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CMB24D controller not working


Artstaw

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I purchased the CMB24D controller with 8 RGB floods as a package. Everything has worked fine for 3 days, last night the controller lost connection to the network. I assume I have power (this controller has no lights). The controllers daisy chained to this controller are connected and work. But the CMB24D controller for my floods is not recognized at all in hardware utility. any ideas?  I unplugged power and ethernet but still nothing. This controller is brand new!!

Edited by Artstaw
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  • The title was changed to CMB24D controller not working

ok that helps, so it's a power issue. I went to check fuses first, unfortunately I broke one talking it out. this takes 30 amp ceramic which are hard to find. I put in 20 amp temp and it still wont power up, would that make a diff? Status light is completely off.  one other thing I forgot to mention - I noticed last night the power supply was pretty hot. I dont know if thats normal. Could the power supply have gone out? Again, brand new controller. 

Edited by Artstaw
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Take out a voltmeter an measure the output of whatever power supply you are using.  If that is good, measure the voltage at the input terminals on the CMB24. If that is good, measure from ground to the end of the fuses towards the center of the board.  If that is good, measure the voltages from ground to the ends of the fuses towards the edge of the board.  As a last test, measure the voltages from ground to the + terminal on at least one output port on each side of the controller.  Those measurements should pretty well tell you where the problem lies.  Obviously if for example there is no power output from the power supply, there is no point in continuing as there won't be voltage anywhere farther along the process.

Your 20A replacement fuse is not the issue.

If you do not understand the results, report EXACTLY what you found.

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22 minutes ago, Artstaw said:

ok that helps, so it's a power issue. I went to check fuses first, unfortunately I broke one talking it out. this takes 30 amp ceramic which are hard to find. I put in 20 amp temp and it still wont power up, would that make a diff? Status light is completely off.  one other thing I forgot to mention - I noticed last night the power supply was pretty hot. I dont know if thats normal. Could the power supply have gone out? Again, brand new controller. 

Those are Low Voltage (32V) fuses, so you really should be able to find some 3AG GLASS ones at any decent Auto Parts.

Check your Power supply (with CMB fuses removed), Blown Main bus fuses says something bad happened (assumes just floods. as each bank would be just 40W or ~3.5A)

(I'm not sure why LOR uses the ceramic as they spec the CMB24  up to 30V. 125 fuses have too much resistance, using 32V on 125/240 may arc over instead of blow)

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8 minutes ago, TheDucks said:

Those are Low Voltage (32V) fuses, so you really should be able to find some 3AG GLASS ones at any decent Auto Parts.

Check your Power supply (with CMB fuses removed), Blown Main bus fuses says something bad happened (assumes just floods. as each bank would be just 40W or ~3.5A)

(I'm not sure why LOR uses the ceramic as they spec the CMB24  up to 30V. 125 fuses have too much resistance, using 32V on 125/240 may arc over instead of blow)

30 amp glass or 3amp? at any rate, the 20amp ceramic did not work

9 minutes ago, k6ccc said:

Take out a voltmeter an measure the output of whatever power supply you are using.  If that is good, measure the voltage at the input terminals on the CMB24. If that is good, measure from ground to the end of the fuses towards the center of the board.  If that is good, measure the voltages from ground to the ends of the fuses towards the edge of the board.  As a last test, measure the voltages from ground to the + terminal on at least one output port on each side of the controller.  Those measurements should pretty well tell you where the problem lies.  Obviously if for example there is no power output from the power supply, there is no point in continuing as there won't be voltage anywhere farther along the process.

Your 20A replacement fuse is not the issue.

If you do not understand the results, report EXACTLY what you found.

I appreciate you taking the time to give me a troubleshooting tip but I really don't know how to do that honestly. I think I am going to have to return this controller to LOR for anew one, this shouldn't happen.

Edited by Artstaw
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Hint, if you are going to do much in this hobby, a couple pieces of test equipment that you really need to have and know how to use.  The first two are a voltmeter (usually a multi-meter) and a Cat-5 cable tester.

Good possibility that the controller is not the issue, but rather the power supply.  Does the power supply have any sort of status or power light?

 

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9 minutes ago, k6ccc said:

Hint, if you are going to do much in this hobby, a couple pieces of test equipment that you really need to have and know how to use.  The first two are a voltmeter (usually a multi-meter) and a Cat-5 cable tester.

Good possibility that the controller is not the issue, but rather the power supply.  Does the power supply have any sort of status or power light?

 

Appreciate the hint. Ive actually done this for several years (took a few years off and got back into it). So I know the basics. Ive never been good with voltmeters. But I do not build my own controllers, I buy everything ready to go. And I expect that a controller I just bought that has been running for 3 days shouldn't have an issue. The power supply itself doesn't not have any status indicator, there is an LED indicator on the board that is not lit at all.  So yes, I assume at this point its the power supply. Cant seem to find a 12v dc 250 watt power supply locally so I ordered one from LOR - but - afterward I found one on Amazon for 1/2 the price and will be here tomorrow. 

Edited by Artstaw
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Sounds like the power supply is not producing DC power.  Can you verify if the AC outlet or extension cord that the power supply is plugged into has power.  You can test that with something like a known working nightlight, table lamp, desk light, or AC operated power tool.

 

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Yes the outlet and extension cord have power. Has to be power supply. Crazy how that can go out on a new controller. 

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3 minutes ago, Artstaw said:

Yes the outlet and extension cord have power. Has to be power supply. Crazy how that can go out on a new controller. 

Just the opposite. It is called the Bathtub failure curve.

New stuff  failures starts at the lip of the curve at the beginning, as it ages, the curve bottoms out (no failures), the climbs back near the end of useful life (old age)

Why do you think many things have 30-90 day warranties?  We used to 'Burn In' products for days (some in closed rooms that were at the top of the design rating).  The the folk in the office found it was more efficient to just have a warranty for the small percentage that did fail in the field. 

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New power supply from amazon overnighted and fixed last night. problem solved in less than 24 hours at half the price of LOR

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36 minutes ago, Artstaw said:

New power supply from amazon overnighted and fixed last night. problem solved in less than 24 hours at half the price of LOR

Having a spare PSU is a good plan.   (another reason to standardize when possible. less spare types) Overnite can be as much or MORE than the price of the unit. Call me cheap  Thrifty

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