Anyone else trying out the new Firefly units?

[Duke]

I haven't had any controller issues. I thought I did at one time but it was the string.
The 4 white circuit strings ran PERFECT for 1 night then we had light rain and 1 of 4 was doing it's own thing. I replaced it with one of the black circuit strings and it ran fine. I don't get it. Another 17 days and I get to quit fixing all this stuff, take it all down, tear apart all my custom built stuff that has CDI strings on it, ship all $2800 worth of CDI's LEDs back to them to get their new 2009 stock and pray THAT doesn't screw up like this year's stock did. Then after I rebuild my 13 channel 2600 light Marty Fan, 3 channel 400 light Giant Star, (2) 21 channel 2100 light bars under the eaves, (4) 8 channel - 800 light poles, (3) 3 channel - 300 light window frames, I can then test it all and THEN store it until November next year. I would like to buy at least 8 more FireFlys but I nned more proof that they're more reliable than they have been.

[Paul Roberson]

Duke wrote:

I haven't had any controller issues. I thought I did at one time but it was the string.
The 4 white circuit strings ran PERFECT for 1 night then we had light rain and 1 of 4 was doing it's own thing. I replaced it with one of the black circuit strings and it ran fine. I don't get it. Another 17 days and I get to quit fixing all this stuff, take it all down, tear apart all my custom built stuff that has CDI strings on it, ship all $2800 worth of CDI's LEDs back to them to get their new 2009 stock and pray THAT doesn't screw up like this year's stock did. Then after I rebuild my 13 channel 2600 light Marty Fan, 3 channel 400 light Giant Star, (2) 21 channel 2100 light bars under the eaves, (4) 8 channel - 800 light poles, (3) 3 channel - 300 light window frames, I can then test it all and THEN store it until November next year. I would like to buy at least 8 more FireFlys but I nned more proof that they're more reliable than they have been.

Its not sounding like the "trade in" lights are going to be much different according to the post I have seen. If you want to purchase more LED lights in another CDI prebuy they will come from the factory used in 07:X

I have 2 FF strings that are dry in the garage. I may swap the pixle strings around and see what happens. These are of course the two that were replaced because they had the flickering pixle problem:(

[thebaronn]

tboerjan wrote:

Saw this post by Gary Martin on the D-light forum board and thought it might help us. Although I won't recommend the disection and re-soldering to anyone not familiar wirh a soldering iron and probably void any warranty. The timing issues at the bottom may help some/all of us. Anyway here it is and thanks to Mr. Martin:

Also, I would recommend joining D-Light forums if you're not already a member.


Firefly update
by Gary Martin on Wed Dec 10, 2008 12:06 pm

After getting the email from D-light letting me know replacements are on the way, I went ahead and did a field repair on my Firefly string.

I had the issue where a given pixel would start changing colors, or causing the pixels past it in the string to change colors or even go full white. This FF string is on a leaping light arch so I brought the whole thing inside to work on it.

Using some dental tools, I removed all of the silicone sealant used to waterproof the pc board and the wiring connections. It was fairly obvious that the data lines (the smaller wire pair on the inside) had cold solder joints. Using a low wattage pcboard soldering iron, I repaired those connections pretty quickly and painlessly. The outer pair, which I assume is the power, would not get hot enough with a 15 watt solder iron and required a 30 watt to redo them. After resoldering all 8 connections inside that pixel, I re-filled it with Lexan (silicone sealant), popped the cap back on and re-installed the arch outside.

It's been six days now, warm temps, cold and freezing temps, dry and with precipitation and (knock on wood) it's still working perfectly.

So if you're comfortable with some small solder work, comparable to building a D-light controller in the first place, then you should be able to fix your Firefly strings pretty easily.

I will update this post if another pixel fails on either string.


P.S. I also determined that the cause of one of my other pixels "sticking on in a wierd color" was caused by too much traffic on the controller network. Too much 20th of a second packets going to the FF controller could cause other pixels to wierd out. These were just 100% on, 20th of a second timing events. Changing that event to a two-tenths (4 20ths timing segments) of a second ramp down fade from 100 to 0 made the problem go away and the end effect is *almost* identical to the naked eye.

