Bad Channel

[eurbani]

I just purchased my first LOR technology. I purchases two of the complete PC-CTB16PC. These are the kits that you just have to connect the power cables. This is a gen3 controller.

http://store.lightorama.com/ctascpa.html

I wired one controller and it worked fine. I wired the second controller and there is one channel that is always on when the controller is powered (plugged in). It is on whenever the controller is powered (connected to the network or not). It is channel #4 (if that makes a difference). All other channels seem to respond to the hardware utility normally.

FYI: I used one set of 300 incandescent mini-light for my test.

I have tried de-powering, I have turning that channel on and off with the hardware utility. I have even tried the reset procedure using the jp3 header (powering off, move to pins 5&6, power on, power off, return to pins 4&5, power on). No luck.

I have read here that there are some bad "triacs" floating around. I did not assemble the board. So, I have no idea what that is.

Are there any suggestions other than contacting support and possibly returning the unit?

If I have to return it, how is customer support at LOR? Will the repair my unit and return? Will they just send a new kit (that needs to be wired)? Or will they send a refurbed unit or a completely wired unit?

[David Rise]

Open a help ticket with LOR. Customer support is AWESOME! I had the same problem.
I opened a ticket, I had a response immediately. Ran through their troubleshooting steps. it didn't work.

They gave me a RMA to send the controller back.

My board was a gen 2, so the troubleshooting steps are probably different.

[WilliamS]

Help Desk is amazing. Open a ticket, they will have the right person email you. Worst case you send in your controller, they fix your controller, they send your controller back. The best thing about LOR is they do not hesitate to help. Ive had the best experiences in terms of customer service with this company.

[David Rise]

Dang edit button doesn't work!

From beginning to end, it was only a few hours.

[stanward]

Sounds like a bad triac.

[eurbani]

LOR sent me a replacement board and a return label for the old board.

First attempt, they asked me to send them the whole box back. When I questioned them, they came up with this solution which will cost me nothing more than a little time and them nothing more than a round trip for a board.

[jccook]

I too had a couple of triacs go bad. Two on a completed board and one I built as a Kit. I plan on putting them under a scope this weekend to make sure it's the triac. One thought is it maybe the solider Flux being used. I know from past experience that some types of flux will conduct when damp. Both boards failed after a rain storm but on different nights. All were new board purchased this year. I'll let you know what I find. A triac problem can be difficult to find/solve.

[eurbani]

Triac? Is that the transistor that actually carries the load?

This is a brand new board. It failed on my initial test (leaving one circuit on).

[-klb-]

It is the part that actually switches the load. Transistor is probably close enough for most people, but it behaves much differently..

It only switches on/off. There is no linear mode like you have in a transistor. It switches off when the current flowing through it goes to zero, due to current going through the load going to zero.

It turns on, whey you apply a signal to the gate. Once you trigger it, nothing you do to the gate will change its state back to off, until the current through it goes back to zero.

Dimming is accomplished by when during the AC wave form you send the trigger. If you trigger it shortly before current will go to zero, you get a very low output brightness. You trigger it close to when the voltage passed through zero, it conducts nearly the whole half cycle, and generates a nearly full brightness.