Troubleshooting Solve this problem

[-klb-]

3 strings is not often enough to get the capacitance required to cause normal flicker that can be resolved by phantom load. Also, it sounds like this also happens to some extent at full brightness? That is also not consistent with the typical capacitance induced issues without load below 90V.

Have both controllers been checked to make sure that hot and neutral both at the outlet, and into the controller card are not swapped? No long grounded extension cords on any of the channels?

[EARLE W. TALLEY]

All extension cords and controllers have been checked for hot and neutral at the outlet and in the controller. One thing I will bring up that has no bearing on this problem, I set all my controllers at max intensity of 86% because LED are full on at about 77%, just wish LOR would give us a little lower setting (like 75%).Three years ago I started loosing LED lights strings and lowered my setting down to 86% and have only lost 2 - 1/2 strings since. I will post the solution to the FLICKER problem tomorrow afternoon, thank all of those that helped with their answers for this project.

Earle

[David Rise]

All extension cords and controllers have been checked for hot and neutral at the outlet and in the controller. One thing I will bring up that has no bearing on this problem, I set all my controllers at max intensity of 86% because LED are full on at about 77%, just wish LOR would give us a little lower setting (like 75%).Three years ago I started loosing LED lights strings and lowered my setting down to 86% and have only lost 2 - 1/2 strings since. I will post the solution to the FLICKER problem tomorrow afternoon, thank all of those that helped with their answers for this project.

Earle

I'm going to change all my controllers to 86% like Earle. I lost 10 or more strings this year and it's a pain to have to unwrap the prop, untie the strings, replace the string and retie, then rewrap the prop again. I use homemade snubbers on all my strings that are not on my new Gen 3 controllers. They are definitely a lifesaver.

Thanks again Earle. You and many others on here are a wealth of knowledge for the rest of us.

Oh and BTW. My answers to the flicker issue......It looks like maybe the fuses in the plug are coming unseated.

Edited January 4, 2013 by David Rise

[spomalley]

Does the CAT5 to the controller run alongside any power lines?

[-klb-]

Just for the sake of completing the list, controllers have at least recent firmware? At least 4.30 (for pc series) as there was a glitch in the dimming curve at around 50%, but I don't think it is what we are seeing here.

Any capacitors in the LED strings? If so, adding resistance in series should both reduce the failure rate, and smooth out the dimming. But I would have expected higher failure rates capping the intensity at 86%, not lower, if the strings contain capacitors.

[TGabriel]

A bad crimp connection on the wire.

[EARLE W. TALLEY]

spomalley, the cat5 cable does not run alongside the power lines ( not even close). klb the Led strings do contain capacitors.

Also, the reason I lowered my intensity rate is because I can't see putting that extra 14% of power into a light string when it is not needed, and any onyone who is trying to get the timing perfect in thier sequence, how much time does in take the controller to put in the extra 14% then back down 14% to make a difference in brightness of the lights or how fast they go on or off (reaction time). I know many of you will say " no one will even notice the difference" but I do.

Edited January 4, 2013 by EARLE W. TALLEY

[rwertz]

^{I’m running a little blind here since Vimeo is blocked at work. But here are a few thoughts:}

^{Stand alone sequence on one of the controllers}

^{Duplicate Unit-Circuit settings in a main sequence and a background sequence}

^{Also, I fixed a flicker issue years ago by updating the firmware (to the same rev). A reset may have accomplished the same thing. But I don’t think I tried a reset.}

[DownTown]

Cat playing on the keyboard while in sequence editor?

D.T.

I Love cats! (but I can't finish a whole one).

[Santas Helper]

Two different sources of power (2 phases) on the same controller caused me problems with this same kind of problem years ago.

Are both plugs plugged into the same outlet/circuit?

[plasmadrive]

I Love cats! (but I can't finish a whole one).

LMAO!!!! :lol:

[David Rise]

So what's the answer Earle? The suspense is killin me!

BTW....I see he has a snubber on the string already. So that's not it.

Edited January 4, 2013 by David Rise

[EARLE W. TALLEY]

OK, for those who said that a snubber was needed you were right !!! Why, the existing snubber somehow got water in it and came apart (see pic). The snubber was not sealed very well so I have to take the hit for this problem. The other solutions that were sugested are valid and should be checked if the first try does not solve the problem. I think we got a lot of interest in this project and hope this will help us all to solve our flicker problems. Can someone come up with another problem that we can see and solve? Thank you again for your input.

Earle

[David Rise]

LOL....that never crossed my mind.

I squeezed silicone into the plug until it was oozing out (That's the military way of lubing and sealing). Water would have a really tough time getting inside.

Excellent lesson! We should keep doing stuff like this.

Maybe one of the admins can create a new forum for this?

Edited January 4, 2013 by David Rise

[WilliamS]

Woohoo! Glad you finally got it Santa!

[EARLE W. TALLEY]

Snubbers can go bad too. This one had a small pin hole where water got in and caused damage. It didn't take lone to solve the problem, knowing what to do with flicker, I just went out there and put another snubber on the tree, then thought this would be a good teaching tool to put on LOR. I just hope this opened some eyes that we (old f--ts) can make mistakes too, but if you come to the forums you can find help.

Earle

[Ken Benedict]

This came up at a LOR class in Sacramento and the solution was installing a Glade air freshener at the end of the string, which caused enough load to make fades work. Drew Hickman is a wonderful instructor, by the way.

Also used the Glade thing at the end of strobe strings to prevent random firing.

In theatre it's called a Ghost light, ghost load or dummy light when put onto a circuit for a small amount of load.

In electronics, a true "snubber" is a resistor and a capacitor in series that is put across an inductive load, like a motor or relay, to prevent reverse voltages from causing problems.

In the LOR world, a "snubber" is just the resistor without the capacitor.

Good work, Earl.

[plasmadrive]

In the LOR world it seems "Ghost Load" and "Snubber" get interchanged a lot. Same thing to most here and performs the same function.. Used to as a "shunt" for the capacitance in the LED strings.

[Guest Don Gillespie]

the solution was installing a Glade air freshener at the end of the string, which caused enough load to make fades work.

I tried this but all my mini trees smelled like potpourri, I knew I should have used the pine tree ones.

[plasmadrive]

I tried this but all my mini trees smelled like potpourri, I knew I should have used the pine tree ones.

LMAO!!!