Jay Czerwinski Posted October 11, 2020 Share Posted October 11, 2020 Just checking and also sharing so someone else can learn from this and not do the same thing I just experienced. This morning with no show, I see a CCR strip entirely on white with a few pixels being a different color. First thought was that the recent rain got in the ribbon and I have a bad pixel freaking out the rest of the ribbon. So I go to the garage and get another strip and plug it in to the controller and it does the same thing. I conclude it must be the controller. I replace the controller with different one and the ribbon still is doing the same thing. I put the second ribbon on the controller, and it is doing the same thing. Now I am thinking that the first controller wrecked the first ribbon, and then I fried a second ribbon in troubleshooting. I get a third controller, and test the first two ribbons, and they still are bad. But I put a third ribbon in the third controller and it all works fine. CONCLUSION - If you have a ribbon acting up, try a different controller first and do not plug a good strip in as the first test. I'm bummed because these are the old ribbons and I have a 12 CCR tree that is now short of two ribbons due to this event in my Halloween setup. I'm posting this : 1. To confirm with LOR that my hypothesis is correct - a controller can destroy ribbons 2. To warn others from making the same mistake - especially if true. 3. Make it known that if someone has old CCRs I may have an interest in them if you are going to part ways with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 About the only way I can think of that a controller could destroy a ribbon is if the voltage regulator in the CCR controller failed and sent too high a voltage to the ribbon. As I recall, the original CCRs ran at 5V. If the regulator failed and sent (for example) 15 volts to a 5 volt ribbon, it could kill it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Czerwinski Posted October 20, 2020 Author Share Posted October 20, 2020 On 10/12/2020 at 1:01 AM, k6ccc said: About the only way I can think of that a controller could destroy a ribbon is if the voltage regulator in the CCR controller failed and sent too high a voltage to the ribbon. As I recall, the original CCRs ran at 5V. If the regulator failed and sent (for example) 15 volts to a 5 volt ribbon, it could kill it. Maybe when I have time after the season, I could crack open the box and measure something or measure voltage on the output pins? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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