Guest guest Posted December 26, 2006 Share Posted December 26, 2006 As I was watching the show tonight one of my channels suddenly stopped working. we plugged an extension cord into the lights not working from the garage and it worked so then we checked the extension cord by plugging in a new one and it still does not work. It is just one channel that went out suddenly and i was wondering if anyone can give me suggestions on what to look for tomorrow in the light. We have had some rain in the past few days, including tonight and then tonight it went out. The box is placed verticly so I konw that the water will go through it and not just lay in there. It is a showtime product, so I didn't do anything.If you cn give me any hints I would appreciate it. It's worked wonderfully til tonight and since there are only a few days left in the show I'm not to worried about it, but would like to get it fixed.Thanks,Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 26, 2006 Share Posted December 26, 2006 This is a quote from what Dan at LOR usually says...[line]If everything was fine then started working erratically then I would suggest that you reset the controllers. Something that happed recently may have caused an issue with them.To reset them:1.Power off, set unit id switches to 00, power on for 5 seconds.2.Power off, set unit id switches back to original values.See if that helps at all.[line] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 Ok, I tried the "reset" of the controller with no luck of it fixing it. Still have the one channel out, it is channel 10. Checked the lights and they do work if we plug them into an outlet, just not with the LOR box. Also changed the extension cord and nothing with a new extension cord.Any other ideas on how to fix this or is this a "HELP DAN" topic now?Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 I would litterally check the connection that the female plug and the board attaches. I read somewhere that sometimes with heat it loosens them up sometimes making it unable to make the connection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 Went out and looked at the wires, they all look the same going into the board so I'm pretty sure that isn't it either. I took the screwdriver and poked at each wire and none of them moved at all.any other ideas?Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 With that single circuit not working it does sound like a hardware issue. It is uncommon for a circuit to fail off but it does happen occasionlly. (they usually fail on not off)... Unless it is a failed output wire or plug then it will need to be repaired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 I always have "unique" problems when it comes to things. I'm just happy right now that the other 15 are working so I can keep the display going til the new year.When the display is down I'll double check everything to make sure that it isn't something that I'm missing looking at it outside.If anyone else gets any other ideas, let me know. I'm just thankful that this happened AFTER christmas and not a week or 2 before it. At least it's only a few more days with 15 channels instead of 16.If it still does not work, what should I do?Thanks again,Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 I assume you have just the 16 channels and using all of them. I left a couple of my channels blank just for spares in case something happened to a channel such as happened to you. That way a quick change in the sequence editor and its back up running. I know that will not help you now, but might in the future. At least the season is almost over and that will give you plenty of time to get it fixed.James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 LightORama wrote: With that single circuit not working it does sound like a hardware issue. It is uncommon for a circuit to fail off but it does happen occasionlly. (they usually fail on not off)... Unless it is a failed output wire or plug then it will need to be repaired.I just noticed this problem tonight, too. One of my channels (ch. 15) stays on, but not constant......and it flickers very low too.... and this is when the show is OFF.... in between shows.Now, I just watched a portion of the show and the lights ( oh, these are 2 spotlights connected to 1 channel, 75W bulbs) and during the show, they will remain on, but VERY low and when a sequence uses that channel, the lights will go bright, as normal. I did a reset and it didn't help.Any idea what this may be?I have the Showtime LOR1602W - 16 Channel 30 Amp Controller ( blue board)Ken Gelinas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 Sorry, I didn't mean to hijack this thread, but I guess my problem is similar.One thing I found was that when I disabled the shows for the evening, the lights went out...... could this be a clue as to weather the problem is hardware related or software related?Any ideas?Thanks,Ken Gelinas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 Upon further review, and a number of hours later, I have found this one channel ( ch. 15) to be on and the lights shining brightly. Computer is off. Does this mean that channel is shot?I've unplugged the controller and left it for the remainder of the day and will await further advice.Musicman, my apologies for using your thread to post my problems. I feel, somehow, our problems we are experiencing are somewhat similar. Hopefully, there is a solution.Ken Gelinas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 29, 2006 Share Posted December 29, 2006 Ken Gelinas wrote: Upon further review, and a number of hours later, I have found this one channel ( ch. 15) to be on and the lights shining brightly. Computer is off. Does this mean that channel is shot?I've unplugged the controller and left it for the remainder of the day and will await further advice.Musicman, my apologies for using your thread to post my problems. I feel, somehow, our problems we are experiencing are somewhat similar. Hopefully, there is a solution.Ken GelinasI would hope that Musicman doesn't mind. It sound's to me like that maybe the triac has shorted, I think it would be prudent to take an AC current meter and see how much current that channel was actually drawing. Even with the heatsink it is still possible to draw too much current and damage the triac, if the triac has shorted it can be replaced.Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 gremler wrote: Ken Gelinas wrote: Upon further review, and a number of hours later, I have found this one channel ( ch. 15) to be on and the lights shining brightly. Computer is off. Does this mean that channel is shot?I've unplugged the controller and left it for the remainder of the day and will await further advice.Musicman, my apologies for using your thread to post my problems. I feel, somehow, our problems we are experiencing are somewhat similar. Hopefully, there is a solution.Ken GelinasI would hope that Musicman doesn't mind. It sound's to me like that maybe the triac has shorted, I think it would be prudent to take an AC current meter and see how much current that channel was actually drawing. Even with the heatsink it is still possible to draw too much current and damage the triac, if the triac has shorted it can be replaced.BillBill, I talked with Dan and he said the same thing. Now, here's a little more light on the subject ( pun intended ) .... I had the unit unpluged for about 12 hours and then plugged it back in to run a test show about an hour before the regular shows started. I kept an eye on it once that show was done and to my surprise, the light never came back on....all was normal. The main shows ran flawlessly and the light never came on between shows.At this present time, the board is still plugged in, the computer is still on and connected to the board, and STILL, no light..... is it possible that it corrected itself? Would / could it have been a glitch somewhere that reset itself while the power was off?Here it is, 4 AM in the MORNING, hot cup of tea in hand, and I'm up checking out my lights !!! I'm an idiot...... well, that's what my wife just yelled to me..:laughing::laughing: ...so it must be true.Anyways, I've been looking out the window for about 15 minutes ( finishing my tea ) and still, no sign of a flicker or anything from the channel/light in question.Any thoughts on this one? Should I send it back to Dan anyway just to have him check it out, or is it something we can check here?Thanks again, Dan and Bill for your input.Ken Gelinas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 Actually once a triac has shorted, it is shorted and it will not repair itself, so it is possible that something else has happened,---- but still, it is an imperative that anyone who is doing this, know how much current is being drawn on each channel, and how much total curent is drawn through each unit.You mentioned that the channel was not on constantly, but did it turn on when commanded too?Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 gremler wrote: Actually once a triac has shorted, it is shorted and it will not repair itself, so it is possible that something else has happened,---- but still, it is an imperative that anyone who is doing this, know how much current is being drawn on each channel, and how much total curent is drawn through each unit.You mentioned that the channel was not on constantly, but did it turn on when commanded too?BillBill, yes, it did turn on when commanded to. When it first started happening, the lights were on VERY low and once the sequence commanded that channel to light up, it did. When there was no command, it still glowed.Now, all is back to normal. I just checked the amps for those 2 spotlights using the "kill a watt" tester and it showed 1.34 amps. So I think we're ok there.Ken Gelinas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 Ken Gelinas wrote: gremler wrote: Actually once a triac has shorted, it is shorted and it will not repair itself, so it is possible that something else has happened,---- but still, it is an imperative that anyone who is doing this, know how much current is being drawn on each channel, and how much total curent is drawn through each unit.You mentioned that the channel was not on constantly, but did it turn on when commanded too?BillBill, yes, it did turn on when commanded to. When it first started happening, the lights were on VERY low and once the sequence commanded that channel to light up, it did. When there was no command, it still glowed.Now, all is back to normal. I just checked the amps for those 2 spotlights using the "kill a watt" tester and it showed 1.34 amps. So I think we're ok there.Ken GelinasSo is it working fine now, or is that channel still on low when not told to be on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 Yes, it's working fine now. It works when being told and stays off when there is no command. Pretty strange thing, eh? Only happened the one day and once I unplugged the controller for about 12 hours, all went back to normal.I need to correct something, though...the channel in question was # 16, not #15 as I previously stated. Not sure if this has any significance to the problem.Ken Gelinas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 If it is working fine now, then the triac has not shorted, I would consider it an act of God (or gremlins, not gremlers) consider your self lucky and please keep us advised.Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 Sure will, Bill... Thanks for staying up with me and thanks for your input. Hopefully, this will be helpful to others.Goodnight.....er.....morning !Ken Gelinas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 That's what we do, help out our fellow PCers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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