sasmuse Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 Last night I had two channels on one of my controllers that refused to turn off. The show ended, I disabled shows in the control panel, I unloaded the control panel but those two still stayed lit. The only way to "unlight" them was to unplug them from the controller.It's channels 8 and 11 on one of the pre-assembled kits (the one where I had to add the plugs and cords...). Any ideas on what it may be and how to fix it?Thanks,Sally Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmoore60 Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 Sally,You say they won't turn off. Do they remain on, at about 30%?Sounds like blown triacs to me. Probably should try a reset on the board first. If that does not remedy, then give LOR a call or email. They really are not difficult to change, but I don't know if you built your boards or not.An over loaded channel can cause it. Possible water causing a hot to neutral short could draw higher current to blow it. Or it could have just been it's time.Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sasmuse Posted December 11, 2008 Author Share Posted December 11, 2008 cmoore60 wrote: Sally,You say they won't turn off. Do they remain on, at about 30%?Sounds like blown triacs to me. Probably should try a reset on the board first. If that does not remedy, then give LOR a call or email. They really are not difficult to change, but I don't know if you built your boards or not.An over loaded channel can cause it. Possible water causing a hot to neutral short could draw higher current to blow it. Or it could have just been it's time.ChuckI think it's more than 30% but not full power. The channels are only running 3 strings of minis each so overload isn't an issue, and the draw on the entire controller is less than 10 amps per 8 channel groupings.I'll try the board reset, but since I didn't build'em (soldering is not one of my "gifts") LOR support will be the next stop.Thanks, Sally Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmoore60 Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 Sally,Any resolve on your problem?Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sasmuse Posted December 12, 2008 Author Share Posted December 12, 2008 I was going to reset the controller last night, but the weather was really bad (rainy and windy) so I just ran the "weather" show. I had plugged the two suspects back in and ran them too. When the show shut down so did they. Tonight (Friday) is also slated to be not real good. So it will be a minimal run; mostly static.I don't think the problem "just went away" so I'm planning on resetting the controller tomorrow. If it is a bad triac is there any potential for further damage if I keep using it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmoore60 Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 I do not believe there is any risk of more damage to keep using with bad triacs. More of a nuisance than anything.However you said that they were off tonight. Is there any possibility that your board got wet? I have read of at one time that a board has gotten wet and behaved as you describe. When dried out, then it returns to working normally.Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sasmuse Posted December 13, 2008 Author Share Posted December 13, 2008 This board doesn't have direct exposure to the elements, but it was definitely damp. I saw some condensation on the board.Any way to test for a bad triac? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan C Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 A failed triac will stay failed, and not recover. Most of the time, a triac will fail "on" meaning that the set of lights it controls will remain lit. It is more likely that the damp you noticed on the board is responsible - condensation on the board in the correct place will easily be able to turn a triac on, until the board dries.Regards,Alan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmoore60 Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 Sally,Do you make it a habit of powering down your controllers every night? Most of us leave them on. Also you should have it mounted as close to vertical as possible so that the least amount of water/condensation will stay on the board.Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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