Bad Pixels

[c7williams]

Thoughts? 

Last year was my first year with a mega tree. My mega tree is 35ft tall constructed from steel with 2 meters of concrete in the ground. 5566 pixels. 46 strands of 121 (100ct and 21ct). Ordered these from RGB Man. I’ve heard bad things about him a lot this year but didn’t hear to much before I ordered these. I had zero issues with the tree last year other then 2 pixels that were the wrong colour.  Tree was too tall to fix so I left them alone. 

Stored the tree under the deck. All shrink wrapped and water tight. When I took it out this year there was not a ounce of water on any of the strands. 

This year has been a nightmare. After I got the tree up I noticed about 10 areas that had issues. Spent a day on the genie fixing pixels then another night after more decided the act up the following day. As the week went by there was another 7 pixels that went bad. Genie rental again…. Another day replacing pixels. Now 2 days later and I have other 5 pixels that are bad. 

As you guys know one bad pixel usually causes the rest of the strand to go funky. 

Is there any reason why this may be happening? Other then the simple fact of a bad product by RGB Man?

[TheDucks]

Poor cleaning after soldering at manufacture leads to corrosion of the circuit board that the chip, resistors and LED are mounted upon.

Since these are probably made in China. It might be a case of 'lowest price' bid. How do you get cheaper? Skip or shorten process times.

If you have a Magnifier and strong light, you might see a whitish or greenish fuzz on the traces in the node.

[k6ccc]

There have been reports on all the forums about lower quality than normal for pixels for 2020 and 2021.  My observation with 3,000 pixels I got last goes along with that.

You have a little over twice the number of pixels that I have, but I can reach all of mine with a 12 foot ladder.  Good luck...

 

[TexasLights]

I had a similar experience, ordered last year and did initial testing and all was good, packed away until Christmas and had 2 strands with issues.   This year, I had quite a few more pixels go out although it also was on the same strands as last year.  The others so far have been good.   The LOR pixels I have had one issue total over multiple years.   

[dibblejr]

This year has been worse on pixels then ever imagined. I received a message from a good friend today. I had 12 strings of 100 pixels shipped to him from.... 2 months ago for the matrix board I sent him as a gift. Six of those were returned to the seller and I replaced them with 12 of my 50 counts from 2020. Today he notified me that the replacements that the seller sent him and the other 6 original went out. My 2020 batch is all working. SO out of 2 friends that I sent gifts to I paid for 36 bad strings of pixels. All from 2021 and all of my 2020 inventory sent from me work.

In these days it is better to spend a little more and buy from a company that has a solid guarantee. Next year all of my purchase will be backed by the LOR Warranty. All of my CCR ribbons are LOR and when they failed I was sent replacements. I always have them in excess and never needed them. The same with my square nodes. All LOR and I only lost one string. To the point I never asked for a replacement.

Open the ports and lets get America rolling again.

JR

[c7williams]

Still replacing pixels left right and center. Replaced probably 40 since this post.
 

Does anyone think it could be another issue? I was thinking maybe it’s because I run them at 100% brightness but none of my other pixels are acting up. When the get stuck it’s usually when they are white if that triggers anything.  

[TheDucks]

6 minutes ago, c7williams said:

Still replacing pixels left right and center. Replaced probably 40 since this post.
 

Does anyone think it could be another issue? I was thinking maybe it’s because I run them at 100% brightness but none of my other pixels are acting up. When the get stuck it’s usually when they are white if that triggers anything.  

are you sure you are running them at the correct voltage (at the controller)?

Have you measured the voltage at the end of the string. Could be a bad connection, and the voltage is low. I had to exercise a number of connectors this year (and they were stored nicely).

I also added a dab of dielectric grease once the proved good

[c7williams]

1 hour ago, TheDucks said:

are you sure you are running them at the correct voltage (at the controller)?

Have you measured the voltage at the end of the string. Could be a bad connection, and the voltage is low. I had to exercise a number of connectors this year (and they were stored nicely).

I also added a dab of dielectric grease once the proved good

Can you expand on running them at the correct voltage at the controller? They are 12v pixels and the controller is 12v. 
 

I will grab my multimeter now and check the voltage at the end of a strand. 

[TheDucks]

1 minute ago, c7williams said:

Can you expand on running them at the correct voltage at the controller? They are 12v pixels and the controller is 12v. 
 

I will grab my multimeter now and check the voltage at the end of a strand. 

That is what I meant. 1) you ARE using 12V strings on a 12V controller. 2) the Voltage is 'supposed to be 12V , IS it correct IMHO 12.6 is perfect 13.7 is tops (no wiggle room), below 12 and you won't hurt things, but the colors will be off and Pixiels behave erratic

[dibblejr]

If you are over voltage the 1st pixel will be the first to blow! If you fail to turn the voltage down and do not remove the burnt one they will burn out in order. If they are burning out in the middle and all over it would be a bad batch/ string. Covid quality pixels.

JR

[k6ccc]

That one fails my sanity check.  Unlike data, the voltage is applied to all pixels semi-equally.  I saw semi-equally because there is voltage drop in the wiring, so yes the pixel closest to the power source will have slightly higher voltage - but if the pixels are not lit, it will be a very slight difference.  More likely a variation in overvoltage sensitivity between pixels will determine the order in which pixels would fail due to over-voltage as the voltage goes up.

 

[TheDucks]

1 minute ago, k6ccc said:

That one fails my sanity check.  Unlike data, the voltage is applied to all pixels semi-equally.  I saw semi-equally because there is voltage drop in the wiring, so yes the pixel closest to the power source will have slightly higher voltage - but if the pixels are not lit, it will be a very slight difference.  More likely a variation in overvoltage sensitivity between pixels will determine the order in which pixels would fail due to over-voltage as the voltage goes up.

