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PixCon 16


bran357r

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I have a PixCon16 and i have connected my pixels to it and for some reason all pixels are glowing red when they should be off. When i run a sequence and they are told to be on they respond to commands. The issue is at sections of the sequence where they should be black(off) they are not. The level that they glow at is not common among all the pixels either. I have tried 3 different pixel strings that were ordered from two different companies.

 

The Pixels are:

12V WS2811   

 

They board is running in E1.31 mode and the pixels are being driven in High speed. If you take it off high speed the entire string goes white.

 

I have attached a picture of the pixels connected to the board with no sequence running, 

 

Any Ideas? 

post-4678-0-02636800-1447138181_thumb.jp

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Ive been running a few sequences now and a few times have had single pixels get stuck on at 50 -100% intensity usually red, but one time a pixel stuck on in green, 

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Let me know how this goes. I have the same issue with the slight red glowing. I'm going to email HC tomorrow. I noticed this but a month ago with some pixels and the e1.31 controller. I just haven't had time to do anything about it. If u get an answer before me post it here.

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Ran into the same problem with random "red" pixels staying on low intensity when everything should have been off but never had ALL of the pixels staying on red.  Noticed it only happens after all white comes on.  When using the controller test mode, no problem.  When using XLights, only happened after white shimmer or twinkle. I bypassed the NetGear ethernet switch, no change.  I even swapped out the controller with the same results.  Worked with HC and determined it was not a controller issue but a network or PC issue.  I changed all of my sequences where they do not end in white so the random red lights would not stay on.  Keep us updated if you find a solution.

Thanks.

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I have 5V 2801s and 2811s in the lab to test with.  If any of you want, please send me a LMS where you are seeing the pixels stick and let me check with mine.

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At this point I have run multiple sequences, both musical and animation and the issue was there on all. In addition to this I see the issue as soon as you power the board up, before running any sequences.

 

One thing I noticed: If I set up a chase to chase to chase a color down the string from pixel 1 to 50 the glowing/stuck pixels would go off a few pixels before the chase got to them.

i.e.

   When the chase got to pixel 5, pixel 11 would shut off/quit glowing.

   When the chase got to pixel 6, pixel 12 would shut off/quit glowing.

**the gap here was just as an example of what I was seeing. I was not able to get an exact count of the space between the pixel that was coming on and the pixel that was going off.

 

Below is a dropbox link to a few sequence files I was running.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/swgl6pseask6zr2/AADX-6yJro5IxcdkuAv0t4eOa?dl=0

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If you are seeing the issue as soon as you power up the board, then the issue is not going to be your sequences.

 

In general it has been my experience what when you get random pixels that stick like that at power up, you have a bad string.   I have a 2801 string that reacts that exact way - depending on how it is sitting on the bench it will sometimes power up with a pixel stuck on.  Wiggling the string and then re-powering the board will fix the string.

 

Is it ALL strings on the PixCon16, or only certain ones?  When you move the string to another port that was working, does the issue then move to that new port?  If so you know you have a bad string.

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At this point for testing i am running 5 50 pixel strings, one each on ports 1 through 5. I also tried connecting a 100 pixel string. The issue is happening on all 5 ports. i have not checked the remaining 11 ports on the board.

 

When i first saw the issue the first thing i thought was a bad string so i immediately tried another string, then i tried another port. At this point i have tried 6 different stings from 2 different companies and 5 different ports on the board. 

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So I was able to do a little more testing today.

 

I first tried running my string from another controller (Non-LOR) and the lights still glowed red. At that point I tried running them from another power supply and the glowing red went away.

 

My initial setup consisted of a PixCon16 and a LED Power supply from LOR. All of this was mounted in a PC enclosure also from LOR. It seems that the power that comes from the LED Supply is not clean and so will not work with Smart Pixels. 

 

 

I have added a picture of my initial setup to this Dropbox link:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/swgl6pseask6zr2/AADX-6yJro5IxcdkuAv0t4eOa?dl=0

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We don't sell a power supply specifically for the PixCon16, nor do we sell the PixCon16 in an enclosure.  We will in the future, but not this year.

 

I looked at your picture, and that's not how we sell them - but that is our PixCon16 and that is our CMB24 Power Supply.  I don't recognize the backing plate.

 

I'll get a hold of engineering and see what they think.  It could be that the power supply you have is bad, or that it is not designed to work with the PixCon.  If you want, we can exchange that power supply now and see if that helps.  Just open a trouble ticket asking for a power supply exchange, reference this thread, and say 'Please assign to Mike'.

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I bought the Board, power supply and enclosure all from LOR.  I custom made a backing plate to mount the power supply and PixCon in the Enclosure. I've done this in the past  with the CMB24, its nice to be able to order all the components from one source and then just assemble it once it arrives. I will open a trouble ticket today to get a replacement supply. 

 

Thank You for your help. 

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The power supply that LOR sells is only a 200w and won't be enough for the Pixcon. You actually need two 350w power supplies for that board.

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With the current setup that i will be using it on i should be right around 150w. That should leave me 25%(50w) headroom which should be plenty. 

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