jimswinder Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 So I had a CCR go out and rather than send it back (since there is a 3 week waiting period) and not able to purchase a new CCR (out of stock till next week), I thought I would try and repair it myself.Obviously, it is where the sections of ribbons are soldered together, as I can touch it and all the LED's go out. Presently the first section is on and all white.My guess..as I know NOTHING about electronics, is that the 1st (12v +) and last (-) wires/connections are making good contact for the lights to even be on. So, it must be the center two? There appear to be okay...and I have even heated them up to re-solder..but still LED's are on and all white.Is there somewhere else on the ribbon (beside ANYWHERE) that would have a broken solder point that would cause the LED's to be all white?Where's J Millard (The CCR Guru) when you need him!?!??!?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 WOW!!...I Think I fixed it...it doesn't appear to have been any of the main (4) solder joints, but rather the little rectangle black thingie (excuse my technical terms) with 16 pins (8 per side).Just touched each pin with my soldering iron and it now works!!!Now to just get it sealed back up!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Don Gillespie Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 jimswinder wrote: WOW!!...I Think I fixed it... the little rectangle black thingie (excuse my technical terms)Your Excused :PGlad you got your thingy fixed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 Don Gillespie wrote: Your Excused :PGlad you got your thingy fixedYeah..well, it still has to survive me siliconing (that a word?) it back up and hanging it back on my tree... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Don Gillespie Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 jimswinder wrote: Don Gillespie wrote: Your Excused :PGlad you got your thingy fixedYeah..well, it still has to survive me siliconing (that a word?) it back up and hanging it back on my tree... You can do it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerrymac Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Yea! No guy wants a broken "THINGY". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Glad to see the founding alumnus of the Jimswinder School of Self-Answering Questions and Self-Solving problems is still practicing his craft... Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted December 3, 2011 Author Share Posted December 3, 2011 George Simmons wrote: Glad to see the founding alumnus of the Jimswinder School of Self-Answering Questions and Self-Solving problems is still practicing his craft... Congrats! Nope...no congrats...Put my CCR tree back up this morning (checked Repaired CCR one more time before putting it back on the tree...and all worked great).Hooked it to the tree, stood my 17' mast up, hooked up the guy wires, plugged the repaired CCR back in AND my new replacement power supply from LOR.Plugged in the power lines and heartbreak...1) ANOTHER power supply has now got a pulsating Green LED!!!!2) Repaired CCR is back to how it was...*sigh* I give up...$2400 of ribbons and another $200 for Brians CCR Sequences all for naught...Even with taking out the one bad ribbon, something is just not right. Either I have MORE bad ribbons (even though they all went thru the re-set cycle just fine) or there is something seriosly wrong with the sequences I got from Brian...and that is highly unlikely...But will take video tonight and send the sequence and video to Brian and see what he thinks...So far my experience with CCR's is not very good...for me they are WAAAAY to fragile... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBullard Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Yes, been using CCRs since they were introduced in 2009.They are fragile, personally I would never install a CCR ribbon anywhere that it did not have backing support across its entire length. Just a little bit of flexing in the wind and ...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted December 4, 2011 Author Share Posted December 4, 2011 JBullard wrote: Yes, been using CCRs since they were introduced in 2009.They are fragile, personally I would never install a CCR ribbon anywhere that it did not have backing support across its entire length. Just a little bit of flexing in the wind and ...... Yeah..right away I thought to myself it would have been better to attach them to some 1/2 or 3/4 PVC...and then run the PVC thru some guy wire to keep them in place...NEXT YEAR!!! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dschultz56 Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 I have not had very good luck with the CCR's either. I only had 2 attached to PVC running horizontal. After 3 days of running the show, the first one had 2/3 of the lights stayed on all the time. Worked with Tech Support and decided it was the ribbon and they are sending a replacement. Last night I noticed the one ribbon that was working had about 1/4 of its lights still on after the show was done. I haven't added that to the LOR Help Desk yet, but am considering just taking them down and leaving them out this year. I thought all the bugs would be worked out by this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blbeattie Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Same issues here... 2 of my 4 ribbons have had ~1/3 of the ribbon fail. I used 4 ribbons as 8 arches last year with no issues.On the ribbon/arch which just failed 2 days ago, ~1/3 of that ribbon now stays on all the time. I believe the problem lies in a failed solder joint. I have not been able to fix that problem and have had to put black duct tape over that arch (1/2 the ribbon). Strange thing is, when I press the 