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Triacs going bad on many of my controllers


stanward

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Hello,

Last year, I had a total of 192 channels and had 1 bad triac out of the entire season.

This year, I had 4 bad triacs across 3 controllers, some newly built this year and some built last year.

What gives????

stan

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stanward wrote:

Hello,

Last year, I had a total of 192 channels and had 1 bad triac out of the entire season.

This year, I had 4 bad triacs across 3 controllers, some newly built this year and some built last year.

What gives????

stan


Don't know.

With 30 controllers, I have never had a bad triac.
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I've got my first bad one this year. I'd like to hear how difficult it is to replace one. My soldering skills are a step above rudimemtary so I'm needing to decide whether to just get the part or send the board in after the season.

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Hi George
This year I to have lost quite few triacs, last year I only lost 4 and it took me about 40 minutes to replace them, I only occasional solder and I had no problems at all so I think you will be fine
:cool:

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Wow, 30 controllers and not 1 bad Triac? Are all of your controllers the PC models, or the more expensive Showtime stuff?

All of my 16 controllers are the PC models and I built them myself. I do have a digital temp controlled soldering iron and I do use a anti-static wrist strap and anti-static mat when working on my controllers.

Stan

JBullard wrote:

stanward wrote:
Hello,

Last year, I had a total of 192 channels and had 1 bad triac out of the entire season.

This year, I had 4 bad triacs across 3 controllers, some newly built this year and some built last year.

What gives????

stan


Don't know.

With 30 controllers, I have never had a bad triac.
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Maybe it's just my good luck, but I also have not had a bad triac in 6 years and now up to 40 controllers.

All boards were purchased already assembled, they are all connected to GFCI outlets, and are relatively lightly-loaded.

Are there any common themes for those who have lost triacs? GFCIs? Heavy Loads?

Randy

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Hi Randy,

All controllers are plugged into a GFCI outlet. Only one may be more loaded than the others, but that one never got a case of a bad triac. The channels with the bad triac either had an LED light string or an incandescent mini light string.

I do have a TVSS (Transient Voltage Surge Suppressor) that is installed into the load center that serves ALL of my LOR equipment.

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I always keep an assortment of extra tips of various sizes in inventory.

Lot's of other accessories are very handy, depending on what you are working on and your skill level to use them.

I also prefer a large bench mounted illuminated swivel arm magnifier. In my opinion, at my age and my eyes, it is a must for me.

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I too have 1 bad triac that I bought this year and I plan to send it back once the season is over.

I cannot speak for the other five controllers that I have no pig tails for. However the 15 controllers that are outside keep on trucking each season.

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I am running sixteen controllers this year and no problems yet.

Replaced two last year my mistake , very simple job replacing them just need a good soldering Iron and solder sucker .

If you have basic technical skills very simple to do if you just do it in steps and take your time.


George send your board my way and I will repair it for you in exchange for a Pink Floyd sequence:P

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My first failure was last year on a 2010 vintage controller. I've had two more his year. I have not yet checked to see if i can tell if they are also 2010 boxes. Sometimes you just get a bad batch of parts that make it through testing before you realize that more are failing than you should see.

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Just to share the little knowledge I have on this subject,
Did you check to make sure that you are not overloading the channels that are popping? Did you install heat sinks?
Almost all electronics, including triacs will die from too much heat, but never too little, so maybe you need to look at larger heat sinks?

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I can't speak for Stan, but my failures have all occurred on chanels with 26W (or less than 1/4 A) on each chanel. The two this year had the issue happen before the show went live.. I have 240 chanels with the same loads, install details and wiring. The 500KV lines overhead might contribute, but I would think I would see more than 1% per year failure if it was the cause.

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I have 6 controllers, None with any failures, I did however opt for the HEAVY DUTY HEATSINKS, I believe in overkill versus Heat on electronics. Even the computers I have built in the past have had the biggest Heatsinks I could find, Those systems lasted 10 years and I still have some of them as a backup system.

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Hi Jim,

I am no where near overloading the Triacs on the ones that burnt out last year and this year. A single small strand on each of those channels, some a single LED strand and some a single 100ct mini incandescent strand on each.

LOR support said it could be due to rain, causing current to drain between the hot and neutral (I assume, thus not leading to a tripping GFCI ckt). Which makes sense, this year we had a large amount of rain as compared to last year.

I do have heavy duty heat sinks installed in all of my PC controllers.

Stan

Jim Saul wrote:

Just to share the little knowledge I have on this subject,
Did you check to make sure that you are not overloading the channels that are popping? Did you install heat sinks?
Almost all electronics, including triacs will die from too much heat, but never too little, so maybe you need to look at larger heat sinks?
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