slayerbobt Posted November 13, 2010 Share Posted November 13, 2010 hi, i have been doing this for 3 years, but this year have flickering problem even when i dont have a program running.for halloween i used one controller ,plugged in the lights,turned on the unit. and the light had a slight flicker .did not have a program on, or utility hardware.sometimes when i unplug the lights and turn it 180 degrees it will do something different like flicker only half the string.its like it has something to do with the polarity of the lights. i dont know.i have contacted dan at lightorama and sent him a video of my problem, here it is .. anybody got an idea.got two weeks before i light this baby up!!!!!!!thankscant get the video to load .if somebody wants to help i can send it via e-mail. thanks.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBullard Posted November 13, 2010 Share Posted November 13, 2010 Are you using LED or Incadescent lights? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmoore60 Posted November 13, 2010 Share Posted November 13, 2010 A few years ago people reported wierd behavior from their controllers when using CFL bulbs in their displays. Others have reported wierd behavior by just using CFL in their homes during the time when their display is up.All that to say. There may be noise being induced in your AC line that is causing the problem. However, first of all I would do a reset on your controller. The reset procedure would depend on the type controller you have.IF a "D" board you set both dials to "0" when the unit is unplugged, disconnect the network cables, plug in the controller, the LED will blink fast. After about 10 seconds you can unplug the controller, reset to the address you need, plug in the network cabling and repower the unit.If the PC version or a non-"D" board. You wil remove the jumper and plug in. After the 10 seconds or so, unplug put the jumper back on in the same location, connect the LOR network cabling and power the unit on. I am not sure, but I think you will also have to reset the address with the HU. I don't use this style so can't tell you for sure about the need to readdress.Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-Paul Posted November 13, 2010 Share Posted November 13, 2010 I dont know about the flicker that you speak of. But something about this makes me get a feeling that it could be what I am about mention. I did this last year and wonder if you did it this year.Last year I was using zip cord and a non-polarized plug. Although all of the other controllers down line I did keep the polarity correct. So, as it turns out they all got hot on the neutral input and neutral on the hot input. In the long run the hot was always going out to the light strings even when the controller was not running a program (sound somewhat familiar?). So all of my LEDs where just barely glowing. Got worse when the ground got wet. That was my tattle tale of what was going on.Is it possible that you have your hot lead and neutral lead swapped? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert G. Posted November 13, 2010 Share Posted November 13, 2010 I had my lights doing this too. It came to be that I had a setting on in the Hardware Utility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slayerbobt Posted November 13, 2010 Author Share Posted November 13, 2010 hi, what was on in your utility hardware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slayerbobt Posted November 13, 2010 Author Share Posted November 13, 2010 hi, thanks to everyone who wrote. i did have some cfl bulbs in my house but not in my display. i took them out then tried my first controller and it seemed ok. BUT as soon as i tried plugging in the second controller, the first controller went back to flickering.i have just tried resetting the contoller several times and now i cant get the first controller back to working . as far as the hot and neutral goes , after resetting the controller i tried just plugging in one channel. and the one channel was flickering.so i cant see how i could have something reversed with only one channel plugged in, and im using mainly LED,s , some strobes c9, and rope light incandesent. thanks for your ideas,i will try again tomorrow , you guys are awesome for helping . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-Paul Posted November 13, 2010 Share Posted November 13, 2010 Sorry, maybe I was not clear enough. I was referring to supply wires from the outlet to the controller. See I have the PC controllers and I made a jumper that accepts a incoming wire that then does a jump-jump and then output connection that then runs zip wire to the next controller and input connection. My problem was at the outlet that daisy chains to all of the controllers.Thats what I was referring to. The "mains" as so many of you like to call it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckd Posted November 13, 2010 Share Posted November 13, 2010 Two years ago, when I had the 'bad' LED's that many of us remember with such horror, they would cause random flickering throughout the entire network. It was due to the bad design of the LED strands. Very strange problem, and was solved by removing ALL settings less than 100% throughout my sequences (meaning no fades, no ramp-ups, etc).See if you can slim this down to something like two controllers with a single strand of LED's in each still flickering. Then replace those strands with two cheapo incandescent strands and see if the problem still occurs. If the problem is gone, then it points to the LED strands themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-klb- Posted November 13, 2010 Share Posted November 13, 2010 The issue with hot an neutral swapped to the controller (possibly by an error in house wiring) would likely not cause a visible issue on incandescent. So that test does not rule out possibly swapped hot and neutral to the controller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckd Posted November 13, 2010 Share Posted November 13, 2010 You're right. I suggest looking into what I suggest only after ruling out the hot/neutral swap problem you mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slayerbobt Posted November 13, 2010 Author Share Posted November 13, 2010 ok tomorrow i am going to try running an extension cord to my neighbors house which is pretty close.see if that changes anything.also i am using the same lights,cords,controllers from last year.nothing new.and now that i think about , my electric company came by our house" also everyones house" in the neighborhood and changed the meter on the side of the house.they all went digital.do you think there could be some interference with that? it was done sometime this year.i will try the incandesent tomorrow also , i really dont think its bad LED's .i have been getting inconsistant flickering on different style and types of lights.i dont have the program even on i am just plugging in the unit , data cable ,lights then turning it on and i get all this wierd stuff going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckd Posted November 14, 2010 Share Posted November 14, 2010 I've also had two different LOR1602's do this same problem, and I had to send them back for repairs. Every year I have two units fail from some type of strange problem, ranging from flickering, address switch problems to completely dead units. I've learned to just plan for this ahead of time (keeping extra 1602's on hand). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slayerbobt Posted November 14, 2010 Author Share Posted November 14, 2010 hi, i have just hooked up the contoller that i got back from lightorama. its sitting in my livingroom with 210 lights on each channel . LED. total 3,360 lights.ran a song in the sequence editor and i got flickering lights..they told me that this controller was good. i really think its something in voltade from the wall.its got to be some surging or noise . so for now im taking a break till i can talk to the electric co. or an electrician. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJ Hvasta Posted November 14, 2010 Share Posted November 14, 2010 Do incandescents flicker also? I didnt see if you said they were LEDs or incand's.Do they flicker if you use the Hardware Utility or Sequence Editor and click Turn All Lights Off?Have you run the power to the controller from a different outlet in the house/yard? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slayerbobt Posted November 14, 2010 Author Share Posted November 14, 2010 yyyeeeesssssss!!!!!!!!!! i got it. im positive it has something to do with the power supply. hooked up the computer to a different outlet "the thid one i have tried"and it works perfect , hooked up a second controller PERFECT!!!!!!!!!!!! some reason there is interference coming from some of the outlets.right now its hooked up a little cheesy, so hopefully it will be ok after i go and finish setting up. gonna start right now.let you know what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmoore60 Posted November 14, 2010 Share Posted November 14, 2010 You stated earlier that you have CFL bulbs. Maybe I did not make it clear in my earlier post. The CFL have been dcoumented to cause problems even if they are just used in your house.For testing purposes make sure all of your CFL bulbs are turned off. Then try your controllers.Your most recent post mentions that you are testing in your living room. I would assume that you may hve CFL lights in your living room lights. Are the turned on at the time of testing the controller?Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Blount Posted November 14, 2010 Share Posted November 14, 2010 Hi. I had the flickering issue up until yesterday. I had run my extension cords too close to my network cables. Upon completely separating them the flicker was gone. It was crazy because I would unplug the network cord from half of my display and the boxes that were unplugged would still flicker. Figured it must be some kind of electrical interference, and it was.Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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