Keith Adams Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 Almost there. Now all I need is support for RPM's dmx compatible dongle I built because I couldn't afford the idmx or dc controller because I built 6 floods. Fingers and toes are crossed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJ Hvasta Posted August 7, 2010 Share Posted August 7, 2010 raaaaaats, I have two (of four) boards that assembled easily enuff, but powering up, lots of the LEDS dont light.. One board, half the red leds light in the first strip (left side) upper half... another board, half the blues (upper half) dont.. and only 3(total) of the reds light Greg, were there any others reporting bad leds? I'll open up the cases and run the soldering pencil back over the led contacts.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponddude Posted August 8, 2010 Author Share Posted August 8, 2010 A bad LED certainly isn't out of the question, but that many seems very odd. Double check all the solder joints on the LEDs and resistors. Also, send me an email and I will send you the troubleshooting guide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 Hey TJ,There's a couple of things you can do that helped me out. First, use a magnifying glass and make sure that all the LEDs are oriented properly with the notch in the correct position. I actually had a small number of LEDs that were in the wrong position and I had to desolder them and put them into the correct position.Second, you can also use the mag glass to look at the solder joints and see if you see any dry joints without enough solder to make a good connection. You can also look and see if you have too much solder on any of them as well that may be bridging the LED pin and an adjacent trace.Between these two methods, you should be able to fix most problems.However, on the last two boards I built, I did have a bad red LED and some weird connection issues on the Green LEDs. I was able to work through them, however, and get all the boards to work.Best of luck to you...Randy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 My first one, I simply missed a couple solder joints...even with reading glasses and a magnifier. I had banks of LEDs out on that one.Second one, with some extra double-checking, was 100% functional first time thru.Greg..can you post the pinout on the LEDs? Have some extras (the idea of one spare is one of those "go the extra mile" kinds of things that sets you apart from everyone else..), and need to verify color. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJ Hvasta Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 Thanks for the replies to all, yeah, I think most likely they're just cold, or no sloder joints. I went thru each led in the bags and marked the anode(dot) for orientation before mounting them, using a mag glass (my 20/10 eyes went several yrs ago), so it's prob cold joints.. Figured I was going to run the pencil iver all again.. Thank!Greg, mt email addy is. skygodtj. at. cox dot net for the troubleshooting tips.. I'll also place an order for 2-4more RF kits.. These really are kewl!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 Since at first I was a little worried about the possibility of bad LEDs, I soldered only two pins of the color I was doing at the time (because only two pins are used). That way, I figured, if there was a bad LED, my unsoldering work would be cut in half.After one color was done, I tested it using a bench power supply, then, when I went on to the next color, I soldered the rest of the pins of the verified LEDs as I soldered the 2 pins of the next ones.However, after using this precaution, on 4 RF boards, no LED has ever failed, so I never had to desolder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 Steven wrote: Since at first I was a little worried about the possibility of bad LEDs, I soldered only two pins of the color I was doing at the time (because only two pins are used). That way, I figured, if there was a bad LED, my unsoldering work would be cut in half.After one color was done, I tested it using a bench power supply, then, when I went on to the next color, I soldered the rest of the pins of the verified LEDs as I soldered the 2 pins of the next ones.However, after using this precaution, on 4 RF boards, no LED has ever failed, so I never had to desolder.I've yet to have a bad LED also.was curious as far as the pinout on the LEDs..the spec sheet I have shows the "top" pins of the LED, top defined as flat side in upper left corner, as the anode, lower (bottom) two pins as the cathode. Is that correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgardner518 Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 does anyone know if you can buy the mounts yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponddude Posted August 8, 2010 Author Share Posted August 8, 2010 If you are looking down at the LED, with the notch in the lower right hand corner, than the top 2 pins are the anodes (+) and the bottom 2 pins are the cathodes (-). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgardner518 Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 Ponddude wrote: There seems to be enough interest in them from the emails and PMs I am getting. I am going to place the order for them and get some sort of a time frame on them. I will put the complete kits up in the store so you can order the floods and the mounting system.Can we order them yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponddude Posted August 8, 2010 Author Share Posted August 8, 2010 You will be able too, I am just waiting to receive the proto type, which I am thinking will be here tomorrow. Should be up in the store this week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrison Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Keith Adams wrote: Almost there. Now all I need is support for RPM's dmx compatible dongle I built because I couldn't afford the idmx or dc controller because I built 6 floods. Fingers and toes are crossed.Keith, are you saying that RPM's DMX dongle does not work with the Rainbow Floods? I hope not as I ordered one and was planning on using it with some of these floods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponddude Posted August 9, 2010 Author Share Posted August 9, 2010 While I haven't tried RPMs dongle I have looked at the schematic and he also outputs the DMX signal over pins 1 and 2. That means it will work as DMX is DMX no matter where you get it from. I believe what he was talking about is LORs future release allowing the use if any dongle within an LOR network. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Adams Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Garrison wrote: Keith Adams wrote: Almost there. Now all I need is support for RPM's dmx compatible dongle I built because I couldn't afford the idmx or dc controller because I built 6 floods. Fingers and toes are crossed.Keith, are you saying that RPM's DMX dongle does not work with the Rainbow Floods? I hope not as I ordered one and was planning on using it with some of these floods.Yes it works. Just not with LOR at this time. I am hoping Dan will build support for DMX dongles in the future. At present I am having to use another software company's product to run it. At present I am trying to duplicate my sequences in 2 programs at the same time. If Dan supports it in the future then I can choose which program to concentrate on for this year. Since I do a Halloween show I may be using the other program for Halloween as I am running out of time for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hbomb341 Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Keith Adams wrote: Garrison wrote: Keith Adams wrote: Almost there. Now all I need is support for RPM's dmx compatible dongle I built because I couldn't afford the idmx or dc controller because I built 6 floods. Fingers and toes are crossed.Keith, are you saying that RPM's DMX dongle does not work with the Rainbow Floods? I hope not as I ordered one and was planning on using it with some of these floods.Yes it works. Just not with LOR at this time. I am hoping Dan will build support for DMX dongles in the future. At present I am having to use another software company's product to run it. At present I am trying to duplicate my sequences in 2 programs at the same time. If Dan supports it in the future then I can choose which program to concentrate on for this year. Since I do a Halloween show I may be using the other program for Halloween as I am running out of time for it.Make sure to email WishList@lightorama.com - the more people to email the higher it goes on the list.Harrison Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrison Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Thanks for the clarification guys! Like Keith I'm planning on using another vendors software, probably the same one, as well for this year's show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J_Plak Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Ponddude wrote: While I haven't tried RPMs dongle I have looked at the schematic and he also outputs the DMX signal over pins 1 and 2. That means it will work as DMX is DMX no matter where you get it from. I believe what he was talking about is LORs future release allowing the use if any dongle within an LOR network.:cool::cool: LORs future release allowing the use if any dongle within an LOR network.Make sure to send them to wishlist@lightorama.comI did last week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenL_MCSE Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 22 pages of posts and over 12,000 views...I guess it is safe to say Rainbow floods are IN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrypowerz Posted August 14, 2010 Share Posted August 14, 2010 Tim Fischer wrote: Ponddude wrote: There are currently no plans to redo design the Rainbow Floods this year. Next year they may get a redesign, but I do not plan on adding more red LEDs this year. It simply wouldn't be fair to all of those who purchased lights this year.Very understandable and I didn't expect it to be redesigned so soon They're great floods as-is, and I'm happy with them! I just couldn't resist putting on my engineer's hat Tim with his engineer's hat on... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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