David Spangler Posted October 14, 2013 Share Posted October 14, 2013 I was wondering what happens if your pixel string fails? I heard LOR doesn't sell just a sting, so if your out of warranty and controller is still good can you add pixels from a after market retailer? Are all pixels the same? If you can test pixels can you just replace the bad one? Has anybody have any experience with failures?Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 You can buy LOR strings as replacements. Of course if you are in a warranty period, then you would want to contact LOR, or if you purchased from a Partner, the Partner directly, to arrange a RMA for the failed string(s). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerryb721 Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 David,I'm just getting into pixels so others may have better advice than I but I can speak of my experience so far.Pixels come in 5v and 12v as well as WS2811, WS2801 etc. so you can't just take any pixels and swap them out.You will need to find out what type of pixel LOR is using. LOR has really good customer support so if you have a problem I'm sure they can assist you.Pixels also do not always come RGB and could be GRB, BRG, etc so just splicing in another pixel may not do you any good because the color order could be off As for repairing they are easy to fix. Half the strands I got from Ray Wu had bad pixels and I was able to get the strands working by cutting out the pixels and soldering the wires back together.If you order DYI pixels order extras so you can have some to use for repairs. I don't know if LOR sells pixels only so you might check with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasmadrive Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 David, ...... Half the strands I got from Ray Wu had bad pixels and I was able to get the strands working by cutting out the pixels and soldering the wires back together.If you order DYI pixels order extras so you can have some to use for repairs. I don't know if LOR sells pixels only so you might check with them.You got that many bad from Ray? Wow, I have used almost 100 of his strips and I have only had one bad pixel right out of the bag. Wonder why yours had such a high fail rate. Any idea? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Spangler Posted October 15, 2013 Author Share Posted October 15, 2013 (edited) Thank you all for your replies. The big reason I'm asking is I'm starting to plan for next year and I want to build a mega tree, 8 to 12 feet. I guess that is really not a mega tree but a mini mega. I'm trying to decide using pixels or ribbons thinking pixels might be easier to fix if there is a problem down the road. I'm also weighting the difference between LOR and DYI. I have LOR pixels on some mini trees which plug and play is really really nice but the cost is higher. My DIY is the ribbon on a PVC star which is cheaper but a bit more work with maybe not as much support as LOR. These LOR forums and all the help from everybody is great. This is my first year and I've learned allot from everybody. Also Dave at Holiday Coro is a big help for DIY. Thank you all. Edited October 15, 2013 by David Spangler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerryb721 Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 Hey Plasma,Not really sure but I bought thirteen 100 pixel strands and had 7 bad, Ray sent new ones and 3 of those were bad.What I found as I repaired them is the data line was the problem not the 12v or gnd.A couple were loose LEDs. David,I believe pixels are easier to fix than strips.You can't go wrong with LOR easy plug and play as you said but you pay for that convenience but for me I went DYI because I was able to get more for my dollar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts