New Revised Technicolor Pixels

Dinosang

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Oct 11, 2013
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Barrie On.
I have finally received my revised replacement Technicolor Pixels. Since it is too late for my display I decided to at least test them out so I do not run into the same problem as the last set of strings. Apparently Ray had received a defective batch of ws2811 which was one of the main causes of all the failures. At first glance of the new strings I noticed there is an addition of some sort of PCB just before the first pixel with water proof heat shrink protecting it. I have not had a chance to chat with Ray regarding its purpose.
Ray also stated that I did not have to run them at 10.2 volts as the issues that the previous strings had have been resolved.

I have been giving the new strings a workout using Xlights for the last 4 days to see how well they will hold up. At this stage I must conclude that the new revised strings seem to have the problems resolved. I have no bad pixels and I am still testing as I am writings this.

If you have been hesitant to purchase the Technicolor Pixels because of past issues I think Ray has put a lot of resources into the Technicolor Pixels to make sure they are all resolved. Out of all the different pixels out I personally think they are the best constructed. I especially love the capability of the screw on lenses so they indeed look like Christmas lights.

I have been testing using a ECG-P12S set at 3200Kbps with two 400w power supplies with the voltage set at 11.5volts with New Technicolor Pixels with C7 lenses
 

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Dinosang

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Barrie On.
Qiang Fu Kiwi said:
Interesting first post. One could almost think its spam.

Sorry you feel that way!

It is not my first post but I am fairly new to this site and I usually like to be on the side lines. But a lot of people including myself have invested a lot of money on these pixels and I am just trying to inform people that there is a light at the end of this tunnel! I did not have a functioning mega tree this year because my lights completely failed. But I also have learned over the years Sh*t happens. I do not think it is spam when you inform people of the truth.
 

mborg10

Michael Borg
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Dinosang, welcome to ACL. No need to sit on the sidelines. There are lots of friendly people on here who welcome your input and your information. Sorry to here that your mega tree didn't get going last year, but at least there seems to be a solution to the problem. Best of luck with this years display and hope to hear from you on here more often.
 

fasteddy

I have C.L.A.P
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Dinosang said:
I have finally received my revised replacement Technicolor Pixels. Since it is too late for my display I Apparently Ray had received a defective batch of ws2811 which was one of the main causes of all the failures.

This doesnt seem to match with the failure mode that others have discussed with water ingress issues and not the IC itself.
 

arw01

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Dec 30, 2013
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Fasteddy, there was extensive disassemble by a fellow on diyla, and he say a lot of chip failures, overheat failures, no conformal coating, and sloppy soldering in the ones he took apart, however, I agree the major issue was water as they would work great for dozens of people inside, and failed as soon as any moisture was in the air.
 

multicast

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Jul 13, 2013
Messages
715
Dinosang said:
Qiang Fu Kiwi said:
Interesting first post. One could almost think its spam.

Sorry you feel that way!

It is not my first post but I am fairly new to this site and I usually like to be on the side lines. But a lot of people including myself have invested a lot of money on these pixels and I am just trying to inform people that there is a light at the end of this tunnel! I did not have a functioning mega tree this year because my lights completely failed. But I also have learned over the years Sh*t happens. I do not think it is spam when you inform people of the truth.


Sorry your post count is 2, one was the first one you made, and 2 was this one.
 

daryl

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Apr 25, 2012
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Vancouver, Washington
Dinosang said:
At first glance of the new strings I noticed there is an addition of some sort of PCB just before the first pixel with water proof heat shrink protecting it. I have not had a chance to chat with Ray regarding its purpose.
Ray also stated that I did not have to run them at 10.2 volts as the issues that the previous strings had have been resolved.
I just wonder if that is a current limiter... I wonder what will happen when you inject power from the other end..
 

JPB

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Glenwood
arw01 said:
Fasteddy, there was extensive disassemble by a fellow on diyla, and he say a lot of chip failures, overheat failures, no conformal coating, and sloppy soldering in the ones he took apart, however, I agree the major issue was water as they would work great for dozens of people inside, and failed as soon as any moisture was in the air.


Also threads on DIYC on the subject
 

Dinosang

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Oct 11, 2013
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Barrie On.
Christmas @ the Myrtle (Damicka10) said:
Dinosang, welcome to ACL. No need to sit on the sidelines. There are lots of friendly people on here who welcome your input and your information. Sorry to here that your mega tree didn't get going last year, but at least there seems to be a solution to the problem. Best of luck with this years display and hope to hear from you on here more often.

