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High End Systems SolaWash 2000 troubleshooting
The High End Systems SolaWash 2000 problems live-event techs bring to Ask Roadie most (also called Sola Wash 2000, SolaWash). Pick your symptom, or describe your own in plain words, and get the likeliest fix first, with the manual page when there is one.
Common SolaWash 2000 errors & problems
What techs run into most, and what's usually behind it. The step-by-step fix for your exact unit is in Ask Roadie.
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A color flag, zoom, or pan/tilt sits slightly off its correct home reference
Likely cause: Homing re-references all features to their sensors; Calibration stores a per-feature offset for mechanical drift and is deliberately protected from factory reset so field alignment is not lost.
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Confusion between "SolaWash 2000" and "SolaWash Pro 2000" — which profile/parts to use
Likely cause: ETC rebranded the Pro 2000 as the SolaWash 2000 in 2016 and changed color mixing from wheels to flags for tighter fixture-to-fixture consistency, but kept the control footprint identical so one profile serves both.
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Display shows a "Pan" or "Tilt" error after power-up homing sequence
Likely cause: A Pan/Tilt error means the yoke or head magnetic-indexing circuit did not confirm the home position after reset.
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Display shows a "Zoom" error after homing
Likely cause: Same Sola-series homing logic: the fixture confirms each motorized feature is at home via a magnetic sensor.
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Fixture does not respond, or several fixtures react together, on the DMX line
Likely cause: 36-channel spacing prevents address overlap; termination and correct cable prevent signal corruption on the RS-485 bus.
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Fixture drifts, holds, or goes dark when the console/DMX signal is lost
Likely cause: The fixture has a defined fallback behavior on DMX loss; unexpected blackout or movement is almost always the No DMX Mode / Hibernation configuration rather than a fault.
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Front-panel menu is locked / display is upside-down when hung vertically
Likely cause: The UI supports a lock to prevent accidental changes and a 180° flip for vertical mounting; both are configuration states, not faults.
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Need to update firmware / check the current version
Likely cause: The Sola family shares one uploader tool; matching the fixture to the latest signed image from ETC ensures bug fixes and correct console-profile behavior.
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On the bench the head snaps back when you try to move pan/tilt by hand
Likely cause: The pan/tilt encoders provide closed-loop position hold; disabling them lets you reposition by hand without the motors driving back to setpoint.
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Pan/tilt mis-steps or loses position when the fixture is side-hung / outrigged
Likely cause: When gravity loads the movement differently (side-hung), the default acceleration profile can drop steps.
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RDM devices intermittently drop off or collide on the data run
Likely cause: RDM addresses devices by unique UID; collisions from duplicates or non-RDM splitters break the bidirectional discovery/response traffic.
Not on the list? Describe it your way, or paste the error code off the display. Ask Roadie works the problem with you until it's fixed or you have a clear next move.
How Ask Roadie helps with the SolaWash 2000
- 1. Pick the High End Systems SolaWash 2000. It's already in the list.
- 2. Describe what you're seeing. In your own words, or the error code off the screen.
- 3. Get the likeliest fix first. Steps in order, the manual page when there is one, and a note when other techs have confirmed it.
- 4. Still broken? Tap 👎 and it keeps going from where you left off.
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