FDNY260 Posted December 6, 2007 Posted December 6, 2007 ok here is a really wierd thing. i have a brand new kitchen, lights are on there own dedicated breaker. lights are controlled by levitron digital pushbutton dimmers. press once they dim up slowly, press again and the dim off slowly. i thought i had a short in the wiring because they were blinking alot but i noticed that they only blink when my show is running. i have tested this therory several times by starting and stopping the show and it only happens when the show is running. i have a 200amp service and i am hardwired to each controller so its not a wireless issue. i am stumped how to fix this issue and im looking for a advanced person to help me with an answer. thanks
Tim Fischer Posted December 6, 2007 Posted December 6, 2007 Do the "blink" or just flicker slightly?Ours will flicker slightly at certain parts of the show, when I'm flashing lots of lights on and off at the same time. I tend not to do that much, though (I find it gets visually tiresome) so I don't see much flicker inside...I don't think there's much of a cure, just like when your lights dim momentarilly when your AC kicks in in the summertime...-Tim
Push Eject Posted December 6, 2007 Posted December 6, 2007 Honestly, if it were my house, I would stop the show and call a pro.Probably not what you wanted to hear; just my 2 cents.Cheers,Charlie
LightORamaDan Posted December 6, 2007 Posted December 6, 2007 FDNY260 wrote: they kinda fliker.How much current do you draw with your show? In our house, all the lights and and old TV are in sync with the lights but we were pushing 340+ amps of lights in the show.I would guess that the dimmer switch is getting some type of feedback from the LOR controllers and that is causing the flicker. Especially if these are the only lights with a problem.Dan
DownTown Posted December 6, 2007 Posted December 6, 2007 I have the same problem with all the lights in the house this year. My show draws 154A when all lights are on, and the Mega Trees each draw up to 48A. When I have them doing fast color changes or changing colors back and forth, the house lights flicker. I'll have to get used to it for the month of December.D.T.
Ben Hopkins Posted December 6, 2007 Posted December 6, 2007 Glad this topic came up, thought we were having problems, the same things happens when my show is going. Since breakers are not being thrown I'm not going to worry about it.Ben
Guest wbottomley Posted December 6, 2007 Posted December 6, 2007 That's a new secret feature in LOR II.
DownTown Posted December 6, 2007 Posted December 6, 2007 Mountainwxman wrote: That's a new secret feature in LOR II. Sorry Mountain, that feature was in LOR I, you just missed it
nnewby Posted December 6, 2007 Posted December 6, 2007 it does that here as well.. we're getting a new distribution panel after the holidays, but the house was built in the 60s so who knows if adding anouther 50 amps and more breakers (for the show of course) will help the problem..btw i'm only drawing <30 amp when all the lights are on (and it only flickers when there is a shimmer or twinkle... mostly shimmer)
kevin Posted December 7, 2007 Posted December 7, 2007 I have that problem this year as well. Never had it in the past and the only new objects are 1 new wireframe and about 20 LED strings.Someone mentioned that a Dimmer getting old could get interference from LOR maybe? My lights are on a dimmer that is probably 10 years old. and it is the only lights are are effected.May have to swap out the dimmer and see what happens.
Bob VandenBoom Posted December 7, 2007 Posted December 7, 2007 It is pretty common to have lights dim to the beat of sequenced lights when a bunch are being switched at the same time. I refuse to acknwledge it at our house. The kids say "Dad, the lights are blinking again", and i just act like ther are imagining things. They get a kick out of it and I know the show is still going on. Like Tim, I try limiting this, but there are a couple spots where I just can't resist.As far as the digital dimmer goes, are the lights actually flickering all the way off and on instead of simply dimming a bit to the beat? It may be the internal circuitry of the dimmer. It is probably internally regulated, but an abrupt change in current may walk through the regulator and throw the circuitry for a loop, making it think it is supposed to be doin something it's not. Even if the lights are on thier own breaker, a load on the main power will draw down all circuits. Think of flushing a toilet when you're in the shower.
aponce16 Posted December 7, 2007 Posted December 7, 2007 Hey, the same thing is happeming to me and my wife is driving me crazy... no tonly that, she claims that the LOR boxes are damaging the microwave oven, the washing machine, etc... all because the lights are flickering during the shows, all over the house. Anyway, does any of you have any suggestions on how to stop this problem?
Bob VandenBoom Posted December 7, 2007 Posted December 7, 2007 With your wife? Send her to her mother's.
Push Eject Posted December 7, 2007 Posted December 7, 2007 aponce16 wrote:Hey, the same thing is happeming to me and my wife is driving me crazy... no tonly that, she claims that the LOR boxes are damaging the microwave oven, the washing machine, etc... all because the lights are flickering during the shows, all over the house. Anyway, does any of you have any suggestions on how to stop this problem?Seriously, I would call a professional electrician (I am repeating myself, aren't I -- I'll shut up now).Cheers!
Tim Fischer Posted December 7, 2007 Posted December 7, 2007 Push Eject wrote: aponce16 wrote:Hey, the same thing is happeming to me and my wife is driving me crazy... no tonly that, she claims that the LOR boxes are damaging the microwave oven, the washing machine, etc... all because the lights are flickering during the shows, all over the house. Anyway, does any of you have any suggestions on how to stop this problem?Seriously, I would call a professional electrician (I am repeating myself, aren't I -- I'll shut up now).Cheers!Although it's never a bad idea to be safe, virtually all of us with more than a few lights are seeing this issue... It's normal to have a little flicker (blinking or serious flicker would be a different story). Don't your house lights dim slightly in the summer when the AC kicks in?-Tim
Push Eject Posted December 7, 2007 Posted December 7, 2007 Tim Fischer wrote:Don't your house lights dim slightly in the summer when the AC kicks in?You're right, they do.Charlie
robert cox Posted December 8, 2007 Posted December 8, 2007 we havbe this same problem, but with a twist, our neighbors lights dim too.we brought in an electrician, and he noticed that our street has about 11 houses on one transformer. we are drawing more power than ther tranformer can handle, he suggested to call the power company and 90% of the time they will put in a larger transformer. we have yet to call the power company, but its on our to do listbob
pixeldigger Posted December 8, 2007 Posted December 8, 2007 robert cox wrote: we havbe this same problem, but with a twist, our neighbors lights dim too.we brought in an electrician, and he noticed that our street has about 11 houses on one transformer. we are drawing more power than ther tranformer can handle, he suggested to call the power company and 90% of the time they will put in a larger transformer. we have yet to call the power company, but its on our to do listbobNow THATS what I call a Christmas Display!Dimming the whole neighborhood!:cool:
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