zooo Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 I have used strobes for the last two seasons. By the time I take my lights down, I end up throwing away about 20% of my strobe lights each year. Is everyone having this failure rate? I use my strobes for no more than 5 seconds at a time, I only have them on at 100%, have both LED's and incandescent, and have purchased from Christmas Light Emporium, Christmas Light Show and CDI. I have found no pattern over the last 2 years. Of course for some reason, I'll buy 10 more to get my numbers back up to 50. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhunt240 Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 I was thinking the same thing i bought 100 from wow and i have 70 of them up and the same thing i do not fade or use efx only on and off...i have only used them for less than half the season (waiting on spt wire lol) and i have had atleast 7 die out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffF Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 I know some people say they hardly lose any but in the climate I live in I see about the same failure rate as you guys. I have just accepted it as a fact of life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgrant Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 I saw some of mine would work one night and not the next, then back to working again. I suspect electric connections in the sockets but its possible too that they are just dying too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryl Lambert Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 I also have a failure rate of about 20%. I have about 120 from various vendors. The difference is the ones that fail are the same type Christmas light show carries. The strobes I have from cdi & action lighting have never failed. Mine are 5 years old now & I keep buying more to replace the dead ones. The manufacturer of that particular type know about the problem & have taken steps to correct it. They now dip the circuit board in conformal coating. I don't know if this has fixed the failure rate but I'm sure it helps. There has been many discussions here about this & it seems to be mostly a problem with water intrusion into the strobes. I now take a small dab of silicone & put it on the screws & where the metal socket meets the base. I did notice my failure rate go down but can't be certain if that was the sole reason because each season is different with respect to the weather. Some years I get more rain & I've been replacing the stobes every year & without labeling each one as to when it was purchased I don't know if it's my older ones dieing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. P Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 I have had 50 strobes in my mega tree the last two years and last year I lost 19 of them and this year I lost 14. I don't think I will be using them any more until they are more reliable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEWTOUR Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Where did you guys purchase your strobes. Granted this is my first year using strobes, but I didn't lose any. I purchased mine through creative displays and I use the C7's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryl Lambert Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 The stobes from Creative Display that I own ( 20 ) haven't failed. At least not yet (2 years old). I haven't taken anything down this year (running till Jan.4th). I check them before I put them away so I know how many I need to buy for next year.The ones I have most of my problems with are the type that Christmas Lightshow Sells. Originally purchased 100 direct from the manufacture.Have also bought strobes from Action lighting & DIYLed express. First year for LED express so we'll see how they hold up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zman Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Look on my How-To page on my web site for my Xenon Strobe info. I go into prep, maintenance & fix it to maximize your investment. They can be dodgy buggers at times for sure, but can be a great display addition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmacw Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 I use 100 xeon strobes in my display each year. I bought all for Paul @ CDI and have great results. I bought an extras case of 100 to build more and spares three years ago and have only replaced 10-12 total over 3 years so I'm at about a 3% failure rate. Considering I'm in Massachusetts with harsh winter weather & reading these posts, I'd say I've been pretty lucky! Not too mention my spare strobes have appreciated in value over the years! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portcity_gt Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Ive been toying with the idea of running 12v strobes like for emergency vehicles and using a dc board to control them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryl Lambert Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Not too mention my spare strobes have appreciated in value over the years! I think they'd be more appreciated if you let me use them! :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Hans Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 I have 150 LED strobes all from CDI with some 5 years old. Haven't lost one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Priest Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Like most of you, I've lost an unacceptable number of strobes--many not even a year old! After this year, I've decided not to replace anymore strobes. When the last few are done--I won't use them again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffl Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I have about 100 from Daryl and have weep holes drilled in. I also live in a colder climate. I average 1-3 per year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryl Lambert Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I too have drilled weep holes in some. The problem with this is the next year when I go put them up the weep holes always end up on the top. Unless I start labeling which strobe was in what socket I waste Alot of time trying to find a strobe with the hole at the bottom when screwed in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zman Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I too have drilled weep holes in some. The problem with this is the next year when I go put them up the weep holes always end up on the top. Unless I start labeling which strobe was in what socket I waste Alot of time trying to find a strobe with the hole at the bottom when screwed in.This is why I started putting weep holes on both ends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TitusCarnathan Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I don't use weep holes, I never had any moisture in the strobes I got (cdi strobes). I did have a few get damaged the one year due to a channel that got stuck on at a low level and didn't notice the issue until I saw one strobe blinking once per minute when everything should have been off. Since then I've been putting snubbers on the same channels that have strobes on them and had zero issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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