Gary Martin

Novice

Duke wrote:

I haven't had any controller issues. I thought I did at one time but it was the string.
The 4 white circuit strings ran PERFECT for 1 night then we had light rain and 1 of 4 was doing it's own thing. I replaced it with one of the black circuit strings and it ran fine. I don't get it. Another 17 days and I get to quit fixing all this stuff, take it all down, tear apart all my custom built stuff that has CDI strings on it, ship all $2800 worth of CDI's LEDs back to them to get their new 2009 stock and pray THAT doesn't screw up like this year's stock did. Then after I rebuild my 13 channel 2600 light Marty Fan, 3 channel 400 light Giant Star, (2) 21 channel 2100 light bars under the eaves, (4) 8 channel - 800 light poles, (3) 3 channel - 300 light window frames, I can then test it all and THEN store it until November next year. I would like to buy at least 8 more FireFlys but I nned more proof that they're more reliable than they have been.

You know....these two posts are actually a very sad....It really says it all about us and how sick we are.....We are so sick that they (CDI, D-light) have us by the balls......

I mean seriously, if you went out and bought a new cell phone for $100 and it wasnt working but someone told you how to "fix" it by soldering some stuff and voiding your warranty, would you??

When was the list time you bought a TV and had to repair it yourself in the first month???

It would be one thing if Fireflys were a "kit" like LOR controllers and FM transmitters, but its not, we paid top dollar for this item (i mean if you told a "normal" person that you paid $160 for a string of lights.......what would they say). I mean seriously.

And DUKE (who so far I feel the worst for after that god awful post) Is CDI gonna hook you up for all the time you wasted building these great displays using there expensive ass lights that dont even work??? Now you have to do a tear down and rebuild? Think of what you could have added using the same amount of time. It will be a miracle if they cover shipping! What about all the free advertisement you used to give them "where did you buy all your lights?"

Words cannot describe my disgust (and i actually have a mouth like a sailor so it is hard for me to refrain from some choice bombs)(and actually my fireflys are working again, i turned them off for a while and violla, they work, they apparently hate the rain, my only guess) with this whole situation.


And yes, I know that the above mentioned are extreme examples, but really how much time has everyone wasted rewraping arches (im sure its a lot of fun in -100 degrees) praying that your light show comes on, or just trouble shooting in general. And the length of this thread is a testament to all of that.

And btw, aside from those of you here that post in the d-light forum (it fairly easy to tell, lol) the d-light forum is a joke.

[Paul Roberson]

thebaronn wrote:

tboerjan wrote:

Saw this post by Gary Martin on the D-light forum board and thought it might help us. Although I won't recommend the disection and re-soldering to anyone not familiar wirh a soldering iron and probably void any warranty. The timing issues at the bottom may help some/all of us. Anyway here it is and thanks to Mr. Martin:

Also, I would recommend joining D-Light forums if you're not already a member.


Firefly update
by Gary Martin on Wed Dec 10, 2008 12:06 pm

After getting the email from D-light letting me know replacements are on the way, I went ahead and did a field repair on my Firefly string.

I had the issue where a given pixel would start changing colors, or causing the pixels past it in the string to change colors or even go full white. This FF string is on a leaping light arch so I brought the whole thing inside to work on it.

Using some dental tools, I removed all of the silicone sealant used to waterproof the pc board and the wiring connections. It was fairly obvious that the data lines (the smaller wire pair on the inside) had cold solder joints. Using a low wattage pcboard soldering iron, I repaired those connections pretty quickly and painlessly. The outer pair, which I assume is the power, would not get hot enough with a 15 watt solder iron and required a 30 watt to redo them. After resoldering all 8 connections inside that pixel, I re-filled it with Lexan (silicone sealant), popped the cap back on and re-installed the arch outside.

It's been six days now, warm temps, cold and freezing temps, dry and with precipitation and (knock on wood) it's still working perfectly.

So if you're comfortable with some small solder work, comparable to building a D-light controller in the first place, then you should be able to fix your Firefly strings pretty easily.

I will update this post if another pixel fails on either string.


P.S. I also determined that the cause of one of my other pixels "sticking on in a wierd color" was caused by too much traffic on the controller network. Too much 20th of a second packets going to the FF controller could cause other pixels to wierd out. These were just 100% on, 20th of a second timing events. Changing that event to a two-tenths (4 20ths timing segments) of a second ramp down fade from 100 to 0 made the problem go away and the end effect is *almost* identical to the naked eye.

Gary Martin

Novice

Duke wrote:

I haven't had any controller issues. I thought I did at one time but it was the string.
The 4 white circuit strings ran PERFECT for 1 night then we had light rain and 1 of 4 was doing it's own thing. I replaced it with one of the black circuit strings and it ran fine. I don't get it. Another 17 days and I get to quit fixing all this stuff, take it all down, tear apart all my custom built stuff that has CDI strings on it, ship all $2800 worth of CDI's LEDs back to them to get their new 2009 stock and pray THAT doesn't screw up like this year's stock did. Then after I rebuild my 13 channel 2600 light Marty Fan, 3 channel 400 light Giant Star, (2) 21 channel 2100 light bars under the eaves, (4) 8 channel - 800 light poles, (3) 3 channel - 300 light window frames, I can then test it all and THEN store it until November next year. I would like to buy at least 8 more FireFlys but I nned more proof that they're more reliable than they have been.

You know....these two posts are actually a very sad....It really says it all about us and how sick we are.....We are so sick that they (CDI, D-light) have us by the balls......

I mean seriously, if you went out and bought a new cell phone for $100 and it wasnt working but someone told you how to "fix" it by soldering some stuff and voiding your warranty, would you??

When was the list time you bought a TV and had to repair it yourself in the first month???

It would be one thing if Fireflys were a "kit" like LOR controllers and FM transmitters, but its not, we paid top dollar for this item (i mean if you told a "normal" person that you paid $160 for a string of lights.......what would they say). I mean seriously.

And DUKE (who so far I feel the worst for after that god awful post) Is CDI gonna hook you up for all the time you wasted building these great displays using there expensive ass lights that dont even work??? Now you have to do a tear down and rebuild? Think of what you could have added using the same amount of time. It will be a miracle if they cover shipping! What about all the free advertisement you used to give them "where did you buy all your lights?"

Words cannot describe my disgust (and i actually have a mouth like a sailor so it is hard for me to refrain from some choice bombs)(and actually my fireflys are working again, i turned them off for a while and violla, they work, they apparently hate the rain, my only guess) with this whole situation.


And yes, I know that the above mentioned are extreme examples, but really how much time has everyone wasted rewraping arches (im sure its a lot of fun in -100 degrees) praying that your light show comes on, or just trouble shooting in general. And the length of this thread is a testament to all of that.

And btw, aside from those of you here that post in the d-light forum (it fairly easy to tell, lol) the d-light forum is a joke.

Amen, I feel the same way. When I read some of the post about 'how to make it work". I think man we sure did pay allot of money for this crap. I mean shouldn't it just work WTH.

I switched controller companies this year because I was too imberrassed to tell anyone any information about them. I certainly would not recommend them to anyone. At this moment I have the same fellings about CDI and D-light.

I am in the same boat as DUKE, although looke like he has more labor in the things he has built.

At this point I can't see being able to have the money or time to actually add anything to my display next year. Looks like all my time and money will be spent trying to fix or replace the problem strings from this year.

[Duke]

To be honest, I'm WAY beyond frustrated with CDI. The really sad thing is that now they are having an end of season sale and it's the same $hit that we have problems with. THAT tells me they got screwed by their chinese manufacturer and are stuck with junk to push on unsuspecting buyers. Why else would they still be trying to sell it? That's a damned shame on CDI's part. I WILL return my defective CDI junk just to try and recover some of my losses but I will not buy any new lights from them. They have lost me as a customer because I have to pay to ship them back? I will use the replacements in ground items that are easy to fix if need be and not any custom built features or I may sell them all on the bay. I'm WAY beyond mad as hell that I have to rebuild all this stuff. There was absolutely NO pre season savings on that deal whatsoever. Now I understand that CDI is going to go back to their 2007 supplier that had the really good quality lights and it was all the ranting and raving about THOSE lights that I chose CDI in the first place only to be duped by a sub standard manufacturer and CDI supported them? WTF? I would much rather get a 100% refund and have them send a UPS truck to come get this junk off my roof and front yard. Then I could spend the money with someone else. Do they have "Lemon Laws" for Christmas Lights? D-Light still has a good chance with me. It's a new product and I really think they will get these issues fixed. How many times have we bought buggy software that needs to be patched or updated on a regular basis? I'm not saying it's acceptable at all, I'm just dealing with it as best I can for the time being. If they don't get these fixed then someone else may get on the bandwagon and steal their thunder. FireFlys are a great concept. I hope their resolved before the season ends so I can plan for next year. And WHY do we do this? We are an elite few of Christmas crazed idiots that do it for fun and to spread the holiday spirit to others at our expense. It's worth it to me when I hear children and adults alike shout out their Ohhhhs and Awwwws and Wowwwwws. It makes them happy which in turn makes me happy. It's my way of putting the candles on the birthday cake for Jesus. I hope all this makes Him smile too!

[Paul Roberson]

I am 100% sure it is a water issue now. I took one of my FF strings(one of the new ones in fact) off the arch, and just laid them on a table in the garage plugged in to a controller. After awhile they started their flickering. I took all the caps off the pixles and was looking at them. If you mash on the silicone you can see water on and the board when the LEDs are lite. One of them I mashed on actuall pushed water out of the crack where the bottom attaches.

Who knows what it would take to dry these out. ALL 16 of them had water in them!!!

[thebaronn]

Paul Roberson wrote:

I am 100% sure it is a water issue now. I took one of my FF strings(one of the new ones in fact) off the arch, and just laid them on a table in the garage plugged in to a controller. After awhile they started their flickering. I took all the caps off the pixles and was looking at them. If you mash on the silicone you can see water on and the board when the LEDs are lite. One of them I mashed on actuall pushed water out of the crack where the bottom attaches.

Who knows what it would take to dry these out. ALL 16 of them had water in them!!!

You should send D-Light your findings, along with a bill from

[shadow=blue]Roberson's Tech Support and Professional Consulting[/shadow]

And Tech support isnt cheap. Ah, but you are sick lights guy, somehow they would get you to agree to take payment via Fireflys........that dont work. LOL!!

I Kill myself!!! And I am deliriously tired!!!

[Paul Roberson]

LOL!!!! That is pretty funny. Your probably right though. Us sick light guys actually believe the b.s. advertisements for these things.
I sure am glad I did not buy 5 of these things:P


This is part of my latest post on D-light.



Is anyone from D-light checking on this or is it just their desperate customers trying to get these damn things to work????

I would like 4 new strings that are actually water proof at least up to one inch!!! They don't have to be water proof up to 1 meter like is advertised, but one inch has to be a minimum.

[thebaronn]

the best part about having 5 is that..........

I'm 5X a bigger chump than someone that purchased only 1!!!!

[Duke]

Paul Roberson wrote:

I am 100% sure it is a water issue now. I took one of my FF strings(one of the new ones in fact) off the arch, and just laid them on a table in the garage plugged in to a controller. After awhile they started their flickering. I took all the caps off the pixles and was looking at them. If you mash on the silicone you can see water on and the board when the LEDs are lite. One of them I mashed on actuall pushed water out of the crack where the bottom attaches.

Who knows what it would take to dry these out. ALL 16 of them had water in them!!!

EDIT: I think you're right Paul. When the pixel is lit and I squeeze on it, I can see a bit of a water bubble squishing around in there. I have 5 pixels with this "phenomenon" and THEY are the ones flickering. So it appears that they are NOT waterproof to 1 meter.

[Paul Roberson]

Duke wrote:

Paul Roberson wrote:

I am 100% sure it is a water issue now. I took one of my FF strings(one of the new ones in fact) off the arch, and just laid them on a table in the garage plugged in to a controller. After awhile they started their flickering. I took all the caps off the pixels and was looking at them. If you mash on the silicone you can see water on and the board when the LEDs are lite. One of them I mashed on actually pushed water out of the crack where the bottom attaches.

Who knows what it would take to dry these out. ALL 16 of them had water in them!!!

I'm no so sure it's water related. I just did like you said Paul and I cannot get any water out of mine yet they're still flickering. These new ones I have seem to have more silicone in them -vs- the black circuit board ones did.

Some of mine are full of silicone and some of them have just enough to cover the board.

When mine were on, you know the full white they go to, I could mash on the silicone and see moisture moving around on the board.

[Duke]

I edited my previous post. You found the problem Paul.

[Paul Roberson]

Duke wrote:

I edited my previous post. You found the problem Paul.

Do you think these can be dried out with a hairdryer?

What about corrosion now?

I think these should be replaced with strings that are as they are advertised!!





Ohh..btw have you seen Paul's latest "calm down post"?

[thebaronn]

i agree, it didnt rain much out here (only 2 times since thanksgiving) and the days following there were problems. Last time it wasnt bad, I thought I just got lucky and it went away(only rained for an hour) but it rained all day yesterday and when I cam home and saw everything jacked up i was PISSED!!!!!

But I turned everything off. I turned it on this afternoon and it was fine. then i looked later and one was jacked up. I turn them off again and when I just turned it back the same one is freaking out.

but you want to know something funny (i know you do) i have 9 pixels that have NEVER been an issue......They are the 9 pixels i used for the Acrylic Rod Mega Tree!! I used 2 big tubes of sealer on them after i popped the caps off!! Guaranteed no water is able to get in there!! So that goes with your finding.

[Duke]

Paul Roberson wrote:

Duke wrote:

I edited my previous post. You found the problem Paul.

Ohh..btw have you seen Paul's latest "calm down post"?

No. Where is it? Should be good for a laugh. I just went to PC and as you say it is the same "quality" and 2008 manufacturer. Bummer. I may not even bother with shipping them back then and save even more money if all we'll get is the same garbage. It's what I feared the most. That's too bad. I was really hoping to get better merchandise but looks like that won't be the case.

Back to FF fix. I was thinking of using a syringe to suck the water out or remove the silicone and reapply our own. If you look real close at the caps they do have very small vents on the edge of them. This is where water could enter the pixel and they are probably there to eliminate condensation build up. I would be inclined to seal these up as well to prevent any further water entering. I think it's confirmed by thebaronn as well since he gobbed his up with tons and they still work. Looks like we need better sealing.

Anyone got kahonas to submerse theirs in a bathtub for a real acid test? LOL!

[Paul Roberson]

thebaronn wrote:


You know....these two posts are actually a very sad....It really says it all about us and how sick we are.....We are so sick that they (CDI, D-light) have us by the balls......





Ya know, you are right there. We would not take half this crap off some other type retailer.

Most of us spend allot of time thru the year planning and working on our display pieces and parts.

I am usually so bad that I have spares for almost every part of the show. I even have a spare video card and spare FM transmitter just in case. Have thought about getting a spare video projector. I do have a spare bulb for the one I have. I figure we work on this stuff all year and only run it 5 or 6 weeks. I didn't want something going down and having to shut the show down waiting for another one to come in the mail.

When we get crap like we have gotten this year we will do almost anything to get the show up and running ASAP. Even stupid stuff like cutting open new stuff just to fix the crapy solder job that was done. Not that is is stupid to do it. It is stupid to have to do it!!!

I will also say this. If I get these strings dryed out and they stop flickering I will probably seal the up. Since some idiot where they are made can't seem to do it.

[Paul Roberson]

Duke wrote:

Paul Roberson wrote:

Duke wrote:

I edited my previous post. You found the problem Paul.

Ohh..btw have you seen Paul's latest "calm down post"?

No. Where is it? Should be good for a laugh. I just went to PC and as you say it is the same "quality" and 2008 manufacturer. Bummer. I may not even bother with shipping them back then and save even more money if all we'll get is the same garbage. It's what I feared the most. That's too bad. I was really hoping to get better merchandise but looks like that won't be the case.

Back to FF fix. I was thinking of using a syringe to suck the water out or remove the silicone and reapply our own. If you look real close at the caps they do have very small vents on the edge of them. This is where water could enter the pixel and they are probably there to eliminate condensation build up. I would be inclined to seal these up as well to prevent any further water entering. I think it's confirmed by thebaronn as well since he gobbed his up with tons and they still work. Looks like we need better sealing.

Anyone got kahonas to submerse theirs in a bathtub for a real acid test? LOL!

Post #73 on this page



Yeah I can submerse mine in the tub. I mean I have 2 spare pixle strings on hand anyway.

[thebaronn]

Well, I guess I will be sending D-Light an email. Great.

All the firefly are "off" in this picture.

Me and my big mouth about the maga tree being waterproof. It is now the worst one.

Good thing i didnt record my light show last week.


I cant wait for midnight..................@#$%


Attached files

[Paul Roberson]

This was posted by Dan on D-light....

First, we would like to apologize for the issues with Firefly pixel strings. While our manufacturer has corrected the cold solder joint issues, it appears that they have a defective batch of sealant that is used to seal the pixels. We have discovered (and it has been confirmed by a few customers) that moisture is seeping underneath the pixel circuit board an causing issues where random pixels are turning on or flickering.

We are aggressively working to correct the issue and get these production issues resolved.
Until then, we are suspending sales temporarily on Firefly.

[Paul Roberson]

thebaronn wrote:

i agree, it didnt rain much out here (only 2 times since thanksgiving) and the days following there were problems. Last time it wasnt bad, I thought I just got lucky and it went away(only rained for an hour) but it rained all day yesterday and when I cam home and saw everything jacked up i was PISSED!!!!!

But I turned everything off. I turned it on this afternoon and it was fine. then i looked later and one was jacked up. I turn them off again and when I just turned it back the same one is freaking out.

but you want to know something funny (i know you do) i have 9 pixels that have NEVER been an issue......They are the 9 pixels i used for the Acrylic Rod Mega Tree!! I used 2 big tubes of sealer on them after i popped the caps off!! Guaranteed no water is able to get in there!! So that goes with your finding.

I see where you posted that the pixel string used on your Acrylic Rod Mega Tree is messing up now.

I am courious did you have all the pixles sealed or just the 9 used for the tree?