on. Thanks for the suggestions!

There was this place I worked with, let's just call it a bunch of California Indian Casino buttmunches, because I know if I said Cache Creek they'd get all urinary on me.

Oops. Well, they are still butt munches, if that can be used in a complimentary matter. I know it's a level they aspire to climb to.

They would clean their fixtures monthy. Since it was an install, they get a ton of usage. And if a bulb burns out or needs replacing, while they are up there, they clean out that fixture extra good. They always kept that on schedule. And their schedule was monthly.

SerraAva is right. Wiping down the outside is good for appearances, but it's what's inside that could be causing the problems. Plus, dust on your optics can cause some annoyances but ordinarily should not cause any real problems.

Wear some cotton or nitrile gloves when cleaning the insides, or at least take the bulb out first and DON'T TOUCH those bulbs. I got oily fingers so I gotta be extra careful. Thank goodness most bulbs have that foam-type sleeve. Makes a great grip for bulbs.

I also agree that based on your described usage, you're not going to need monthly cleanings. While I won't say that I agree or disagree with SerraAva's maintenance schedule, I do concur that in your case, monthly is definately overkill and that a more spaced out schedule would be more in order.

Here's the Latest. I think I may have found my issue. I took the units apart. Both had some dust inside but were not terrible. I did however notice that the fan on the one unit (near bulb) seemed to be "locked up", the second one moved but when I powered up the lights neither one ever came on. Is it possible I have a couple of bad fans? Is it possible to swap them out myself? They look like computer case fans in design. Can I order parts from American DJ? Thanks again for the suggestions.

Chris

Hello Chris. The fans not running may cause the unit to turn off one it reaches a certain temp. Here is a link for the parts availiable for the DJ SPOT 250. http://www.americandjparts.com...250W%20MOVING%20HEAD

Defiantly sounds like the problem to me. They also shouldn't be too hard to replace as well. Order the parts, take them down, and then I would call AMDJ service and I am sure someone can walk you through it. Just make sure to have the light in front of you at the time so it is easier.

Thanks for all the help! Parts are ordered and hopefully next week I'll have the issue resolved. I appreciate the willingness to help out someone you don't know with a problem.

Thanks again!
Chris

Hello All,
Sorry it took so long to reply. Thanks for all the advice. Replaced the fans in both units and they are like new. I appreciate the advice and assistance with our issue. Have a great day!

Chris