Lighting
Martin ERA 400 Performance troubleshooting
The Martin ERA 400 Performance problems live-event techs bring to Ask Roadie most (also called ERA 400, ERA400). 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 ERA 400 Performance 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.
- Step-by-step fixGet the fix →
An effect (gobo, prism, iris, framing blade) is stuck, mis-indexed, or parked out of position but the fixture is otherwise alive.
Likely cause: Effect motors are stepper-driven with an optical home flag; a reset forces them to re-find home, which clears a mis-count caused by a knock, a fast move, or a brownout.
- Step-by-step fixGet the fix →
Dimming looks steppy/coarse at low levels, or you want a tungsten-style slow fade.
Likely cause: Perceived stepping at the bottom of a fade is a curve issue, not a hardware fault; a non-linear curve reallocates the 16-bit dimmer resolution to where the eye is most sensitive.
- Step-by-step fixGet the fix →
Fixture brought in from a cold truck/storage then powered up — risk of condensation damage, plus general power-up behavior.
Likely cause: Condensation on live PCBs/optics after a cold-to-warm swing can short electronics or fog the optics; a warm-up delay lets moisture evaporate before power is applied.
- Step-by-step fixGet the fix →
Fixture does not respond to DMX / console; the fixture display is flashing.
Likely cause: The flashing-display indicator isolates the fault to lost/garbled DMX.
- Step-by-step fixGet the fix →
Fixture goes to black (or freezes on last look) whenever the console/DMX is disconnected, and you want to control that behavior.
Likely cause: The fixture has a defined loss-of-signal behavior; picking BLACKOUT vs HOLD deliberately prevents a surprise when a cable pulls or the console reboots.
- Step-by-step fixGet the fix →
Fixture shuts down, dims itself, or the display shows high temperatures / it has been running hot.
Likely cause: The fixture is temperature-regulated and will protect itself as it approaches limits.
- Step-by-step fixGet the fix →
How to check and update the fixture firmware (fixture software) version.
Likely cause: Firmware fixes indexing/behavior bugs and can change menu options between revisions; using the correct Companion tool and the right download avoids bricking, and clarifying the P3-vs-fixture distinction prevents a common mistake.
- Step-by-step fixGet the fix →
One control channel (a single effect or pan/tilt) is unresponsive or only responds intermittently while the rest of the fixture works.
Likely cause: If only one channel misbehaves while everything else runs, DMX and power are fine; the break is mechanical/electrical at that one motor or its cable.
- Step-by-step fixGet the fix →
Setting DMX address and choosing the control mode / channel count.
Likely cause: Address plus personality must agree between fixture and console.
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 ERA 400 Performance
- 1. Pick the Martin ERA 400 Performance. 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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