Pixel strips go bad that quick?

[calonestar]

6 out of 17 of my strips are out. They worked perfectly before I packed them away. Can they be bad already? I bought the strip from Ray. He soldered the pigtails on. I had to cut the first pixel and redo the pigtails to get a few of them to work when I first got them. Is this a common thing to deal with?

 

[bbayjohn]

I had the same problem last year. It may have been the connections you soldered on have failed, Try cutting the strip and repowering & see if that works.
If you put another order in with ray you may get them in time for December. The strips I received this year are a better quality.
This year I expected to have to replace the RGB strips because I left them on the house all year. I was suppressed to find that they had not faded and worked 100%. I put the strips in the clear end caps as motioned in this post
http://auschristmaslighting.com/forums/index.php?topic=1463.msg12130#msg12130
It can be ordered in from Bunnings if they don't have it in stock. Usually found in the roofing section. The Sun Tuff c-endcap clear 3m R5445-98209 bar code 933135700314 and the magic Bunnings code File line 1010480.

 

[calonestar]

The strips that are out aren't the ones i soldered. They were on my mega tree last year and original rays. I removed them and rolled them for storage. I pull them out this year and they aren't working. I'm just asking if this is a common problem since this is just my second year using this type of light. I have backups. So no problem on replacing. Will I have to every year?

 

[buzzdude]

I've just spend the last hour finding a dud pixel in a strip light I bought two years ago. I cut it out, then found another one, cut it out, added two to the end and it all works. Got better at soldiering , by then end. Had a few goes. These were from a strip I bought 3 years ago. All of last years that i purchased work... Hope I just didn't jinx myself...... :-X

Shane

 

[Bird]

I believe that is where the saying "you get what you pay for" comes from.
So yes, if $$ are saved, then be expecting a little less in quality/longevity. However some of that longevity can be over come as buzzdude pointed out. So don't fret to much, take your time, find the bad spot, fix/replace it, and all will be good for another season.
FYI - I use LOR CCR's and have not had any issues in 4 years, but spent a lot more $$ up front.

 

[jcmarksafb]

I've found the strips don't like to be handled all that much. My biggest failures are when I first put them up or take them down. I have some that have been up for over 2 years with no failures once installed and left alone.
John

 

[calonestar]

Fair enough. ..thanks fellas. I'll get busy soldering.

 

[fasteddy]

There is a reason Rays strip is cheap, its because they will use lower binned (quality LEDS) and cheaper materials. For the DIY world, price is most important because their is little value put on time and labour, this equation changes when dealing with the commercial market because labour is a big cost, so quality is important. You will find that the red LED fails in most circumstances


But strip is defintly delicate as its flexible PCB, so care must be taken before you mount it to a solid structure

 

[buzzdude]

I've found the strips don't like to be handled all that much. My biggest failures are when I first put them up or take them down. I have some that have been up for over 2 years with no failures once installed and left alone.
John

I agree with this, I treat mine with care, as I'm paranoid they will fault some way. Even dangling the strips while up the ladder worries me, so I have spent this year attaching them to conduit for both stability and ease of installation.
Shane

 

[fasteddy]

I've found the strips don't like to be handled all that much. My biggest failures are when I first put them up or take them down. I have some that have been up for over 2 years with no failures once installed and left alone.
John

I agree with this, I treat mine with care, as I'm paranoid they will fault some way. Even dangling the strips while up the ladder worries me, so I have spent this year attaching them to conduit for both stability and ease of installation.
Shane

I have all my strip mounted to something like conduit or other solid backing otherwise you will see these issues. Strip is not like rope light as strip is a flexible PCB and the solder joints can easily be damaged. Always treat with the utmost care and never step on it.

 

[calonestar]

I did a redesign on my mega tree. So, I had to remove and pack up all the strip last year. The new tree I built will be stored with the strip in place. Hopefully that saves me the time of repairing next year. All of the problems I've had are with the first pixel and/or the soldered connection which makes it easy to diagnose and repair. It was just added effort for which I wasn't prepared.

 

[fasteddy]

I did a redesign on my mega tree. So, I had to remove and pack up all the strip last year. The new tree I built will be stored with the strip in place. Hopefully that saves me the time of repairing next year. All of the problems I've had are with the first pixel and/or the soldered connection which makes it easy to diagnose and repair. It was just added effort for which I wasn't prepared.

If your issues have been with the first pixel then that would be caused by you connecting and disconnecting the pixels with power on. This is a known cause that damages the first pixel. so always turn the power off when connecting and disconnecting lights

 

[calonestar]

Yep, that's probably the issue. Thanks for the tip.