portcity_gt Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 I bought these new/second hand. Then afterwards (recently) I read of early boards having trouble fading leds....well my display will be all led.im I going to have problems? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasmadrive Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Those are good boards.. hang on to them.. you can use some "snubbers" to deal with the dimming.. just make sure you get some decent lights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TitusCarnathan Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Snubbers can be extremely cheap as well. Especially if you use spt wire for extension cords. The only additional cost you would have is for the c7/c9 socket and the bulb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubado Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 (edited) Do a search on snubbers. The resistor plugs are easy to make and conceal. Basically order a bunch of 1W 47k ohm resistors from mouser.com part# 660-MOS1CT52R473JSolder them across cut off plugs from old lights and heat shrink them.http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l376/scubado65/Miscelaneous/005_zpsae2bedb3.jpg Plug them in any where on the string, beginning, middle or end. You'll need one for each channel that you plan to use fading on. Edited January 27, 2014 by scubado Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portcity_gt Posted January 27, 2014 Author Share Posted January 27, 2014 Ok, I know about the snubbers just wasnt sure if these were the boards that needed them. Thanks for the replies. Scubado,I wonder if that would work better done to the male/female ends like on the start of most strands, that way it could go inline anywhere. Or even just putting the resistor on the strand its self. I was going to use these controllers on my mega tree, so that would be alot of snubbers lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubado Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 I just plug them in the first outlet I find on that channel, usually like you mentioned at the front end of the string. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portcity_gt Posted January 27, 2014 Author Share Posted January 27, 2014 Nevermind, I had a brain fart. I forgot the strands ill be using have the male/female plug.but I still might look into a way of putting resistors on the strands or even the controllers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightzilla Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 I only had 1 problem with dimming Leds. It is not really the board but the Led light strings that are the problem. Just be careful what kind of Leds you buy. All my Led lights strings dim very well, except this 1 type from "Forever Bright", but the other Leds from "Forever Bright" dim nicely, Costco Leds dim nicely, as does all the ones I buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portcity_gt Posted January 27, 2014 Author Share Posted January 27, 2014 Ok, ill give them a test before making snubbers for sure. So far all of my strands came from walmart, biglots and cle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vdipaola73 Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Ok, ill give them a test before making snubbers for sure. So far all of my strands came from walmart, biglots and cle. I have 5 of these PURHASES from other forum members. If there's a dimming difference I dont see one. Numbers and specs don't always translate to real world from my experience. At least not on this case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubado Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I have 5 of these PURHASES from other forum members. If there's a dimming difference I dont see one. Numbers and specs don't always translate to real world from my experience. At least not on this case.??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Fischer Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 For starters, flash the board with the latest firmware, which, depending on its age, might improve LED performance.Then try them without snubbers? Satisfied? Great. If not, then add snubbers on the channels that have issues.That's what I do anyway. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portcity_gt Posted January 30, 2014 Author Share Posted January 30, 2014 Alright I got the output cords on them today and tested. I do have a bit of flicker but the biggest problem is advanced configuration is not supported, what firmware do I need to put on them and where do I get it? I opened the browse firmware tab in h.u. and got a big list, but im not sure if one of those is what I need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasmadrive Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Those are Gen 2 boards and they don't support dimming curves.. but with the snubbers you should be OK.. they also won't support the 500k baud rate.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portcity_gt Posted January 30, 2014 Author Share Posted January 30, 2014 Those are Gen 2 boards and they don't support dimming curves.. but with the snubbers you should be OK.. they also won't support the 500k baud rate..Yea I saw gen 2 boards dont suport dimming curves mentioned in your thread about software updates last night. And I was afraid these were gen2 boards. That sucks because I played with the curve on my gen3 and it really made it look alot better. Oh well....at least ill have the best display on my street by far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasmadrive Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 If you use the snubbers you should still get great results. I use about 50/50 Gen2 and Gen3. I have almost all LEDs and they work fine with the snubbers.. You should do great with them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portcity_gt Posted January 30, 2014 Author Share Posted January 30, 2014 Cool good deal. After testing them last night I wish I would have bought c7's for my mega tree though I bought m6's for it, but when testing I grabbed some of each and the c7 definitely looked better on the floor, hopefully m6 will look ok on the tree. Oh, and thanks for all the help (everyone) this is my first time and im trying to learn without wasting money on hardware I dont need Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightzilla Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Kinda funny because my Gen. 2 boards dim Leds very well. I just keep the firmware on the boards up to date. I think also that our wire on Christmas light strings here in Canada are also thicker & that might help. I guess I should be thankful that I do not need snubbers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasmadrive Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Kinda funny because my Gen. 2 boards dim Leds very well. I just keep the firmware on the boards up to date. I think also that our wire on Christmas light strings here in Canada are also thicker & that might help. I guess I should be thankful that I do not need snubbers.Actually the thicker insulation may indeed be better because the capacitance would be lower due to the "plates" being farther apart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightzilla Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Actually the thicker insulation may indeed be better because the capacitance would be lower due to the "plates" being farther apart. I did not buy any Led light strings from the 2013 season but I did notice that the wire was a bit thinner in 2013 here on some Led strings. Humm that could be an issue in the future unless I get Gen. 3 boards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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