Troubleshooting

Problem solved

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Troubleshoot (verb)/ˈtrəbəlˌSHo͞ot/ 

The act of determining what's giving you trouble, tracing it back to its source, and restoring it to working order

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Just when everything was going great and you looked like a rockstar Master Electrician for everything going so smoothly, something stops working.

Things go wrong all the time, but don't let it stop you in your tracks. Your worth to the crew will increase by becoming the problem solver. Jump in there. Start looking for the source of the problem, how to fix it now, and how to prevent that from happening again in the future.

Where to Start

Start from a specific place and work your way out.

In general:

Lights

Start with the fixture and work your way back

Is the light not turning on? Check down the line:

>Shutters - Are they closed?

->Lamp - Is there one inside? Is it blown?

-->Cable - Is the fixture plugged in? Are all connections secure? Are connectors wired correctly?

--->Circuit - Is the fixture plugged into the circuit it's supposed to be in?

---->Dimmer - Is the dimmer on and working?

----->Patch - Is the fixture patched properly?

Note: Hot Patch: Something is plugged into a circuit that is always hot/turned on

         Hard Patch: Physically plugging, say, a circuit to a dimmer

         Soft Patch: Which address/dimmer goes to which channel in the console

------>Operator error: Did you select the correct channel? Is the Master Fader down? Are you in Blind mode?

------->Console - Are all necessary cables and power sources plugged in? All DMX, power, etc.

-------->DMX - Is it addressed & wired correctly?

--------->Power - Power strip on? Plugged in all the way?

---------->Building - Is every third light off? You've got a bigger problem. Check your fuses

Sound

Start with the mic and work your way back

Mic not working? Check down the line:

I don't know as much about sound, but I'll seek out the proper troubleshooting questions. As a first step, here are the things to check

>Mic

->Phantom Power

-->Cable

--->Amps

---->Speakers

----->Console

------>Power

------->Building

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Granted, there are many different kinds of problems that can arise.

My advice:

If there's something you can't figure out from what's written above, chances are, you're not the first person who has ever encountered this problem. When this happens, turn to Google.

If it's a fixture issue, like "why won't my LED's work anymore?" seek out its manual. All fixture manuals are online unless it's something homemade.

If you can't figure out what fixture you have because it doesn't have a label of any kind, try googling a fixture that has the same features.

If that doesn't work, take pictures of it and post them to the forum on ControlBooth.com or reddit.com/r/techtheatre and see if anyone else can identify what you have there.

Also, always be sure to save your shows externally in case the console dies. That's just a good thing to do as a fail-safe. And SAVE FREQUENTLY. You'll thank yourself if things go wrong.