'Reset' button on the controller at startup, the ribbon cycles thru a series of color 'chases', and that 'bad' portion of the ribbon behaves as it should.I have ordered a replacement ribbon from LOR, but it will probably be a couple of weeks before I see it.On the 2nd failed ribbon/arch, 1/3 of the ribbon was 'dead'. On that arch, I located where the problem was (again, at a solder joint), and was able to fiddle around with the ribbon (took ~1/2 hour) to make a a 'secure' contact at that solder joint, and have now completely secured the ribbon at that location, so the ribbon does 'work' (for now). However, if someone touches the ribbon near that location (or if the wind causes the arch to wobble in the least), I have to go back out and work on the ribbon at that location again.I don't think these ribbons are as hardy as many of us thought. I believe that if you do not have these securely mounted to some flat mounting structure (ie to the fascia of your house), you are risking failure.I love these things, and they are the most dynamic and beautiful features of my display, but they are very costly - especially if they are only good for a season or 2. Just think, that's only 30 to 60 days of actual use - and only 4 or 5 hours a day during that time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 blbeattie wrote: Strange thing is, when I press the 'Reset' button on the controller at startup, the ribbon cycles thru a series of color 'chases', and that 'bad' portion of the ribbon behaves as it should.I would plug that ribbon into a different controller to test it (not the re-set, but to see if it actually works right)....I too had one that did that and found it to be the controller...not the ribbon... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeKinne Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Jim, if you are down a power supply, I now have a spare you could borrow.....my second supply went out on Sunday night and LOR was able to send me out two new ones for yesterday.I have to admit I was planning on adding at least 3 or 4 more for next year, but I am getting a little concerned about the long term viability of them, they are expensive for a single season item. I realize that I have only had problems with a bad batch of power supplies, but from the sounds of things there may be some other issues with them. I am already starting to rethink 2012's display. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 JoeKinne wrote: Jim, if you are down a power supply, I now have a spare you could borrow.....my second supply went out on Sunday night and LOR was able to send me out two new ones for yesterday. Thanks Joe...But I should be receiving another Power Supply and CCR Controller from LOR today...I just need to take my CCR tree down AGAIN and see if I can fix the 1 ribbon that is not working...again... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beeiilll Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Oh Boy, here we go again!Jim's going to be in the news again. This time for a story about how a doctor had to remove a CCR from a holiday lighting persons butt !!I'm not so sure that I want to see the "Film at 11" on this one Jim, so be careful up on that roof.Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 beeiilll wrote:Jim's going to be in the news again. This time for a story about how a doctor had to remove a CCR from a holiday lighting persons butt !!hmmmm...never thought about that angle for getting some media attention!!!Now, if I could just find someone who doesn't mind having something up their butt...Oh wait!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blbeattie Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 I have tested with other controllers. Same behavior for this ribbon using other controllers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sillypins Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 I had 2 CCR controllers go bad this year. The fist one is a cold solder joint on the power socket inside the controller. Power supply worked fine for the other 11 CCR's. Then the second one (The alarming one) Plugged in and setting a min or two to run the sequence - started to smoke - alot of smoke. Again - the other 10 at this point were fine.I do notice a difference from the original CCR's manufacturing to what is currently being sold. Seems this new crop, the circut boards fit very loose in the extrusion as when you plug connections in the whole board moves from one end to the other. The original ones I have are solid/firm connections, no movement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickharp Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 yes, i Have two sets of the original 2009 CCR's and the last 3 feet of one strand is constantly on blue, with some minimal flickering in a few of those sections. I am convinced and have had some luck last year with taking a razor blade and cutting the silicone shielding and then a sharp soldering gun and carefully resoldering the 16 leads coming off the integrated circuit for the first series of the constant on lights. then i use a very high end silicone to seal up the trap door flap i created with the razor. I agree with other posts that they are very fragile, and if we have to go through this soldering every year, it may become frustrating. I can only imagine that Dan is having to deal with many complaints and replacements. who would of figured, ey?? Oh well. It was a new concept and us early adoptors were somewhat maybe ok with these potential new product issues.I am hopeful that they figured out the loos soldering last year and made the manufacturing tweaks to the next version. I'll keep cutting, soldering and resealing for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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