Powers Holiday Light Show Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 so my show started up as it should tonight and about a half hour in to the show my 16 channel controller just quit working. first i checked the computer thinking it may have done an update and restarted the computer but no then I checked to see if the show was running in the control panel log and it showed it was playing the show, so I went out to the controller and open the cover to see the led status light wasn't on. I checked the power outlets that the controller is plugged into and they have power so my question can the controller go bad after 5 years or am i missing something Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
75redman Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 Need to check you fuses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. P Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 2 minutes ago, Powers Holiday Light Show said: so my show started up as it should tonight and about a half hour in to the show my 16 channel controller just quit working. first i checked the computer thinking it may have done an update and restarted the computer but no then I checked to see if the show was running in the control panel log and it showed it was playing the show, so I went out to the controller and open the cover to see the led status light wasn't on. I checked the power outlets that the controller is plugged into and they have power so my question can the controller go bad after 5 years or am i missing something Check the two fuses inside the controller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powers Holiday Light Show Posted December 8, 2018 Author Share Posted December 8, 2018 where abouts are they located at im a rookie when it comes to this part Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. P Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 2 minutes ago, Powers Holiday Light Show said: where abouts are they located at im a rookie when it comes to this part Bottom left and right when you open the door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powers Holiday Light Show Posted December 8, 2018 Author Share Posted December 8, 2018 Thank you So i traded the fuses if one side to the other and got it to power half of the channel up work for a min then quit so that mean i need to go through all my lights on that side of the controller and light for a bad string but now the question is where can I get the fuses at? Will automotive glass fuses work? If so what amp? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. P Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 (edited) 23 minutes ago, Powers Holiday Light Show said: Thank you So i traded the fuses if one side to the other and got it to power half of the channel up work for a min then quit so that mean i need to go through all my lights on that side of the controller and light for a bad string but now the question is where can I get the fuses at? Will automotive glass fuses work? If so what amp? The fuse for channels 9-16 (right side) powers those channels and also powers the board itself. The fuse on the left powes channels 1-8 only, so the entire controller can go out if the fuse for channels 9-18 blows. So it's telling me you have an issue with the right power cord or source. Edited December 8, 2018 by Mr. P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powers Holiday Light Show Posted December 9, 2018 Author Share Posted December 9, 2018 16 minutes ago, Mr. P said: The fuse for channels 9-16 (right side) powers those channels and also powers the board itself. The fuse on the left powes channels 1-8 only, so the entire controller can go out if the fuse for channels 9-18 blows. So it's telling me you have an issue with the right power cord or source. The source of power at the outlet is good just had the whole house rewired this summer with a new panel for 200 amp service and a gen plug so if power fails. Its dark out right now but i'm guessing I have a bad string of lights or one of my ext. cords is bad. Can i use automotive glass fuse or know where i could find these fuses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. P Posted December 9, 2018 Share Posted December 9, 2018 Just now, Powers Holiday Light Show said: The source of power at the outlet is good just had the whole house rewired this summer with a new panel for 200 amp service and a gen plug so if power fails. Its dark out right now but i'm guessing I have a bad string of lights or one of my ext. cords is bad. Can i use automotive glass fuse or know where i could find these fuses You can use the quick blow fuses for microwave ovens that can be found at Home Depot. As far as a light string shorting, that should blow a Triac before the main fuse. What type of lights are you using, led or incan? Trying to pull too much power or overloading could blow the fuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powers Holiday Light Show Posted December 9, 2018 Author Share Posted December 9, 2018 (edited) 14 minutes ago, Mr. P said: You can use the quick blow fuses for microwave ovens that can be found at Home Depot. As far as a light string shorting, that should blow a Triac before the main fuse. What type of lights are you using, led or incan? Trying to pull too much power or overloading could blow the fuse. All my lights are led and only have a total of 6,00 lights Edited December 9, 2018 by Powers Holiday Light Show Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orville Posted December 9, 2018 Share Posted December 9, 2018 (edited) 2 hours ago, Powers Holiday Light Show said: All my lights are led and only have a total of 6,00 lights Check your LED strands one by one, it is probably a strand that has or is going bad. Do they have the warts on them? As sometimes those can go bad and sometimes half the strand with that bump on it will be out, sometimes it may still leak enough power to light the strand, but could cause issues. So I'd definitely start checking the strands, and I'd also check the power connections from the plugs inside the controller. UNPLUG the controller before messing with those, check and see if any of the neutral terminals on the PC Board are loose, if any are or it may only be one, if so, take the neutral off that spade and put it on another neutral {Neutral are the white wires}, check the black {HOT} wires terminals as well. I had to resolder a few of my neutral terminals on one of my controllers that had come loose, it also caused the fuse to blow in the controller as well. As others have stated, Microwave fast-blow ceramic fuses can be used or you can buy them directly from LOR as well. They have them for sale in the accessories area I believe. It's be faster to get them from the local Home Depot. But you need to find the culprit{s} causing the fuse{s} to blow. Edited December 9, 2018 by Orville Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDucks Posted December 9, 2018 Share Posted December 9, 2018 3 hours ago, Powers Holiday Light Show said: Thank you So i traded the fuses if one side to the other and got it to power half of the channel up work for a min then quit so that mean i need to go through all my lights on that side of the controller and light for a bad string but now the question is where can I get the fuses at? Will automotive glass fuses work? If so what amp? NO! While they might look the same, they are 32V and should never be used on 120V as the metal does not suppress an arc over upon blowing. Be SURE the rating is for 125 or 250v AS WELL AS THE CORRECT amps It was a sad day when Radio Shack went belly up. They were pretty common, even in small towns and would have been a good source. Make sure that none of your strings on the bad bank (or any bank) have electronic balasts (they can only tolerate ON/Off channels. Gen 3 controllers have a configuration setting to lock the selected channels in this mode) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powers Holiday Light Show Posted December 9, 2018 Author Share Posted December 9, 2018 Thank you everyone for your help after a few hours of looking over all the strings of lights and all the cords I found one that got froze over by the snow after drying out the plug I got the show back up and running Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDucks Posted December 9, 2018 Share Posted December 9, 2018 1 hour ago, Powers Holiday Light Show said: Thank you everyone for your help after a few hours of looking over all the strings of lights and all the cords I found one that got froze over by the snow after drying out the plug I got the show back up and running Something is really wrong. Fresh water normally conducts, but not enough to blow a 15A fuse. OTOH Salt water will really conduct ( The yards used a mix of salt and fresh in an insulated tank, to load test the ships 3 phase generators (100's of amps) by lowering in I beams connected to each phase) Salt, carbon, Rust in that connection will make it conduct (short out) the line when wet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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