Jerry Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 Left my Xmas display up to see what my new sequencing for next year will look like , live. I have 5 PC series controllers out with ALL incandesent lights connected. Everything worked great for 3 weeks of Xmas shows. We just got a storm that started as rain then changed to a mix of snow /rain ,ending with 3 inches of the white stuff.When we got rain before this, my GFI always tripped for this controller (never did find the issue ) .This time was the same, tripped breaker. I reset the breaker tonight to do some testing and found that my mega tree had one channel already on at about 50% (guessing) . My PC wasn't even powered up yet. The problem controller is 2nd in line . Opened all 5 up and all had the light flashing (after starting LOR).Not knowing for sure what to do I ran my 2012 show . Everything worked fine but this one channel (15). The lights remained on at 50% all the time unless the sequence told it to be on at 100% ,then it went up and back to 50% when it should be off. I have some low power spins sequenced for the tree and when it came to channel 15 it didn't dimm as it should.I searched the fourm and found jimswinder's instructions to reset the controller (thanks jim) but I'm not sure what & where the "jumper" is that needs to be removed and replaced. A photo pointing to this would be nice , for everyone, I think. Not sure resetting the controller would even fix it but it's worth a try. I've read about this problem with LEDs but not with incandecants.Any insight from anyone would be appreciated. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 Sounds like you've got a triac in the process of failing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TitusCarnathan Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 If the reset doesn't work. Contact LOR through their helpdesk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Posted January 18, 2013 Author Share Posted January 18, 2013 Sounds like you've got a triac in the process of failing.Thanks George, But really, already.. ? Puruchase these new all built by LOR two seasons ago. 2011 I only did a Halloween show. So , 3 shows , 3 weeks long each, and I'm in for repairs ??? I will add that I've always been very careful not to overload any channel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Posted January 18, 2013 Author Share Posted January 18, 2013 If the reset doesn't work. Contact LOR through their helpdesk.As I put it in my op, I'm going to need some instructions to do the reset. The Help Desh is my next stop if I can't get er going with help from here. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TitusCarnathan Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 (edited) This is for Gen 1 and 2To reset unplug the controller from the power.then on the board near the top there is a jumper remove the jumper make sure it is not the voltage selection jumpers located near the transformer.power it back up for about 5 secondsShut in back down and reinstall the jumperThen turn in back on.For Gen 3To reset the controller, power it off, move this jumperto pins 5 & 6 (one pin right) and power the controlleron. The status LED will fast blink during reset. Onceyou see this, power the board off and move thejumper back to pins 4 & 5.Reset resets everything. The Unit ID reverts to 01,all channels are set to the Standard dimming curveand downloaded dimming curves are deleted.since you got yours in 2011 I take it that it is a G3 controller a picture of it is on page 9 or PDF file page 3http://www.lightoram...UserMan_Web.pdfIt is listed as Normal Operation Jumpers Edited January 18, 2013 by TitusCarnathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Posted January 18, 2013 Author Share Posted January 18, 2013 Ok, number 1. I don't pretend to know anything about circuit boards . So that leads us to number 2 , what does this jumper look like ? Does it pull out easy, like with your fingers or do I need pliers. I have the V2 version boards BTW. I guess they had to sell what V2 controllers they had left to someone. I don't see anything in there that I would feel good about pulling out. Everything looks very fragile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TitusCarnathan Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 (edited) Ok, number 1. I don't pretend to know anything about circuit boards . So that leads us to number 2 , what does this jumper look like ? Does it pull out easy, like with your fingers or do I need pliers. I have the V2 version boards BTW. I guess they had to sell what V2 controllers they had left to someone. I don't see anything in there that I would feel good about pulling out. Everything looks very fragile.Ok you have a v2 board http://www.lightoram...6PC_Man_Web.pdf actual Page 21 but for the pdf file it would be page 11 near the bottom Normal operation jumper jumpers are easy to remove with your fingers (if you ever installed a drive in your computer they are similar to the ones that select if it is a master or a slave drive etc...) You will see a pin header (18 pins sticking up) near the top of the header is a little black box covering 2 pins that is the jumper Edited January 18, 2013 by TitusCarnathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TitusCarnathan Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 (edited) Thanks George, But really, already.. ? Puruchase these new all built by LOR two seasons ago... Best thing to do is the help desk thing. And then file it in your "Sh!t Happens" folder. Surely, you're not surprised that a common ten-cent Chinese component would fail? That's about what I tell my clients when they come in with a hearing aid that just suddenly quit working. Most common cause - a two dollar receiver. (miniature speaker)When you reset the controller, make sure you replace the jumper on the same set of pins you took it from. Edited January 18, 2013 by George Simmons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Posted January 18, 2013 Author Share Posted January 18, 2013 OK , that was easy enough, Power off, pull jumper , power on for10+ seconds, power off, replace jumper, power on and ........... still have channel 15 on at 50% . Don't know what else I can do. Guess it's off to the help desk. Boy,,,,,,,if this needs repaired already , I hate to even think of what's in store for next lighting season.BIG THANKS Titus, don't know why I couldn't find that PDF page. Guess I didn't look in the right place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Posted January 18, 2013 Author Share Posted January 18, 2013 Best thing to do is the help desk thing. And then file it in your "Sh!t Happens" folder. Surely, you're not surprised that a common ten-cent Chinese component would fail? That's about what I tell my clients when they come in with a hearing aid that just suddenly quit working. Most common cause - a two dollar receiver. (miniature speaker)When you reset the controller, make sure you replace the jumper on the same set of pins you took it from.Yes, that's why China, will sooner than you think, will own this country, we buy way too much of their junk, and then borrow the $ back to pay OUR bills because our people can't find a work. Just sayin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Posted January 18, 2013 Author Share Posted January 18, 2013 By the way George, my "Sh!t Happens" folder is over flowin. Thanks for the Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Posted January 18, 2013 Author Share Posted January 18, 2013 Opened a help desk ticket. I'll update when I find something out. Thanks again all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasmadrive Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 It sounds as though you have a triac that is conduction for 1/2 of a cycle all the time. I simple fix of replacing it would most likely cure the problem. I say "simple" assuming someone that has soldering and repair experience. However, since you have a trouble ticket in, see where that takes you.. LOR is one of the most awesome companies for product help I have ever dealt with. They may just tell you to send it in and they will fix it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Posted January 19, 2013 Author Share Posted January 19, 2013 Well...... The "Help Desk" was NO help AT ALL. I told them I did a controller reset and that didn't fix the problem. What was their solution ?? "Let do a controller reset, this should fix your problem" along with the instructions to do what I told them I had already done. Ticket Closed.VERY, very frustrating to say the least. It's like they didn't even read the complete ticket,,,,Or something.Where is all the customer support that everyone brags about here ???100 Hours Max on it and it's failed. Really?????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CKSedg Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Call LOR on the phone and tell them your problem. I promise they will help. They have always been so good to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasmadrive Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 The ticket closed is just a way of not leaving too many loose ends.. if you revisit that ticket and reopen it, they will go further.. However.. it is frustrating when someone that is supposed to be of help doesn't take the time to actually read what you took the time to write. One of my pet peeves for any company..I have had only a few LOR trouble tickets I am very impressed at how LOR handled mine.........and I am in the technical service business for the industrial field so I know what and how they should handle them.. I was VERY IMPRESSED! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Posted January 19, 2013 Author Share Posted January 19, 2013 As you can see, I am not IMPRESSED AT ALL. Seems like Chuck only read the subject title and the first line of the ticket. I see others have gotten an RMA number to send them back. All I got was the run around.I had a lot of enjoyment with this in 2 years. I WAS resequencing songs for next year and it would require me to purchase 2 more controllers. But if this is the quality of product and service I should expect to receive in the future , I may just hit the delete buttton ,and take my gear to ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveMaris Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Jerry, I understand your frustration and i'm not trying to say you are wrong,but a stuck/bad triac is not that big a deal. It pretty much is a random thing when one goes bad.I would re-open the ticket and go from there.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts