CCB's Burning out - Anyone else having this problem?

[JD123]

I have had 5 CCB strings go bad in the past year.  This has occurred over time - they did not all go out at the same time. To be clear, I have had one or two bulbs go bad on each of the four strings. It seems that one of the color elements stops working.  Most of the time it is red, but I have seen other elements stop working (just less frequent). Last winter I had maybe two strings go out. Once replaced they worked through the entire Christmas season.  This year I put the same strings up. They worked for a while, but now I have one bulb on three separate strings lose the red element.

I was wondering how many people are having this same issue? 

Edited November 23, 2016 by JD123
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[Marty Belisle]

I have had similar issues with single bulbs dropping a color.  LOR has good warranty and they will repair however there is some turnaround for a string.  If your beyond the warranty you may want to sacrifice one string so you replace the bad pixels on other strings.  As of this year you can buy a single string from LOR.  My experience with all pixels regardless the brand is they are very fragile.  Do whatever you can to establish permanent mounting solutions to minimize handling.

[Jim Springfield]

I added four CCB controllers to my show this year and had some issue with 5 out of 8 strings.  Today, I tested everything after taking it down.  My show only used 7 out of 8 so I had one spare spare that I swapped in a month ago when half of a string stopped working.

3 strings - every pixel works

1 string - half doesn't work, occasionally some of it works for something, but not consistently and some bulbs stick on.

1 string - half doesn't work and three of those bulbs stuck on white

1 string - 2 red LED not working

1 string - 1 red LED not working, 1 red LED flickers

1 string - 1 green LED not working, 1 blue LED not working

I'm not too annoyed at individual LEDs not working as it isn't as apparent when the show is playing.  Whole sections not working and bulbs sticking ON is not good.  I bought three extra CCB strings already and I will probably get a couple more next year to have on hand just in case.  I used the CCBs to outline my roofline and I have some really high places so it isn't easy to fix a string when it goes bad.  I did swap one that went bad early on but didn't bother with the other when it went. 

I also added a PixCon16 with 16 string package that I used in a matrix. Those worked perfectly.  I also really liked using it through the E1..31 interface.  Plugging stuff into my switch rather than daisy-chaining is really nice.

BTW - is there some kind of crimp connector that makes it easy to swap out individual pixels from another string?  Also, do pixels have an address or can any working pixel from another string be used to replace a bad one?

 

[George Simmons]

2 hours ago, Jim Springfield said:

BTW - is there some kind of crimp connector that makes it easy to swap out individual pixels from another string?  Also, do pixels have an address or can any working pixel from another string be used to replace a bad one?

I can't help you with the crimp connector question.  Except for emegency in-season butt-splice repairs my preference is solder.

You can freely replace pixels from identical strings, like CCBs.  Replacing them with other "brands" is something you SHOULD NOT try until you know enough about pixels to explain all 17 things that can go wrong with that approach.  (I think I'm only up to about a dozen, for whatever that's worth.)  When replacing pixels, make sure - totally, positively, triple-check sure - that you're wiring them in the correct direction.  All of my LOR CC* pixels have a ribbed insulation on the negative wire which helps to makes it idiot-proof enough for even me.

Missing-color pixels are usually a 1 for 1 replace.  When talking about a total-outage/error point, unless you see an obvious physical cause, you'll want to replace BOTH the last pixel that works properly AND the first one that doesn't.  The problem could be with either, so replacing both means for sure that you'll only have to do it once. 

Edited January 3, 2017 by George Simmons

[k6ccc]

3 hours ago, Jim Springfield said:

BTW - is there some kind of crimp connector that makes it easy to swap out individual pixels from another string?

I'm with George.  Solder and heat shrink tubing.  During the season, on my pixel tree, if I can repair a pixel from the ground, I solder it as usual.  However if it's high enough that I need to be on a ladder, I use Scotchlok ULG lugs.  These are very fast and easy to use.  However after the season, I cut off the Scotchlok and solder and heat shrink the wiring. 

Just in the useful information department, ULG connectors are available from stores that deal with the telecommunications industry,but NOT at places like Home Depot and Lowes, or Amazon.  The smaller UR and UY lugs are available at Home Depot.  I did find ULG connectors on Ebay (among others): http://www.ebay.com/itm/122153291571

 

[George Simmons]

I'm beyond worrying about sounding stupid, so I'll ask.  I've never before seen one of those. At least not that I remember or recognized.  How exactly do they work Jim?

[k6ccc]

15 minutes ago, George Simmons said:

I'm beyond worrying about sounding stupid, so I'll ask.  I've never before seen one of those. At least not that I remember or recognized.  How exactly do they work Jim?

If you look at the last photo on the Ebay link I included above, you can see the open end.  Two or three wires (with the insulation still on) are inserted into the connector.  Looking carefully at the next to right photo, you can sort of see two nearly vertical lines under the green part.  Those are a pair of metal plates with groves in it that form an insulation displacement joint.  The way you use it is to slide two or three wires into it and then crimp it with a pair of pliers.  that does two things.  First is to drive the two little plates into the wires which cuts the insulation and digs into and grips the wire.  The second thing that happens is that under the green cap is a small package of a gel that seals and waterproofs the joint.  There are different sizes of connectors for different size of wire.  BTW, these are used in quantities of millions by telephone companies.  If you've ever seen a large phone company cable between poles that has a large tubular plastic case where several cables come together, it will be filled with these connectors.

 

[Jim Springfield]

Great tip on the scotchlok connectors.  I know I've got some, but probably not the ULG.  I'll pick up some for next year.  Also good to know I can scavenge my busted string easily.