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CCP malfunction


drivemewilder

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I have a starburst/spinner using a CCP.  It has 10 arms and 10 pixels on each.  When I plug it in, sometimes I get a flashing green light on the first pixel on each string.  Sometimes I get 1 green and 1 faint red.  Yesterday I got 2 greens that eventually went solid and then eventually when dark.  When I test the spinner or just play a sequence, sometimes only 1 string works.  Yesterday, both strings worked with the exception of the first arm on the second string (the one that has been fainted red before but was green), and also the last 3 pixels on the second arm (so basically 13 pixels consecutively).  I've switched both strings on the controller.  I've checked my sequence.  Finally after about 1/2 hour of switching back and forth the strings and unplugging the unit and plugging back in many times, it started working as it should.  This is the second time it's done this.  Sometimes it works perfectly on the first test.  I'm not sure what it could be. 

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when you first put power to your CCP You WILL get the first pixel in every string blinking green -  last about a minute. The first pixel on every string is mimicking the led inside the controller. This way You don't have to have the controller open to see the status of the LED. So that part is normal.

I don't know about the faint red stuff. You said you switched controller? what happened? did the problem follow the controller or stay with that string? If it started working after you began messing with it, could be something as simple as a bad connection.

I had a CCP controller fail before, the one string would freeze colors then steady on white. It was a chip on the controller board was broken. LOR replaced mine promptly. If yo have more issues I wouldn't mess around, send the controller and string back to LOR - they don't mess around when it comes to warranty.

 

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57 minutes ago, saxon said:

when you first put power to your CCP You WILL get the first pixel in every string blinking green -  last about a minute. The first pixel on every string is mimicking the led inside the controller. This way You don't have to have the controller open to see the status of the LED. So that part is normal.

You can turn that off in the hardware utility - but I can't imagine why you would.  As Saxon said, it mimics the LED on the PC board which you can't see with the controller closed up.  With all the screws holding the cover on, I opened each controller once, plugged in pigtails, and closed them back up - never to be opened again.  The pigtails are:

http://store.lightorama.com/rjwada.html

 

 

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Even when it blinks green, once the song starts....that arm doesn't light up.  When I swapped the controller (to be clear, not a full controller.  I simply switched the strings coming out of the controller) the problem remained on the string/arm.  So I eliminated the problem being with the controller.  I unplugged power and plugged back in maybe a dozen times.  Sometimes I got the blinking green on both strings, other times it blinked green on one but the faint red on the second.  Eventually it started working after an hour or so.  Not sure why, I did a lot of unplugging and moving strings around.

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Still confused. After awhile it starts working. Yet tonight, I can't get it on ever. I've gone through all the color tests in HU and still, the last leg doesn't light and the last 3 pixels of the second to last leg don't work. So, the last 13 pixels don't work. The first pixel NOT working, flashes mostly blue or faint white. Not constant.

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25 minutes ago, drivemewilder said:

Still confused. After awhile it starts working. Yet tonight, I can't get it on ever. I've gone through all the color tests in HU and still, the last leg doesn't light and the last 3 pixels of the second to last leg don't work. So, the last 13 pixels don't work. The first pixel NOT working, flashes mostly blue or faint white. Not constant.

sounds like you are driving yourself crazy.

If it were me, I would contact LOR and return the String AND controller. You paid a lot for it and LOR doesn't screw around with warranty, they will replace it with zero hassle.

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You are confident for some reason that my ccp is under warranty. It's not new, it's not under warranty. I need to fix it myself.

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You might be surprised working with LOR. Depending on the situation and what's wrong, they may honor a repair on it for free or at a low cost.

Just saying... it's worth a try. They are the best on Customer Service.

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Sounds like you have a bad ribbon, not a bad controller.  

Intermittent problems like along with the fact that the entire ribbon stops working tells me it's right near the first pixel.  Either the solder connections from the wire leads to the paper circuit board are broken, or possibly something between pixel 1 and pixel 2.  This can happen if the ribbon was overflexed.

Since you say it is no longer under warranty, I would very gently remove the end cap so you can get at the point where the wires are soldered to the ribbon,  Using a soldering iron at low heat, reflow the 4 connections and try again.

If that still doesn't work, we have to assume that there is a problem with pixel 1.  You can cut it out and then re-attach the wires to the next set of solder pads.   You will loose 1 pixel, but the rest of the ribbon should work.

If you do go this route, be sure to seal up the cut with some good RTV sealant.  If you still have it, the accessory pack that came with the ribbon contains some.

If none of that appeals to you, we do sell replacement ribbons here:  http://store.lightorama.com/cocorireri.html

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Someone alerted me that I jumped to CCRs when what you have are CCPs.  Sorry about that.  Let me go a different route:

When you built this spinner, how did you go from one leg to the next?  Did you wire in a snake pattern, or did you cut and add wire to the string of pixels?

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I cut and added wire down the backside of each leg. It worked 5 or so times over the corse of a few months. All of a sudden it's doing as I described above.

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Since the last pixel to work is #7 on a leg of 10, or 37th on that string of 50, could the problem still be at the first pixel on that leg? Or is the problem between the working and non working pixel?

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Tonight: I unsoldered the last 2 legs. I moved the last leg which doesn't light at all. After receiving data from the 8th working leg, the last leg that works flawlessly, it worked fine. So I'm left with 1 leg that lights 7 of 10. So what is the recommendation for the bad pixel that clearly isn't sending data down the line? Cut it out and run with 99 pixels instead of 100?

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I think the best idea is to replace the bad pixel.  If you call LOR I bet they'd send you a few.

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I need to figure out which is the bad pixel. The last lit pixel or first unlit pixel. But that's a good idea George.

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I need to figure out which is the bad pixel. The last lit pixel or first unlit pixel. But that's a good idea George.

It will be one of those two, and it could be either one. I have seen both situations.

Good luck!

Sent from my Droid Turbo via Tapatalk, so blame any typos or spelling errors on Android

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  • 2 weeks later...

A shout out and thank you to LOR. I submitted a ticket and was sent at few pixels free of charge! I cut out the last good and first bad pixel and put in replacements, now I'm up and running again!

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Which verifies what I said earlier. LOR is the best on Customer Service. :)

Glad to hear it worked out for you.

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Good move replacing both pixels.  Saves you an encore soldering experience. 

We all know that Murphy says whichever single pixel you choose to replace will be the wrong one.  :)

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5 hours ago, George Simmons said:

Good move replacing both pixels.  Saves you an encore soldering experience. 

We all know that Murphy says whichever single pixel you choose to replace will be the wrong one.  :)

Concur! I considered for about half a second replacing just 1, but I knew no matter which I replaced....ol' man Murph would have final say. This way, I eliminate the encore and guarantee frustration.

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