Random pixel dead?

goopy

New elf
Joined
Dec 28, 2020
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14
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Australia
Hi all,

My show was up and running without issue for two days.

One of my pixels in the middle of a string seems to have died, it does light up and all the subsequent pixels have wrong colors and/or stay on.

How could this have happened? Is it common? I dont want to start chopping into strings, but is that how I fix this?
 

Notenoughlights

400,000+ twinkly lights
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Oct 16, 2016
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641
Location
Christchurch, New Zealand
Best remove the pixel itself, and one either side

This is because the one before the "dead" pixel could be sending bad data or no data at all
The one in the middle could very well be dead, it may not be recieving data or sending data
The pixel after because it may not be recieving data correctly

This will mean you don't have to mess around more than once. It would pay to cut the wire right up against the faulty pixel so you have the most to work with.
 
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algerdes

Al Gerdes
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Nov 29, 2012
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289
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Lebanon, Illinois
It is common, believe me.
Most follow the two (or three) pixel replacement routine. I'm different. I carry several pixels in my pixel repair kit that have alligator clips on the input side. I cut between the last good one and the suspected "bad" one, strip the line coming from the last good and attach my test string. If the test string works, then I replace the "bad" pixel. If the test string does not work, I replace the "last good". Only one time in several years have I been fooled.

This takes a bit of time, but saves by not throwing away a lot of good pixels. Now, with that said, if in a hurry I will do the last good/first bad pixel replacement. But only if I don't have time to ascertain which pixel is really the culprit (or it is really cold and I want to get back to the warm).
 

Srmorgan

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Jan 26, 2020
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I use the alligator clip method as well. It comes in hand when troubleshooting other problems also.
 

EddieV

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Sep 28, 2021
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What is the best/easiest method for joining the wires of the replacement pixels to the existing string?
 

merryoncherry

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Cherry St., Hudson MA USA
What is the best/easiest method for joining the wires of the replacement pixels to the existing string?
This is going to cause as much controversy as 5V vs 12V but... I used to use solder shrinky tubes until I switched to click-its last week. So far the latter method is easier, but the former is easy enough and has held up for over a year now. Some people would use proper soldering, or go back and do that at the end of the season. Scotchlok or similar is also quite easy and a popular quick-fix as a result, but I find a lot of them snaggy compared to the other options.
 

djgra79

My name is Graham & I love flashing lights!
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Strip wires, twist/solder together, dont forget heat shrink first ;)
 

Kartman

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Cairns
I find @AAH 's pixel joiners to be awesome. Easy to solder and then one piece of heatshrink. This add was bought to you buy........ he he he
 

EddieV

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I find @AAH 's pixel joiners to be awesome. Easy to solder and then one piece of heatshrink. This add was bought to you buy........ he he he
Part of my issue i that the lights are up on the roof in trunking so taking my soldering gear up there isnt really an option. Perhaps for next year i will buy a 100pk of those three way pixel connectors
 

Indigogyre

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Part of my issue i that the lights are up on the roof in trunking so taking my soldering gear up there isnt really an option. Perhaps for next year i will buy a 100pk of those three way pixel connectors
There are different no solder options available to get through a season to fix later. They might not be elegant but should work.
Wago clips are like the Click-Its but bulkier and should be readily available.
Scotch clips with get are also crimp on.

I'm sure there are more but those are known decent options.
 

merryoncherry

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Click-its and a lot of others are full of gel so supposed to hold out in the damp weather. Click-its in particular are new, so nobody can really tell how long they'll hold up at this point. I've had a few rained on twice and nothing bad happened, but while this is a good sign it is not what people really want to know.
 

DarkwinX

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Sep 25, 2022
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Yeah fair - I can't find click-its by doing a quick google ( I end up with some kids products and other random junk) do you have a link to share? I guess it's also probably US only.
 

JacksonHo

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Oct 17, 2022
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I've been doing the quick and nasty red crimped connectors but the failure rate means I'm going to start soldering the ones on the ground. The main issue I have is the roof so I am thinking of getting these from Jaycar. I have seen them used by Telstra and NBN people so they must hold up okay until I get all the props down at the end of the season and solder them.

 
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