Joe D Posted November 29, 2008 Share Posted November 29, 2008 I bought 2 new controllers this past season and just got done setting up and tested. My 1st controller works fine but the second doesn't. The status light will go steady then flash for a bit then go steady ect.. I tried replacing the cat cables and the same happens. I noticed the plug where the cat cable goes from the 1st controller to the second seems loose and is lifted slightly then the other ones. Couls this be my problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gremler Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 Joe D wrote: I noticed the plug where the cat cable goes from the 1st controller to the second seems loose and is lifted slightly then the other ones. Couls this be my problem? Thats what mine looked like when it was broke, talked to LOR and they sent me a new connector.Mine broke when a kid tripped on the Cat5 wire laying on the ground. Now I have the cables secured to the controllers with plenty of strain relief.Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe D Posted November 30, 2008 Author Share Posted November 30, 2008 Thanks for the reply Was the connector soldered in? ow did you make the repair?Thanks BillJoeGremler wrote: Joe D wrote: I noticed the plug where the cat cable goes from the 1st controller to the second seems loose and is lifted slightly then the other ones. Couls this be my problem? Thats what mine looked like when it was broke, talked to LOR and they sent me a new connector.Mine broke when a kid tripped on the Cat5 wire laying on the ground. Now I have the cables secured to the controllers with plenty of strain relief.Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gremler Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 yep, have to desolder and then resolder. if it is a bad connector and if possible you can just put that controller at the end of the line.Also you may just take a flashlight and look inside at the center to contacts, make sure they are sprung up and not corroded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gremler Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 Also try putting the data cable connector in the other socket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Hamilton Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 I thought this might be a good place to mention some observations about those cat5 sockets.They can be very easily damaged. It looks to me like they are the type that simply solder into the board without any mechanical support. Hopefully in the future if a board update gets into LOR's plan, it would be good to use the type of cat5 socket that has a mechanical support on the sides that solders into larger holes on the board. Those are REALLY rugged. Or perhaps a bulkhead mounted connector on the bottom of the box so it doesn't have to be opened for equipment setup or takedown.You need to be especially careful of booted cat-5 cables. Don't use them. Booted cables often have smaller release levers that won't extend far beyond the edge of the socket and it makes them extremely hard to grip and release the cable from the socket. If you absolutely must use booted cat-5 cables, cut off the lip around the boot so it will be easier to press the release lever in.On the linker, you should not use them at all because the boot in combination with the strain relief is probably going to be too tall to close the linker cover without putting a lot of stress on the connector and board. I think LOR even says somewhere in the manual (if I remember properly) to not use booted cables, yet interesting we got several of them with the last order and they were almost impossible to get out of the socket after being inserted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmoore60 Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 The RJ45 board mounted connectors in the Kits have legs that SNAP into holes in the board. I know this is not like Richard is talking about, however it is more than just allowing the solder on the pins holding the socket in place.There have been several posts reflecting problems with the RJ45 sockets not being secure. This might be a quality issue that LOR needs to look into with the assembled units.Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe D Posted November 30, 2008 Author Share Posted November 30, 2008 Hello Guys,I was able to switch the controllers around and placed the damaged one at the end and didn't need the damaged port. I will see what LOR can do for me, but may be after the lighting season. Thanks to Bill for the help. Wish you all a Happy Holiday season and Happy Lighting to you all ThanksJoe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackcomb Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 I have what I believe is a similar problem to that described in the above posts. I have two boxes, each with one Cat5 socket pulled loose from the board on one side. I could put one at the end of the line, but I need the other one. My dilemma is that I have zero skills with soldering. I'd be afraid I'd ruin the entire unit if I tried. Will LOR repair the unit(s) for me? And, if so, can someone tell me where to send. Any help is appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denis Chaput Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 http://lightorama.com/support/You can start here ,they are pretty helpful. Just give them time to answer your email or phone them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackcomb Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 Thank you Denis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 Richard Hamilton wrote: I thought this might be a good place to mention some observations about those cat5 sockets.They can be very easily damaged. It looks to me like they are the type that simply solder into the board without any mechanical support. Hopefully in the future if a board update gets into LOR's plan, it would be good to use the type of cat5 socket that has a mechanical support on the sides that solders into larger holes on the board. Those are REALLY rugged. Or perhaps a bulkhead mounted connector on the bottom of the box so it doesn't have to be opened for equipment setup or takedown.You need to be especially careful of booted cat-5 cables. Don't use them. Booted cables often have smaller release levers that won't extend far beyond the edge of the socket and it makes them extremely hard to grip and release the cable from the socket. If you absolutely must use booted cat-5 cables, cut off the lip around the boot so it will be easier to press the release lever in.On the linker, you should not use them at all because the boot in combination with the strain relief is probably going to be too tall to close the linker cover without putting a lot of stress on the connector and board. I think LOR even says somewhere in the manual (if I remember properly) to not use booted cables, yet interesting we got several of them with the last order and they were almost impossible to get out of the socket after being inserted.Don't have any ELL's, maybe one day, but I did use "booted" cat5 cable last year in all 5 of my CTB16PC controllers and DC-MP3 Showtime Director, didn't need to cut away the boot or anything else.I never had a single issue plugging them in, or removing them when it came time to take everything down after the holiday season. And I did move the controllers around from Halloween to new locations for Christmas, again, no problems pressing the clip and removing the booted Cat5 I purchased from monoprice.com at all and replugging them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bisquit476 Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 This has been addressed on the new boards, the cat5 connector is turned 180 degrees out so the soldered end is facing up. One thing I did to minimize this problem was use these connectors in the controller box, it gives a little extra support for the "trip" factor. Attached files RJ45-outdoor.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 bisquit476 wrote: This has been addressed on the new boards, the cat5 connector is turned 180 degrees out so the soldered end is facing up. One thing I did to minimize this problem was use these connectors in the controller box, it gives a little extra support for the "trip" factor.Those weatherproof connections look pretty good. May have to see about ordering some of those and modify my LOR boxes for them as well. Then no need to open the controller box for anything but a reset if needed.Excellent idea and suggestion Bisquit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Hamilton Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 bisquit476 wrote:This has been addressed on the new boards, the cat5 connector is turned 180 degrees out so the soldered end is facing up. One thing I did to minimize this problem was use these connectors in the controller box, it gives a little extra support for the "trip" factor.Gee, this is exactly what I have been searcing to find (and for things other than LOR as well). Thanks for the post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rstately Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 I ordered them last year from here,http://www.sparcotech.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=RJ45-ECSBut if this place gets them in stock again there only 1.00 each!https://www.roc-noc.com/product.php?productid=78( the second one is feed through, not the same for strain relieve...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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