Dan C Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I finally got around to building another PC controller today that I ordered during the summer sale last year. If got it just in case I had a failure last year. Well, luckily I didn't need it, and I've been pretty board lately. So, I figured I would solder it together.This is my 6th controller that I've soldered and it went together as usual. Got it mounted in the case, and installed all the wires.Tonight I plugged it in and set the unit ID to 10.Then I began to test each channel with a set of 100 incandescent lights. Everything worked fine except channel 2. I checked everything over, made sure the wires were plugged in all the way etc. Nothing!I was hoping I wouldn't have to unplug all the wires on the board, and dismount it from the case. remove the heat sinks etc to check all the solder connections. I did a pretty good job of that before assembly.In disgust I put it down for a while to watch some tv.after a few hours to clear my mind, I took it down to the shop to tear into it, and it occurred to me to check the power dongle itself.Low and behold, there is something wrong in the power cord female plug. I plugged a different cord into channel 2 and it works! Now I just need to contact support to get a replacement dongle. so they all match. I'm sorry for my ramblings, but thought I'd share just in case anyone else out there runs into this kind of problem.I'm so glad I didn't tear it all apart only to find out there was nothing wrong with the board to begin with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beeiilll Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Glad you found the problem without having to tear it all apart.A great lesson on the reason to put something down for a bit and walk away from it. Then come back and look at it fresh.Can save a lot of extra work and time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-klb- Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I had one controller where a neutral dongle wire got wedged between its spade lug and the adjacent neutral, so no contact, no lights. At least it was an easy fix. Not sure how it made it through assembly testing, unless it was one where I put a new board into an existing case, while the existing board is pending repair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-Paul Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 klb,I had to smile and laugh a little on the neutral lead stuck between two of the spades. I dont use dongles. I make up my spt leads to go out to each element of my display. So, each year I have to get down on the ground and plug in each cable. Twice now I have done the exact thing. Usually it takes me a few moments to realize what has happened. And for those of us using LEDs the LEDs will light up, just very dimly, depending on how much capacitively coupled it is to ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-Paul Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 klb,I had to smile and laugh a little on the neutral lead stuck between two of the spades. I dont use dongles. I make up my spt leads to go out to each element of my display. So, each year I have to get down on the ground and plug in each cable. Twice now I have done the exact thing. Usually it takes me a few moments to realize what has happened. And for those of us using LEDs the LEDs will light up, just very dimly, depending on how much capacitively coupled it is to ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgrant Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 I ended up with a bad channel on a pre-assembled board. LOR is sending me a new one after resetting the card did not fix it. In my case though I measured for power using a DVM on the card itself. At %100, I was getting 50mv on the single channel only. When the new one comes, I'll pull the old one out of the plastic box and see if there's any cold solder joints on the reverse side of it. Nothing wrong that I can see on the top side. Just one of those things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgrant Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Mine turned out to be a bad triac even though it was new. They did send me a replacement controller and all was good immediately. Can't wait for Christmas season to get here so I can set up and turn it all on for the first time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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