When controllers don't control?

[George Simmons]

My controllers are all CBT16PC's. I've got one that doesn't turn lights off. Actually, it turns them back on without being instructed to do so. After shutting the computer down - and I've done both hibernating the machine and shutting it down completely - this controller continues to light the lights at what must be 5-10% intensity. All channels. Disconnecting the Cat5 cable has no effect. The only thing that works is disconnecting the power to the controller. I just noticed this for the first time last night, and I was tired enough to just want to go to bed, so I haven't had the opportunity yet to try rebooting the computer or anything that might further pinpoint the problem. Of course, I'll have to wait until it's dark anyway. Anyone have any ideas?

[Guest wbottomley]

George... try resetting the controller itself. That should correct the problem you're having.

[cmoore60]

George,

I would like to add also. Was this a board that you purchase soldered completely, or did you solder the components on the board? Has this board been used in the past with success?

If the rest does not work and you soldered this board together look for some solder bridges. Usually if just a few channels it could be a triac. You stated all. So when i hear all I assume the total of 16 channels stay on to some degree of intensity. The intensity you mentions I have seen to be the norm for blown triacs. BUT never all on the same board.

If the reset does not work and you purchased the board from LOR already soldered then I strongly suggest you contact them about repair/replacement.

Chuck

[George Simmons]

William - I hate to sound so stupid, but what exactly do you mean by "resetting the controller"?

Chuck - its a new controller - card assembled by LOR. Yes, all 16 channels stay/come on at a very low intensity. It seems to work correctly playing sequences, it just doesn't shut off when I turn everything else off for the night.

Thanks to both of you.

[-klb-]

To reset a PC series controller:

Remove power
Remove the jumper on the second row of pins
Apply power for a few seconds, a different blink pattern should establish, and repeat
Remove power
Put the jumper back on the second row of pins
Test again.

[Anthony in Houston]

I had a few boards do this and I corrected the problem by re installing the firmware. I had several channels that would stay on during the show and then stay on after the show ended. The reinstall or upgrade of the firmware corrected the problems.

Anthony

[-klb-]

Also, if the controller has been wet at some time, look for any signs of corrosion, or other materials forming "traces" or "tracks" between components on the surface of the board. I had this happen on one controller, but it only caused one channel to be on dim, and the whole controller to fail to control lights, while otherwise responsive to the hardware utility.

I took that one out of the case for repairs. Spraying with denatured alcohol until it was dripping off the card, and a light scrubbing on the top side, followed by one more spray, toweling dry to the extent I could, and drying for 12 hours resolved all issues.

Yours does though sound more like a software reset issue.

[cmoore60]

One other item that comes to mind. MIGHT you have set a minimum intensity on this controller using the hardware utiltiy?

Chuck

[George Simmons]

Thanks guys for all the good advice. I'll reset the darn thing as soon as I get home this afternoon and see what happens after dark.

Anthony - For what it's worth, I installed the latest firmware when I assembled the controller and tested it.

KLB - To the best of my knowledge, the only wet the controller might have encountered would have been me drooling while I was attaching the dangles. I thought I caught all that though...

Chuck - I didn't intentionally change the intensity setting, but I'll certainly check it out.

George

[-klb-]

[align=left]If the reset doesn't do it, do try updating the firmware again. There is always a tiny chance that somehow the copy in flash memory is not 100% correct. [/align]

[George Simmons]

Thanks to all for the advice. Resetting the controller seems to have done the job.

Which brings forth a few more questions... What would cause a controller to need resetting? How common is this? I had an element of my display screw up occasionally last year. It would happen every now and then on two or three different songs in the same show. Then it would be okay for a few days. Sounds to me like maybe that controller needs resetting too, eh? Is resetting the controller something that should be done periodically simply as a matter of routine? After updating firmware, perhaps?

[-klb-]

Based on posts here, it doesn't appear to be an issue that often, and I'm not exactly clear what exactly the controller retains that gets out of sync. However, it is the go to suggestions for when a controller starts acting weird for no apparent reason. I haven't needed to do it to any of the ones I've upgraded so far...

[LightORamaDan]

With the latest firmware, it is pretty rare that a controller's brains get scrambled and it needs to be reset. From our experience it is often (but not always) that a person has loaded standalone sequence into the controller "while learing" and not realize that it is in there.

Years ago it was more common but the later firmware has been "taught" to ignore noise and other silly things that were the root cause of the problems.

Dan