djsk0tt Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 I came home tonight to find channel 6 on powering lights, I don't even have show scheduled yet, I ran a test on demand show yesterday while setting up what i could, making sure audio was transmitting right, and to see if anything weird happened. Nothing strange occurred I only have 8 of 16 channels connected. Any idea why these lights were on? I had to use the hardware utility to turn off the lights. Anyone else run in to this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
columbus27 Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 Was it raining outside that day? And is your controller plugged into a GFCI outlet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IdahoLights Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 I have a controller - channel 1 specifically - that is always on. I cannot get it to turn off using the hardware utility or anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djsk0tt Posted November 12, 2012 Author Share Posted November 12, 2012 No Rain, Controller is not outside and no GFCI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 @djsk0tt and @IdahoLights - Sounds like in both cases a triac on the controller has gone bad, and will need to be replaced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djsk0tt Posted November 12, 2012 Author Share Posted November 12, 2012 thats not what i want to hear I just purchased the unit from wowlights less than 2 weeks ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
columbus27 Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 You got enough time to exchange it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djsk0tt Posted November 12, 2012 Author Share Posted November 12, 2012 yeah Im gonna run another test tonight and then see what happens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djsk0tt Posted November 12, 2012 Author Share Posted November 12, 2012 something just came to me lol... is a surge protector considered GFCI? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 something just came to me lol... is a surge protector considered GFCI?No. Two different things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Maue Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 @djsk0tt and @IdahoLights - Sounds like in both cases a triac on the controller has gone bad, and will need to be replaced.Except he said that he was able to turn the lights off with the HW utility. Wouldn't the bad triac cause it to be on all the time? That's how mine behaved anyway. Stuck at 50%. New triacs on the way from LOR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djsk0tt Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 (edited) well I ran a show, Channel 6 and 16 stick during the sequences sometimes they will go off but most of the time they are on, , I have a santa from Wow Lights and Channel 2 and 3 and the mouth, and they tend go on and off when the shouldnt, now the HW manager wont shut the stuck channels down, Channels 1 6 and 16 are sticking. Over time the lights will go off on their own it seems, So Im thinking i got a defective unit super sad face, I tested the unit before I set everything up and it ran well. no hiccups. man. im soo bummed out. Not a good first impression. Guess I will be calling WowLights tomrrow. Im gonna rule out computer and try my laptop vs my desktop but im leaning on bad unit.*edit*laptop yeilds same results. anyone else have this happen before? Edited November 13, 2012 by djsk0tt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djsk0tt Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 make that channel 1, 4, 6, 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwertz Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 There are a lot of things that could cause these types of symptoms. There was an issue with a bad batch of controller TRIACs a while back. But beyond that a bad TRIAC was fairly rare on the forums. To have 4 bad on one unit would probably mean you’re overloading them (not likely).Are the lights on these channels LEDs? If so you might want to try temporarily plugging a string of incandescents in their place. If that works there might be an easy fix.You might want to run LOR’s Verifier program. If you have your channel config messed up, strange things will happen. If you don’t shut down lights at the end of the show the lights will stay in that state indefinitely after the show ends.You could have a bad CAT5 cable / connection. Or it could be the controller... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djsk0tt Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 (edited) I had a typo as to what channels are stickingSo 1, 4, 6, 15 and sticking.So here is my setup1 Wow Lights Santa Outline at most 100 lights2 Wow Lights Santa Stache 1 20 lights3 Wow Lights Santa Stache 2 20 lights4 Roof outline 600 LED c55. Garage Outline 100 LED c96. Walkway - 6 Candy Canes 150 Lights & 450 LED outline7. Windows - 100 LED8. Snowflakes - 150 Lights9. Candy Cane - 25 Lights10. Candy Cane - 25 Lights11. Candy Cane - 25 Lights12. Candy Cane - 25 Lights13. Candy Cane - 25 Lights14.Candy Cane - 25 Lights15. Red Net - 600 Lights16. Col - 150 LEDI do have the check to turn off lights when not used.I will try verifier, I am getting wierd things with the Wowlight squences that came with the package and ones that ive tweaked ive set channel 3 to its own line with all OFF and its still comming on when it shouldnt.Cat5 is what was sent with the kit and i ran a test before I setup with all the lights connected and ran several wow light sequences and it was working fine. Edited November 13, 2012 by djsk0tt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djsk0tt Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 Verfier gave me warnings that a channel was off in my sequences , which was right channel 3 should be off on most of the sequences as i programed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwertz Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Yeah, that's normal. I set it to ignore those. This means the channel setup in the sequences should be clean. And since you set the show to turn off the lights, that should minimally prevent lights from being on afterwards.Maybe it's noise, do you have any fluorescent lights connected on (or near) the controller by chance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djsk0tt Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 (edited) No the controller is inside my garage. and no CFL or floods attached Edited November 13, 2012 by djsk0tt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwertz Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Don’t let me stop you from contacting wowlights. I was just hoping that it’s something else that could be fixed w/o sending the unit back.One other thing you could try is doing a reset on the controller. The instructions on how to do that should be in the manual for your specific controller.http://www.lightorama.com/Documentation.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwertz Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Another long shot - Any chance you experimented with a standalone sequence on that controller (and forgot to disable it)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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