gmac Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 I have been reading and rereading the posts on this forum and others about CCR's. I want to buy CCR's when they go on sale but 2 other people in my area purchased CCR's last fall and it was a disaster between the two of them 30 ribbons were purchased they couldn't get them to work properly, When it rained parts of the ribbon wouldn't work and other times they would light with the wrong colors or part of the ribbon would only work both of them had to take them down.The one guy said he purchased ribbons in 2009 and there still working fine but the 2011 batch gave them nothing but headaches.I guess my question is, is there something special that has to be done with this new ribbon? I see others on this forum are going to purchase ribbons, are the ones LOR is selling now better than last years batch?Any input would be greatly appreciated cuz 30 ribbons cost a coupla bucks and to have them in the garage instead of out in the display concerns me.:? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve synek Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 I had 8 that worked just fine. You can't beat the warranty if you have an issue.There really is no other choice for plug and play. They are somewhat fragile.Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph A Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Hey Gmac, You may have read my post on the "Durability of CCR'S. I also had some issues with the ribbons but I believe the "WOW" factor they produce is worth it. Let me tell you this, that you will not find better customer service than LOR. I had three CCR"S go bad for whatever reason and two of them were in warranty almost two years old and they replaced them and the third was from 2009 and LOR allowed me to exchange the bad one Thur their replacement program, so it only cost $101.97. Knowing that a company "has you back" is a great benefit. So unless you just get careless or destructive they will take care of you. In my case they worked with me to try to find the problem, as they will for all their customers.The one thing I will do different from now on is this, I will not just simply test them but set them up in the house and run them on a loop for a week or two to make sure there are no mechanical problems. Next, as one individual said "I handled them like they were dynamite" Make sure and mount them on a flat surface and be careful how tightly you secure them at the cut points only. Let me know if I can be of any help to you and good luck!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 I agree with Steve. Just keep in mind that you can't toss these things around like you might with regular lights or rope lights. You need to be careful when you handle the ribbons - there's a lot of solder joints on a flexible circuit board and they are NOT childproof.I, too, have a couple from 2009-2010 and they work great. I got another one last year and it worked just fine. Weather hasn't been an issue - I tend to have some (or all) outside all year.My only complaint had to do with the color mismatch, particularly white, compared to the older ribbons. If you can, buy as many as you'll need all at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmac Posted March 1, 2012 Author Share Posted March 1, 2012 Ralph A wrote: Hey Gmac, You may have read my post on the "Durability of CCR'S. I also had some issues with the ribbons but I believe the "WOW" factor they produce is worth it. Let me tell you this, that you will not find better customer service than LOR. I had three CCR"S go bad for whatever reason and two of them were in warranty almost two years old and they replaced them and the third was from 2009 and LOR allowed me to exchange the bad one Thur their replacement program, so it only cost $101.97. Knowing that a company "has you back" is a great benefit. So unless you just get careless or destructive they will take care of you. In my case they worked with me to try to find the problem, as they will for all their customers.The one thing I will do different from now on is this, I will not just simply test them but set them up in the house and run them on a loop for a week or two to make sure there are no mechanical problems. Next, as one individual said "I handled them like they were dynamite" Make sure and mount them on a flat surface and be careful how tightly you secure them at the cut points only. Let me know if I can be of any help to you and good luck!!Did you have any moisture problems? One of the guys that purchased the 15 CCR's in my area told me that when it rained water was getting in and and that was also causing problems. Are these newer ones not built as good say as the ones in 2009? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve synek Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 gmac wrote: Did you have any moisture problems? One of the guys that purchased the 15 CCR's in my area told me that when it rained water was getting in and and that was also causing problems. Are these newer ones not built as good say as the ones in 2009?gmacI can't speak on behalf of LOR but............I am not sure what kind off response you expect, but the ribbons were out of stock at the end of 2011- so I would think any CCR going forward would be new stock and nobody could answer this question for 2012 other than Dan.I have 14 ribbons, and the one moisture problem I had was at one of my cut points. My 6 uncut ribbons in the yard purchased in 2011 had no problems.Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmac Posted March 1, 2012 Author Share Posted March 1, 2012 steve synek wrote: gmac wrote: Did you have any moisture problems? One of the guys that purchased the 15 CCR's in my area told me that when it rained water was getting in and and that was also causing problems. Are these newer ones not built as good say as the ones in 2009?gmacI can't speak on behalf of LOR but............I am not sure what kind off response you expect, but the ribbons were out of stock at the end of 2011- so I would think any CCR going forward would be new stock and nobody could answer this question for 2012 other than Dan.I have 14 ribbons, and the one moisture problem I had was at one of my cut points. My 6 uncut ribbons in the yard purchased in 2011 had no problems.SteveThanks for all your input Steve, It's been very helpful. BTW saw your display on Vimeo, Loved it........Since I'm just outside of Youngstown, we'll have to drive up and see it next Christmas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph A Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 gmac wrote: Did you have any moisture problems? One of the guys that purchased the 15 CCR's in my area told me that when it rained water was getting in and and that was also causing problems. Are these newer ones not built as good say as the ones in 2009?No I did not. In fact it rained more than usual this last December and I had no problems with moister at all. As far as the differences between now and 2009, I would say I see a bit of color difference, i.e. the newer seem to have a brighter or truer color but is is not very noticeable unless you have them side by side like in a super star tree.If you have serious doubts just start out with two and make circles. See how it goes for the first year, or buy two in this months sale set them up with 3/4 inch PVC (electoral PVC/gray) and sequence a song and run it in your back yard for a month. If you decide they are not for you, you can sale them with no problem on the forums. Just a thought. If you have further questions or want to talk about this PM me. I will be glad to help if I can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgrant Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 I don't have any CCR's but am interested in acquiring them. Since they sound like they are fairly fragile which I clearly understand and why, what are most of you using to stabillize them from wind and so on? Any advice on insuring moisture doesn't get in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Levelius Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 I had water get into a CCR this past Christmas season. We, too, had a very wet winter. I found the water entered mine at one of the points where I had zip-tied it to the PVC pipe. It appears I had tied it a little too tight and it pinched the silicone tubing and tore it. That seems to be the big thing is to not pull the ties too tight.-Gary- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmacw Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 gmac,I set my 12 CCRs up this past year like Brians christmas tree. It was a very wet rainy winter here & three of the ribbons also got water in them. When I set them up, I was very careful & they worked great for about ten days until the rain came. I could actually see water at the bottom three inches inside the ribbon. The water entered where the end cap attaches to the ribbon. Two shorted out that night by staying on all the time or having certain pixels stay lit. But as others have mentioned, LORs support is second to none! They shipped me out two more(my ribbons were from 2009-2010).I set up the two new ribbons, everything worked great for another week then rain hit again, this time it was one of the new ribbons that got water in them, again at the bottom. I took it down & dried it out then put silicone on it where the cap attaches to the cable (did this with all 12 CCRs). The rest of the season rain or no rain, it worked beautifully!It's true the ribbons are very fragile & frustrating, but when working there is no comparison they are absolutely the best! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmac Posted March 10, 2012 Author Share Posted March 10, 2012 It seems to me after reading all these posts buying CCR's are a hit or miss proposition as to there reliability.I guess it all depends on what kind of day the Chinese worker was having when assembling your CCR's.It's good to know that LOR really stand behind there product..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerrymac Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 keep in mind what you are dealing with. Thin flexable circuit boards with led. on a flexable plastic backing convered with some silicone. As with anything you need to take into account the construction when deciding how to mount and what type of applicaton. This has to do with not only CCR's but any of the ribbon light strings. I hae a number of different types from different manufactures. CCR's are as good or better than any. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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