Service Man Diary - Zooming Malfunction in the Par Light

Hello, everyone!
It’s that time of year again when the sunlight feels harsh. Personally, I’m someone who avoids the sun, so sunlight actually feels like needles to me—painful. Anyway, onto today’s story.

This time, I’ll be repairing an Elation FUZE PAR Z120IP that was brought in with a malfunctioning zoom function.

Elation / FUZE PAR Z120IP Waterproof LED Par Light

This rugged LED par light comes equipped with waterproof features, making it versatile for both indoor and outdoor use. Despite its powerful 120W RGBW LED, it also includes a zoom function, allowing it to serve as both a spotlight and a wash light for various applications.

Let’s see what’s going on.

First, I’d like to turn it on to check the zoom function, but…

The display is stuck on “Zoom Reset...” and won’t move on.

It seems like something is preventing the zoom lens from returning to its home position. On top of that, there’s a clunking noise, like something’s not moving smoothly.

It’s likely that the motor has some sort of issue—perhaps the motor or shaft is damaged, or maybe something inside is obstructing the movement.

Let’s turn it off and take a look inside.

(Paka!)

This is the zoom lens mechanism.

The spiral shaft connected to the motor rotates, moving the lens up and down.

There are two motors, one on each side. If either motor fails, the lens can’t move up or down properly.
Initially, I assumed the motor was defective, but it seems to be functioning normally—no signs of seizing.

If the motor is rotating, it’s hard to believe the motor itself is the cause...

The zoom lens isn’t setting itself to the original position...

It’s not booting up...

What could be the cause?

Oh, wait! The answer was right there when I first opened the casing!

The socket is halfway out!

This must be it... This suspicious connection feels like a jackpot moment.

Let’s plug it in.

The moment of truth.

3…

2…

1…

Ta-da!

It booted up!

I can’t believe such a small issue caused the whole system to fail.
In any case, plugging the wire back in fixed the problem, so that’s a relief.

By the way, this is a magnetic sensor.

There’s a magnet on the lens, and when the lens moves and aligns with the sensor, a signal is sent to the control board.
This sets the home position, allowing the motor to adjust the lens position according to the programmed movements.

In this case, the problem was that the wiring to the sensor board had come loose, preventing the lens position from being detected. Fortunately, there was no other damage.
The repair is now complete.

(Thumbs up to the FUZE PAR Z120IP for staying strong with no major issues!)

Given that it’s summer and there’s a lot of event movement, it’s possible the socket came loose from vibrations during transportation.

I had braced myself for a motor issue, but thankfully it was a simple fix.

That wraps up this repair diary. Thanks for reading, and see you next time!