Thanks In general people are usually nice like yourself but unfortunately you always find some negativity. I believe we all do this because it is nice to see people smile and it is a fun hobby! :) The forums are a great place to help each other and share our experiences.
 

Dinosang

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arw01 said:
Fasteddy, there was extensive disassemble by a fellow on diyla, and he say a lot of chip failures, overheat failures, no conformal coating, and sloppy soldering in the ones he took apart, however, I agree the major issue was water as they would work great for dozens of people inside, and failed as soon as any moisture was in the air.

My pixels died overnight in cold dry winter. LOL It was very strange. I cut one open because I thought he may of sent 5volt by mistake and they were 12volt but the board looked good. It had to be some sort of hardware defect and chatting online with Ray seem to confirm this. I included a photo for you to see and there is no sign of water damage on mine. You would think with all the parts being injection molding they would be sealed well. I will Try to cut the board out completely so I can see the other side.
Also I recently brought in all the old pixels and removed my c7 lenses to the new ones and there was no sign of water at all. The last few days has been very mild and wet.
 

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Dinosang

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daryl said:
Dinosang said:
At first glance of the new strings I noticed there is an addition of some sort of PCB just before the first pixel with water proof heat shrink protecting it. I have not had a chance to chat with Ray regarding its purpose.
Ray also stated that I did not have to run them at 10.2 volts as the issues that the previous strings had have been resolved.
I just wonder if that is a current limiter... I wonder what will happen when you inject power from the other end..

Hi Daryl I got ahold of Ray and apparently it is just a resistor that acts as a filter to help stabilize data so you can still inject power with no problems.
 

fasteddy

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There seems to have been a few different failure modes on these

Water ingress
Bad chip
Heat issues with 12vdc versions
 

KStatefan

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Oct 11, 2013
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Location
Kansas
Dinosang said:
daryl said:
Dinosang said:
At first glance of the new strings I noticed there is an addition of some sort of PCB just before the first pixel with water proof heat shrink protecting it. I have not had a chance to chat with Ray regarding its purpose.
Ray also stated that I did not have to run them at 10.2 volts as the issues that the previous strings had have been resolved.
I just wonder if that is a current limiter... I wonder what will happen when you inject power from the other end..

Hi Daryl I got ahold of Ray and apparently it is just a resistor that acts as a filter to help stabilize data so you can still inject power with no problems.

How does that affect hooking strings together?
 

Hauvega

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Jan 12, 2013
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Southeast Louisiana
Dinosang said:
arw01 said:
Fasteddy, there was extensive disassemble by a fellow on diyla, and he say a lot of chip failures, overheat failures, no conformal coating, and sloppy soldering in the ones he took apart, however, I agree the major issue was water as they would work great for dozens of people inside, and failed as soon as any moisture was in the air.

My pixels died overnight in cold dry winter. LOL It was very strange. I cut one open because I thought he may of sent 5volt by mistake and they were 12volt but the board looked good. It had to be some sort of hardware defect and chatting online with Ray seem to confirm this. I included a photo for you to see and there is no sign of water damage on mine. You would think with all the parts being injection molding they would be sealed well. I will Try to cut the board out completely so I can see the other side.
Also I recently brought in all the old pixels and removed my c7 lenses to the new ones and there was no sign of water at all. The last few days has been very mild and wet.

Take some resistance readings on the data pad to gnd pad and see what values you have. Did the pixel just quit working as in no glowing. Was this just one bad unit? Mine was fine until the first rain and all kinds of problems occurred. They would start coming on when no signal was applied. I would take them down and let them dry out and some of them would come back to life. I had some failure due to the injection mold process. It actually pushed the pcb at an angle. The pixels would still work except missing colors. Here is the link to my Photobucket bad pixel library http://s577.photobucket.com/user/Hauvega/slideshow/Pixel%20problems



My c9 covers had moisture in them with some of them having a few drops of water. All my pixels had power applied to them. My pixels have the ws2811s chips in them. I believe the ws2811b series are the problematic ones.

The new pcb redesign helps in putting the gnd line in the middle of the power and data line. This should solve the damage to the chip data input and output. If moisture can still get into the pixel, damage is going to take longer. Need a year of testing by exposing to the elements and disassembly of pixels to see if any ingress has occurred.
 
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