 

DITTO. 

Survival of the fittest

 

[dibblejr]

27 minutes ago, k6ccc said:

That one fails my sanity check.  Unlike data, the voltage is applied to all pixels semi-equally.  I saw semi-equally because there is voltage drop in the wiring, so yes the pixel closest to the power source will have slightly higher voltage - but if the pixels are not lit, it will be a very slight difference.  More likely a variation in overvoltage sensitivity between pixels will determine the order in which pixels would fail due to over-voltage as the voltage goes up.

 

Comes from testing. Apply 13v or more to a 12v pixel string over time. The first pixel will die before the 2nd

Let me rephrase "testing". Not actual testing as my friend connected his pixie4 to a improperly adjusted power supply. Pixel number 1 burnt first after several months for his patio lights. He didn't think anything of it until the third pixel burnt out and said they burnt out "in order". Since he is a friend I went to his house and the input power was almost 18v. I replaced his psu with a new 12v psu and the strings have worked now for almost 3 years.

Edited December 15, 2021 by dibblejr

[TheDucks]

JR the only logic I can come up with, is that voltage was SO high the the I*R drop because of excessive current on the first node, that the voltage that did make it to node 2 was under the threshold.

(FWIW My first 2 jobs after I was discharged, was with 'Test Engineering'. You want to see over the top testing. HiRel parts.)

[c7williams]

@TheDucks@dibblejr @k6ccc

Just went out and measured voltages. at the port I got 12.03 at the end of the extension I got 12.02 and at the 26th pixel mark I got 11.92.

 

My strands are 121 pixels. I've had bad pixels at 2-7 from the start and some mid way up and some near the top. All random. 

 

Thanks for all your help. I'm really hoping there is an issue I can fix that's not replacing pixels until the end of December. Keep in mind the pixels performed almost perfect last year. 

 

Are there any other tests I should try with the multimeter?

[TheDucks]

Those number are perfect in my book. You have real numbers, so I think you can rule out power as the cause.

JUNK quality 🥵. While it is a PITA, what the vendor does to make this better would have a bearing on further business.

[c7williams]

3 hours ago, TheDucks said:

Those number are perfect in my book. You have real numbers, so I think you can rule out power as the cause.

JUNK quality 🥵. While it is a PITA, what the vendor does to make this better would have a bearing on further business.

He wont do a thing! Cant even respond to an email! lol. RGB man is a loser

[~DOC~]

I thought about trying RGB man but decided against it. I saw similar complaints else where. So I have 100% LOR. On my side I put up some new arches this year and I have one bad pixel does green and blue but red is out. I can’t imagine how your feeling with as many as you have lost. Hope you get this remedied.

[Dcroc]

On 12/7/2021 at 12:32 AM, dibblejr said:

This year has been worse on pixels then ever imagined. I received a message from a good friend today. I had 12 strings of 100 pixels shipped to him from.... 2 months ago for the matrix board I sent him as a gift. Six of those were returned to the seller and I replaced them with 12 of my 50 counts from 2020. Today he notified me that the replacements that the seller sent him and the other 6 original went out. My 2020 batch is all working. SO out of 2 friends that I sent gifts to I paid for 36 bad strings of pixels. All from 2021 and all of my 2020 inventory sent from me work.

In these days it is better to spend a little more and buy from a company that has a solid guarantee. Next year all of my purchase will be backed by the LOR Warranty. All of my CCR ribbons are LOR and when they failed I was sent replacements. I always have them in excess and never needed them. The same with my square nodes. All LOR and I only lost one string. To the point I never asked for a replacement.

Open the ports and lets get America rolling again.

JR

Being an expensive hobby, I chose to go the cheaper Holidaycoro pixel route.  Every year, without fail, I spend hundreds on replacement strips.   Doesn't seem to matter if I carefully store them, or leave them out all year.  I seem to get 1 to 2 seasons out of them.  There are 3 that I have had for 7 years, of which, 1 is on the house all year, and the other 2 stored.   I have tried a few other cheaper venders, as well, with similar results.  It's hard to expand your show when you are blowing your budget on replacements every season.   After years of this,  I believe I will spend the off season converting everything to LOR pixels.  

[dibblejr]

12 minutes ago, Dcroc said:

Being an expensive hobby, I chose to go the cheaper Holidaycoro pixel route.  Every year, without fail, I spend hundreds on replacement strips.   Doesn't seem to matter if I carefully store them, or leave them out all year.  I seem to get 1 to 2 seasons out of them.  There are 3 that I have had for 7 years, of which, 1 is on the house all year, and the other 2 stored.   I have tried a few other cheaper venders, as well, with similar results.  It's hard to expand your show when you are blowing your budget on replacements every season.   After years of this,  I believe I will spend the off season converting everything to LOR pixels.  

My first pixel was 2017. For the two props I built with them I have only lost 1 pixel, just last year. I replaced the one pixel. Until 2021 I had great results no matter where I purchased but typically I only use 3 sources only because LOR does not sell the ones I use for my house.

My roof outline has been up for 5 seasons and I didnt have any problems until the first hurricane to reach our area took out some of my roof outline when a tree limb fell on them. During repair of those I made a video of the wear and tare that 4 years of direct sunlight and the elements have done. I was going to replace them in 2021 but I got ill and never got around to it. January 2021 they were all still working but this year I have been dark so not sure if I have lost more.

Anything i Iose  for 2022 will be from LOR as well as any new builds or conversions. Just not worth the headache. 

I truly hope things get back up and running in 2022.

JR