james morris Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 i have two trees that have 3 100ft string that flicker in the sequence do i need subbers for the trees dont understand them i have all led lights please explane i made 16 from the plan given on this form should i put them on all 16 channels please help thanks james morris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dstevens Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 Are you experiencing the flicker during fades, or is it all the time? To test if a snubber will fix your problem, plug a string of regular incandescent lights into one of the channels with the LED's. If the flicker goes away, then you need a snubber. The snubbers provide electrical load to the channels to help reduce the flicker during fades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james morris Posted December 8, 2011 Author Share Posted December 8, 2011 it seams to be when they are trying to fand i notace this durning the sequence lumanation all the other seams to work the lights are from the same supplier all the others are from walmart and cosco they seam to work fine they dont flicker the ones are from novity light blue and green they are the ones that flicker i guess in stead of fading Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surfing4Dough Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 Do what Duane suggested just to test whether a snubber will fix the situation. If they fade smoothly, then yes you need a snubber. I have found that I can have 2 channels with identical number of stings on it (same brand) and one will require the snubber and the other won't. So definitely easy to test it by temporarily adding some incandescents to one of the channels that are not fading properly to see if it resolves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubado Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 Yes, put them on all 16 channels. It will do very little as far as current draw and will help with the flicker and fading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Boyd Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 This is how I took care of my flicker. Very easy and relatively inexpensive to accomplish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beeiilll Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 I want to bring up a point on this issue.Now there are probably going to be some out there who will disagree with me and so be it, that is fine. I don't have all the answers and don't pretent too.First off,snubbers are getting to be a "catch all" phrase on here and that is a bad thing. It is not safe to assume that all the problems that people are having can be "fixed" by using snubbers on strings or that the generic snubber made from the PC thread that contains a 47 K ohm, 1 watt resistor is the magic number.Snubbers do provide a minor load to help with things and were originally thought to help with the capacitive effect of LEDs more than the actually voltage loads but they will help a little with each. This is also why a C7 bulb might work when a regular snubber doesn't (since it is a significant load over a snubber).Different parts of the country can have voltage differences of some sizable amounts from the standard 120 volts that we all think comes out of the wall receptacles. Also some places can see a slight shift in frequency in the lines from the standard 60 Hz that we all know and love.This is another part of the puzzle why the snubbers don't fix the problems for everybody.Another troubling piece to consider is that the LED strings that are being sold vary all over the place as far as specifications, material quality, construction quality, and probably other things as well.This too has to be taken into account when you are looking at a problem.I hate to say it but the new Gen 3 controllers (while they are the next step in controllers) while trying to compensate for some of the troubles, won't be able to fix everything for everyone. Well at least not for a time anyway till the standards for LED construction are defined and more so adhered too by all manufacturers.I just think that this needed to be brought out for all the new people who are getting into this before they go screaming that they spent all their money on a stupid system that didn't work or that they are mad because it is not a flawless product.This is not only a hobby of sorts but it is an unknown territory for trying new and untested items and methods. It is a trial and error thing to do at some points and people need to be aware that it does have its drawbacks and shortcomings for the unprepared!Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james morris Posted December 10, 2011 Author Share Posted December 10, 2011 thank all of you for the help i use two snubbers i made fron the help of this form put them on the two stringds that were flicking now thew dont all the rest fade fine thanks again james morris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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