kzaas Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 In one song I have the some of the channels that are attached to my three color mini trees randomly coming on and staying on for a while then it will shut off. I have verified the sequence and those channels are not turned on, I have also gone thru all of the channel assignments and verified those. This does not happen in the same spot of the song it always random. In all my other songs my mini trees seem to work fine.In another song I have my roof lights set to 50% for the whole song but two of the four channels will randomly go to 100% for a while then back to 50%.I am puzzled on both of these problems. Does anyone have any ideas?More info: Each color of the mini trees has 300 lights (only .9 amps) The roof lights at 50% are drawing about 2.7amps and 5.4 at 100%. The Controllers are CTB16D 40Amp version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-klb- Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 I'd suggest running the LOR verifier on the show PC, to look for any duplicate channel assignments. (it will even catch background sequences that have channels in conflict with musical sequence)Then, especially if you have any deluxe controllers, go through, and verify that they don't have any stand alone sequences loaded.Also, if you have ELL's, try switching to a different channel, in case someone else is using the same channel, and you are picking up some of their commands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kzaas Posted December 22, 2009 Author Share Posted December 22, 2009 First, These aren't the deluxe stand alone versions but they are the 40 amp versions. Second I just ran the verifier on my developement PC and the only thing it found was channels that I didn't use in some songs. Can the verifier be used on the show PC with the show running?No ELL's, 7 controllers 1 hardwired network with sprinkler wire goop on RJ45 connector to prevent corrosion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-klb- Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 The ones with dials to set the ID are capable of storing stand alone animation sequences. Do try resetting your controllers as well..Even the PC series can be faked into storing a very simple sequence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kzaas Posted December 22, 2009 Author Share Posted December 22, 2009 I only have one CTB16D with the dials the but that is not the one giving me problems. I do have two CTB16PC controllers and one of those is giving me one random channel sticking problem. The rest of the controllers are standard CTB16D. Tommorrow I will try resetting all of my controllers, As a refresher, to do that I just remove power from the controller, remove the jumper by the LED then restore power a couple of times then remove power and place jumper back in. Plug controllers back in and I am ready to go.Did I miss anything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-klb- Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 In theory, a standalone sequence could send commands only to a different controller than the sequence lives on.For a unit with ID dials.Note the ID.remove powerset dials to 00apply powerwatch for fast blink. Wait a few extra seconds past the start of the fast blink.remove powerset ID dials correctlyApply powerFor a unit without ID dialsRemove powerRemove jumper on second row of pinsApply powerwatch for fast blink. Wait a few extra seconds past the start of the fast blink.remove powerreplace jumper on second row of pinsApply powerAnd, I forgot to answer earlier, I didn't know at the time if the verifier can be run with the show running... I have an overnight show that runs here, and I just ran the verifier. It appears to have been OK, though from what I can see through the window, I would not have noticed if things slowed down at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kzaas Posted December 23, 2009 Author Share Posted December 23, 2009 Ok, I ran the verifier on the show machine and it ran clean. I also reset all of my controllers today but when my show started tonight I still had the same problems. Do you think it might be possible that because my power wiring is too close to the RS485 communications, that I could be inducing some spikes causing these channels to act odd. The only problem I have with that theory is that it only happens on two of my eight songs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-klb- Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 If those two songs have more dimming than others, yes, it could be the electrical cords next to the RS485. Or, if you have any CFL bulbs on the controllers, or the same circuits, especially if they are only used on those sequences, the CFL's would be the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kzaas Posted December 23, 2009 Author Share Posted December 23, 2009 I have no CFL's but those two songs have alot of dimming, so I need to try and seperate my Comm and power circuits better. I'll try that tomorrow and let you know how it goes.Thanks, Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kzaas Posted December 24, 2009 Author Share Posted December 24, 2009 Alright, I rearranged all of my communication cables and as the show was going through the songs, the first song that I was having problems with ran clean, but when it got to the last song, I had one channel come on when it was not supposed to. In fact I don't even use this channel during this song. I did have to run the first leg of the RS485 fairly close to the 100 amp sub panel main feed conduit. but I think I far enough away.Anymore Ideas?:? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-Paul Posted December 25, 2009 Share Posted December 25, 2009 Might still be some minor AC noise, seeing how you cleaned up the majority by moving your comm cable away from the AC lines. If that had not cleaned things up I was going to suggest that you reboot your show computer. I came home one night to see two of my arches acting up (both from same controller). Using one of my rules of thumb that is to reboot the computer. I did so, and that arch stopped behaving badly. And all was good again in my show.So, if you have not rebooted yet, give it a try. Might clear things up with last channel. But I am not real sure it will. I am thinking it is still noise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-klb- Posted December 25, 2009 Share Posted December 25, 2009 And if the reboot doesn't do it, try building a 100, or 120 ohm termination resistor to plug into the open jack on the very last controller. I think it was posted here recently enough to have a chance of turning up in search. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kzaas Posted December 27, 2009 Author Share Posted December 27, 2009 Sorry, not to reply back to you guys recently, but with Christmas and all my Grandkids come before my Christmas lights(oops did I say that out loud?:shock:). I have not tried to reboot the show PC since I have rerouted the communication cables, so I will try that today and check the show tonight. If that doesn't work I will try the termination resistors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kzaas Posted December 27, 2009 Author Share Posted December 27, 2009 Rebooted show PC and everything seems to be OK now. I think I will still put the terminating resistor on just to prevent future problems.Thanks for all your help guys. Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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