My First Attempt at Anything.... Mediocre Tree :/

[mangoat]

sooo.....im at a point where within a week, ill have everything ready to plug my box into my tree, will post pics and a vid once its cracking. i just have to put the pigtails on the end to plug into my control box. then all will get a test...... talk about taking my time. everyone is driving past asking WTF i have a massive THING in my front lawn for no reason....LOL!

 

[penguineer]

sooo.....im at a point where within a week, ill have everything ready to plug my box into my tree, will post pics and a vid once its cracking. i just have to put the pigtails on the end to plug into my control box. then all will get a test...... talk about taking my time. everyone is driving past asking WTF i have a massive THING in my front lawn for no reason....LOL!

Be careful when you run the test. If any of the local kids see it they'll hassle their parents for the next couple of months to stop and check every time they pass......

Nothing like building anticipation.

Cheers and good luck!

 

[mangoat]

ok to put it all in a little more detail so hopefully someone can be of a lot of assistance as to what i should do, or what damage i should expect to have caused.....

1: wired up control box with p12s and 2x power supplies

2: strung tree and wired up the pig tails but reverse polarity to how i wired the box (not sure why but i didnt double check it until after this stuff up)

3: no smoke, removed fuses from p12s, unplugged power injection plugs

3a: changed + and - over on the plugs on the p12s board to make it correct

4: powered up, had slow fans (thought problem) disconnected

5: checked everything again, plugged in and left it run for a little longer as i tried to fault find, but obviously i missed 1 power injection plug and this pigtail started melting and smoking on both sides, about 5 inches of burnt
insulation in total

6: disconnected ALL plugs from pigtails, put all fuses in, put p12s into test mode, plugged in 1 universe at a time (150 pixels) with no power injection plugged in.

Universe 1 Works
Universe 2 Works
Universe 3 25 Pixels light up and it quickly fades from there til its pretty much dead at pixel 50
Universe 4 Works
Universe 5 Doesnt Work
Universe 6 25 Pixels light up and it quickly fades from there til its pretty much dead at pixel 50
Universe 7 Doesnt Work

so, i hope this is enough information to get people started with a thought process.

my thoughts as to how to go about testing:

*cut apart the 3 strings of 50 and test each 50 pixels as a string and see what happens
*slowly hook working strings back together and test

anything else i should do ??

thanks a lot for everything, i feel terrible in myself for this, yet to break the news to my wife as she is going to hit the roof about the 250$ it will cost me to replace some of the strings

regards
goat

 

[mangoat]

sooo.....im at a point where within a week, ill have everything ready to plug my box into my tree, will post pics and a vid once its cracking. i just have to put the pigtails on the end to plug into my control box. then all will get a test...... talk about taking my time. everyone is driving past asking WTF i have a massive THING in my front lawn for no reason....LOL!

Be careful when you run the test. If any of the local kids see it they'll hassle their parents for the next couple of months to stop and check every time they pass......

Nothing like building anticipation.

Cheers and good luck!

i will take it down once it is working so it isnt there for the whole year .... or ill take it down and put it in the bin if its gunna cost too much to repair. heh

 

[BundyRoy]

Not good news to hear Mangoat. I know exactly how it feels to have a simple mistake that shouldn't have been made cost you money. I hate that sinking feeling in your guts. Hopefully it is not as bad as you are expecting. Fingers crossed.

 

[mborg10]

I'm not an expert in electronics but just give my experience.

Check the fuses in the p12. That's what they are there for. Maybe why some universes aren't working.

If the plugs melted it might mean that the + and - wires are touching somewhere. Probably where they are soldered to the string.

Check to make sure you power supply matches the power rating of your string. Example 5v power supply, 12v string. Don't rely on the sticker. Put a multimeter on it.

 

[mangoat]

*voltage was checked on contruction of the p12s control box

*fuses checked and replaced on the p12s

*universe 7 blows a fuse after being plugged in for a bit, thats the universe that had the melting and smoke....

*all other universes plug in and dont blow fuses

 

[mborg10]

Check wiring on universe 7. Check the plug. If the + and - touch directly there will be little resistance. Ohms law. V=IR voltage stays constant so if R drops then I (amps) has to go up. Too many amps thru cable that can't handle it and it melts. The fuse should blow before this happens though.

I had some dodgy pixels that were not wired very well that blew some of my fuses so just have a visual inspection on each pixel to see if any of the points are touching but my guess would be where it melted is the problem. Unless you have more than one problem.

 

[penguineer]

Bugger. Still - better now than on 29 November.......

Is it worth checking a string that fully works on the P12 universes that are exhibiting problems? (just to isolate problems between P12/PSU and strings) Or is this risky?

Universe 3 and 6 seem to be exhibiting the same issue - anything in common? PSU?
(actually - do they fade/die at exactly the same point?)

First thing to do is take a couple of deep breaths and relax before working on a step-by-step plan.......hard to do when everything is going wrong.

Good luck!

 

[penguineer]

Check wiring on universe 7. Check the plug. If the + and - touch directly there will be little resistance. Ohms law. V=IR voltage stays constant so if R drops then I (amps) has to go up. Too many amps thru cable that can't handle it and it melts. The fuse should blow before this happens though.
...

This is covered on one of those "Murphys laws of Technology" things - "A 20kVA UPS will protect a $2 circuit breaker by blowing first".

Cheers!

 

[mangoat]

Bugger. Still - better now than on 29 November.......

Is it worth checking a string that fully works on the P12 universes that are exhibiting problems? (just to isolate problems between P12/PSU and strings) Or is this risky?

Universe 3 and 6 seem to be exhibiting the same issue - anything in common? PSU?
(actually - do they fade/die at exactly the same point?)

First thing to do is take a couple of deep breaths and relax before working on a step-by-step plan.......hard to do when everything is going wrong.

Good luck!

tested all circuits of the p12 with a working universe and all the universes are good
universe 1-6 of the p12 are on 1 powwer supply, 7-12 are on anothr power supple....

will cut stuff apart on the weekend some time when i have some time and patience

 

[BundyRoy]

Good to hear your controller is safe. At least now you can still control whatever pixels remain in the land of the living.

 

[mborg10]

Have you added any extra cable to the ends of your strings or do they just plug straight into the controller. Last year I had an issue with my extension cables not being thick enough to carry enough power.

 

[mangoat]

i added 1mm2 3core flex.
good for 10amp.

plenty of power capability

 

[mangoat]

sooooooooo

all but 1 universe works now......yay!!!!!!!

will work on it tomorrow.