A Great Legacy – Tiger Systems

Mode Lighting’s Tiger dimming system has been around for over 20 years and is a real workhorse of the leisure retail industry.

These dimmers have evolved over the years most noticeable in the last couple of years with a face lift on the scene plates using a similar format to the evolution system single gang plates.

With these systems in exsistance in so many premises though out the UK and across the world I thought it might be helpful to point out a couple of maintenance issues that can crop up on these units over the years.

Indicator Lights:

The tiger panels have a number of useful indicator lights which give a good starting point to fault finding.

  • Phase presence indicator lights : Three green or orange indicators letting you know that you have incoming phases present. (NB: prior to any internal fuses)
  • Channel indicator lamps : The red indicator lamps on the dimmer cards are indicative of the control output of the relevant channel.

Electronics Fuses:

For any maintenance engineer these should be the first place to start. The power supply board on a Tiger panel has three 20mm  500mA fuses (one per phase) located next to the phase presence indicator lights. These electronics fuses provide the low voltage control supply to the dimmer cards. The supply is spread across the three phases equally and so the tell tale sign for a blown electronic fuse is the non-operation of a number of circuits on the same or adjacent dimmer cards.

DMX Inputs:

The DMX inputs on tiger systems are really useful for taking control of a system from a DMX lighting desk however in a number of installations they remain unused. These inputs take over control of the lighting channels from the scene plates when a dmx signal is detected on the input. As standard at commissioning time  it is best practice to short out the DMX data in to avoid noise problems. The tell tale of this fault is when the plates give no operation over all channels in the complete system.

Triac Faults:

This fault should be familiar to all those who maintain lighting control systems when a triac fails it usually fails short circuit meaning that the output of the dimmer always receives 240v non-dimmed and hence the faulty circuit remains on at 100% regardless of the control logic.  Triacs for tiger dimmers can be replaced easily using non-solder connections.

Warning:

Only competent persons should attempting to carry out maintenance on lighting control panels .

Lighting control panels have 240v and often 440V supply present and you should ensure and  isolate supply to panels before removing panel covers.

Edin DSI Convertor solution

Installation of the New Mode Lighting Edin Din rail products.

This recent small works solution designed as a simple bolt-on to an existing LEAX Panel and an centralised emergency lighting system fed from an inverter.

The Edin panel takes over the DSI control of four channels of emergency lighting in the event of a power failure ensuring that the lighting is ramped up to an emergency level.

Dimming Voltmaster – Intelligent transformers!



Working on a recent project I came across these interesting transformers.

They allow connection of lov voltage lighting at greatly increased distance from the transformer while maintaining an optimum voltage.

The system uses a sensing cable which provides a feedback loop (similar in concept to those used in analogue sound processing) to monitor the lamp voltage and voltage drop in the cable and hence compensates for any variation and stabalises the lamp voltage.

The box itself houses a large transformer at the top with an electronic controller below. The units provide luxury service to the halogen lamps giving improved brightness, better colour rendering, longer lamp life and lovely smooth dimming.

The units can be controlled by 1-10v and 0-10v control as standard with DSI and DALI versions available.

These transformers hark back to the old days of centralised transformers but without all the cooper! They offer an alternative to leading edge dimming systems and provide a great solution.

More details:

Multiload

Be sure to check out the MLC2500 Lamp conserver product from the same manufacturer.

Ethernet to DMX control via Crestron

I am currently working on a module for control of a Ethernet DMX Node from a Creston Control system.

With the DMX standard being used more and more in architectural lighting a solid Ethernet DMX Node and integration module is a must for many projects!

QMU Scene Setting Capability

A recent visit to Queen Margaret university to make changes to their lighting control system has led to a proposal being completed with a potential further integration between the existing lighting control systems and multiple crestron systems.

The additional functionality will provide a password protected screen for the use of maintenance staff allowing the setting and saving of scene levels and testing of circuits.

We are ideally positioned having an understanding of both systems allows us to maximise their potential for the customer.

Control 4 Mode Lighting Integration

We have just completed integration of a mode Evolution system with a Control 4 home control system.

The integration is a true integration with the manufacturer written control 4 drivers allowing full two way control of the mode lighting system including dimmers, relays and control plates.

I was working on this project for Mode Lighting along with Garry Mcdermott of Home Innovation

Mode Lighting – Edin Ipad integration

I received a message from head of R&D at Mode Lighting this morning to let me know that they are nearing completion of their Iphone app for controlling Edin Systems. The Edin Network processor should also alo contol over exsisting installations using the Iphone , Ipad and Itouch devices. Watch this space for more info:

First pictures of the Mode eDIN Network Processor’s Floorplan plugin-software-app running on Apple’s brand-new iPad.

iPad users can navigate a building and use the multi-touch features of the iPad to zoom into areas. Energy usage is shown live on the screen.

Users can lighting levels globally, or by area or by channel. Users can select scenes and even make adjustments to levels using the touch-screen.

Come and see a live demonstration at the Light&Building trade fair, hall 4.1 stand D11.

Personal Controls Programming

We often program properties for developers with a simple but usable “show flat” configuration. This gives the basic requirements that allow a system’s potential to be demonstrated.

When the property is sold we are called back to personalise the lighting system for the new owners. We generally go in a couple of weeks after the new owners have moved in as this gives a chance to get used to the space and how they are going to use it. The programming visit lasts a day with a consultation followed by a full re-program and a full demonstration.

We recently completed just one of these visits for some new owners in an East lothian property and were asked to return to assist with the setup and commissioning of the multi room AV system in addition to the work on the lighting control system.

Remote Control

We wish them all the best in their new home.

Lighting Design Qualifications

Lighting Control’s Neil Silver has recently completed the LIF Certificate course.   The course is designed to educate in all aspects of lighting and is recognised as such across the lighting industry.

 

The award of the Certificate is also recognised by SLL (The Society of Light and Lighting) as partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the SLL Lighting Diploma.

The course included a large practical design exercise which involved a complete lighting design for the interior of a multiuse building environment.

Neil’s submission was recognised with a high grade due to it’s quality and comprehensive completion of the design task.

 

Pronto Programming

The Lighting Control team recently carried out programming of a Phillips pronto 9600 controller for a small meeting room installation carried out by our sister company SI Sound and light.

The control is using an AMX presentation switcher with wireless control by a Pronto 9600 and a RFX9600 extender.

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