Help! Mega Tree keeps turning off

[MrChristmas2000]

I have 16 strands of 80 pixels.

675 watt supply, 52a single rail 12v.

The powersupply just shuts off for no apparent reason.

The first time I thought I had lost a supply. The first 2 times I removed it from the box, took it in and hooked it to a power supply checker and it checked ok.

Tonight it happened again. I went out and just hooked the tester to the main power connector, the controller powered up (green LED) and the mega tree came back to life.

My calculations gave me a good margin of extra power at least I thought. It also could be something wrong with the PixelNet 16 Port Active Hub keeping the power supply turned on.

Any suggestions for what to look at?

Thanks in advance

[Rod R]

Just curious are you using all of the plugs to the board on the power supply.  Not only the main (24 pin) harness but the Three 4 pin connectors to the power supply on the board as well.  The main harness only carries a limited amount of current.  Check out the Wiki.  If not you'll end up burning the main connector on the power supply and the hub. If the power supply is sensing too much current draw at the 24 Pin plug it might be shutting down for protection if it has such protection

[kmcallorum]

I have to say I am running just a few nodes and have seen the power supply turn off.  It's been just a few time and on two occasions had to use the paper clip trick to get it to turn on.  Yes I am using all connections.  And because I have just a few I figured it was because of low usage.  But it has happened where show is running and ps will turn off.


Kevin

[chrisatpsu]

what bran dof power supplies are you guys using?

[MrChristmas2000]

All connectors are used.

It is interesting because I now only unplug the big power connector because thats the one for the tester. When I pulg in the tester the mega tree comes on as the tester turns on the supplyl.

It is a Diablotek supply.

Well since I last posted my message it just happened again.

It's like the powersupply is loosing the 'ON' load. I may see if I can come up with a hack where I can manually swich the supply on without depending on the pixelnet hub.

What a pain.

[rrowan]

I would check the 3 watt resistor and see if its working (getting warm). You might have a cold solder joint around it causing the problem.

Just my 1/2 cent

Rick R.

[smartcontrols]

Next time may want to just try wiggling the main connecter. I had one on Halloween that would do that. I ended up zip tie the cord at the right angle and it would stay on. May be bad solder, but re flowed did not help.

[MrChristmas2000]

Update.

It ceased again.

I am going to try an idea. I'm beginning to believe the pixelnet hub is not presenting a large enough +5v load and the powersupply is shutting its self off.

I grabbed an old 1gb hard disk out of the junk box (sure pays to have one of those) and it fit just right in the battery box. If the tree dosen't crash again I'll just leave it in there. I have several old drives as backup.

I think I just answered my own question.
After adding the hard drive for extra load the tree failed within 15 minutes. I guess this supply just dosen't have enough power to run the tree.

Off to Micro Center tomorrow.

[rm357]

Quick check questions.

Did you get the replacement resistor?

How many 12v amps does the supply provide?

Is it a single or multi rail supply?

Is the power supply getting really hot in the box?

It sounds like a thermal shutdown - you can probably just cycle the power to restart it. The 12V rail isthe only one that matters for the smartstrings. We don't use enough from tne others to matter.

RM

[MrChristmas2000]

Yes, got the resistor.

675 watt supply, 52a single rail 12v.

I am either going to a 60-62A or 70A. Depends on price and availability.

If it's getting hot it cools off really fast. There dosen't seem to be anything extra hot in the box. The airflow is pretty good.

I agree it feels like a thermal shutdown. I don't want to go restart it multiple times in the evening.

[chrisatpsu]

you're running about 38 Amps of power.

<for anybody that knows>
Is the circuit to control the PSU to stay on, run from a circuit, or controlled by the PIC?

Is the Hub's PIC programmed?   can you control DMX devices from the hub?

[rm357]

There is just a trace on the hub board that tells the PSU to turn on (I forget which pin it is, but I think it is just connected to ground). If the PSU is plugged into the board and has power connected, it should not turn off unless there is a problem and it is going into a safety-shutdown mode...   

I'm pulling at straws here, but are you running it on a 3-prong plug?
I'm leaning towards a problem with the power supply itself...

Looking at my previous post, I need to stop viewing the site from my nook - My touch-screen typing is terrible...   

RM

[MrChristmas2000]

This PIC is programmed, missed that one initially. No DMX isused because the Pixelnet isusing 3888 channels leaving only 208 available channels.

I haven't traced out the psu control circuit on the pixelnet hub. RJ can answer that question the best.

I am running the powersupply on a separate power ccord (12ga) and circuit that ran my 6400 incandesant tree without even sweating .

I am beginning to believe that even though rated for 52Amps it isn't going to deliver.

The downside is that there is little way to monitor the current draw when the unit is packaged up as it is. Guess I need to invest in a temperature monitor sometime in the future.

Going to just replace the supply today, safest and easist fix. At least that way if the next supply does the same thing then I'll know there is a problem on that pixelnet hub.

Should have bought a spare  .

Otherwise the MegaTree is absolutely great!

[chrisatpsu]

you're running about 38 Amps of power.

<for anybody that knows>
Is the circuit to control the PSU to stay on, run from a circuit, or controlled by the PIC?

Is the Hub's PIC programmed?   can you control DMX devices from the hub?

for clarification of those that read this...
38 Amps of 12V power

equals a little over 3.8Amps of 120v AC power

[chrisatpsu]

if you have an extra hub, you could split up the demand between the two hubs. to lighten the load of your power supply.