Can't find controllers

[ed26105]

I am having problems having hardware utility find a couple of controllers. I have a wireless system, with four other houses, each having their own receiver. On each house I have two 16 channel LOR controllers (just purchased this year.) The utility will find the controller connected to the wireless unit, but won't find the next one controller. I have reset the controllers and that didn't work. I have the maximum number of units on hardware utility at 240. The irony is the hardware utility will find the two controllers on one house, but not the other two.

Any help is appreciated.

[Gremler]

Are you sure you set the unit ID's?

[cmoore60]

IS it possible to change which controller the wireless is connected to on the non-working houses? This will give you an idea if possibly you have a bad cable at each location. As Gremler stated. Check the address. Any duplicates will not show but once in the hardware utility.

Chuck

[ed26105]

I finally brought one of the problem controllers inside. After a couple of tries and resets, I hooked it up by itself. It turns out even though the switches showed 1 and 6, it was reading it as 06. I moved the switch around, it recognized it as 26, then 06 again. I tried 16 again and it still read 06. But finally after some moving the switch a little it finally picked it up as 16.

I will work on the other box tomorrow night, but it appears to be a switch setting issue.

This is after I tried new control cable, fresh out of bag, changed fuses since I remember that light can stay solid even if one side is not on. But for now looks like it will recognize the box.

[cmoore60]

ed,

Just keep in mind that the switches are read on powerup for the D series controllers.

So, if that rotary switch is flaky, and you put it back outside you may end up with the same problem. If you assembled these board and feel comfortable replacing the switch. Either way you need to contact support@lightorama.com and let them know what you have.

Chuck

[ed26105]

Thanks for the insight. I think once the first switch lock onto #1 it will be good. I need to try the second box that was giving problems tonight. Worst case scenario is to set them to some other number other than that originally assigned, but that means changing assignments on programs. That isn't a big deal, just mindless work.

[ed26105]

I did change existing ID number, if that is what you mean by flash. And it did set it to the correct number. But it didn't hold the number when the unit restarted.

I found a second unit with a flaky switch. It won't recognize it as box 16, but will as box 26. The 'simple' fix is just reassign those circuits since I don't have box 26 in the system yet.

With only 16 x 16 boxes, I have some flexibility. Once the season is done, I will explore options to fix the box thru customer service. The good news there are ways to work around the problem.

[Don]

ed26105 wrote:

With only 16 x 16 boxes, I have some flexibility. Once the season is done, I will explore options to fix the box thru customer service. The good news there are ways to work around the problem.

I had a controller that wouldn't lock onto #8. Given the location of my controllers, I found it easier to modify my shows the 2 or 3 times it decided to change channels.

As always, LOR's customer service was there to replace the rotary dial.

[John]

ed26105 wrote:

... I moved the switch around, it recognized it as 26, then 06 again. I tried 16 again and it still read 06. But finally after some moving the switch a little it finally picked it up as 16.

I believe this problem has been seen before.
It seems that the rotary switches are not making good contact internally when you set the unit ID. Try turning each of the unit ID switches clockwise a few revolutions then counter-clockwise a few revolutions. After that set it to the unit ID you need and see if it recognizes that ID correctly.

Good Luck!

[Dan Ancona]

Having the same sort of problem with the hardware Utilty not locating the unit. I 'hard set' the unit ID - hareware utilty found the unit - downloaded an animation sequence - all seemed OK, until I unpluged the controller. When it powered up, LED began fast blink and no sequence played.

Suggestions??? Thanks!!!

16 PC (kit) blue board.

[Ken Pharr]

I had the same problem tonight. We did have some rain today. I have 1 transmitter and 3 receivers in neighbors yards. The show worked great, then 1 of the units froze. I checked the untis and all had power. I even moved the wireless to another box, but the harware utility could not find the boxes in the yard. I checked the wireless unti and the led was flashing. The untis have worked perfectly until tonight. I restarted my computer, but the utilty still does not find the units. Do I just wait until the sun comes out, or is there something else I can try?

[ed26105]

I have finally worked around my problem since the switch seems not to recognize the first digit as a '1', but will recognize it as a '2'. So I just adjusted the software. But I learned a couple of things.

1. It doesn't hurt to bring the problem box inside next to the computer and only hook up the problem box. In the hadrware utility, set the number of units to max, search for units, and see what happens. That is the only way I found out it was recognizing the box incorrectly, as a second box '06'.

2. Remember hexadecimal. I thought I was smart, but setting box as '26' means I have to check for more than 30 units, or I won't see box 26. In order to check the system once it is outside, I occasionally check for the max number of units, just to make sure one flaky switch didn't act up.

3. I have reset any problem boxes, ie where the lights didn't respond as expected. (I also read you shouldn't cross the power and control cables...don't cross the beams Ray, it could be bad...) Power down, reset both switches to 00, then power up and wait 10 seconds or more, then reset switches and power up.