Re: Received Smart Strings poor quality

[fbinthesouth]

I made a LARGE order of smart string controllers and such and am very nervous now about the possibility of getting bad strings. Thank you all for posting and I hope you will continue to do so.
Recovering and trying to catch back up.
RW

[chrisatpsu]

at this point, i'd probably only worry about someone not being able to count. the quality seems to have improved.

[Pete]

             

After a month of communications with Ray I received what Ray calls an acceptable offering for the 344 bad nodes on 35 strings of lights.  He sent me 3 - 128 node strings and two flex strips (to replace 2 defective  flex strips).  I am not happy and I have filed a dispute (only 12 hours left).  I also email Ray and explained my dis-satisfaction with his service, for what it is worth!

I expected better for the $1900 of product ordered.

I guess I will start to order the supplies I will need to make repairs to what I have here.  As I figure I will have minimum of 688 splices for the removal and replacement of 344 nodes.  This is going to take some time!!  It is like putting hundreds of band-aids to repair a brand new product.. . . . unacceptable in my book!!!!

Some of the nodes that have minimal defects I might be able to put a piece of heat shrink over the node, possibly trying the shrink that has adhesive inside.  There are a hundred plus that have bare wires exposed out the bottom that will have to be replaced.  I live in the Northwest and it does rain a little in December.  Another reason I am not happy having to repair all these defects along with the added expense and time needed to repair them.

Any ideas??

Hey RJ -  Is Ray the only supplier of these lights?  I would like to order more but I am not happy with what Ray has provided to me so far!  I am not saying that all is bad with Ray as I have heard that he is/was an honorable businessman.  I just feel really stung on this deal and I am not happy or feel real good about going back to a place where the product can be good or bad - no telling what you get until it arrives!

Any suggestions on repairing what can be repaired would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Pete

[RJ]

He is currently but I have done some footwork on another supplier if they did not get their problems fixed. Do the dispute and see if Alibaba can make him fix it.

That is what they are there for. Make them understand that you should not need to fix defective lights for them you paid for working lights.

Let us know how it goes. Sorry you are having issues with them.

RJ

[tbone321]

I guess that the real question is do they all really need to be replaced.  I have 132 bad nodes in my strings but out of that, 10 have bad red led's and 3 or 4 are really twisted out of shape.  They light up but I really don't trust them.  The others are out of shape and some have a good part of the board exposed but I have n intention of replacing them.  Instead, I will order the stuff that RJ initially suggested ordering and thinning down to seal the strings and paint it on the exposed boards at full strenght.  I might even dip a few at first to see how it looks that way.  If it looks good I will just dip all of the exposed nodes as that is much quicker than brushing and if not I will brush repair them.  Either way, it's a hell of a lot less work than cutting and splicing in 132 nodes.  Since Ray either will not or can not take them back, if you can salvage some of those nodes already in the string, then I would suggest that you take that route and keep the others as spares.  I contacted Ray about my defective nodes and he siad that he will send the replacements and I will take them.  Even if I repair and cntinue to use the defective ones, I paid for good ones and intend to get them, even if I keep them as spares.

[Pete]

Thanks RJ for getting back to me.

Out of the bad nodes I have a little over 140 that have exposed copper at the point the wires enter the node and another 16 that don't illuminate.  I feel these will have to be replaced. The rest I think using the just the sealant that RJ recommended and/or a combination of the sealant and shrink should work.   Sometimes I overkill a little on the repair.

This is just something that should not have happened. 

I hope what Ray is sending out now to everyone are good.  The 3 strings he did send me were great.  The CB is centered and wires are deep in the casting.

Pete

[taybrynn]

I've now got 23 nodes (out of 128 ordered) with circuits boards sticking out, but have only found one node that bad thus far, and its not working on red.

But the splices I have to do (top repair my one SS) are very substantial and time consuming.  Thats the biggest bummer.  I think Ray will replace the 25 bad ones, but I have to place another order and wait, etc.

I knew there was this big risk going into this.  I hope the problems are worked out, but my experience with China is that quality control comes and goes like the wind.

[fbinthesouth]

That is what I am afraid of. I have $5k worth of nodes to order based on the smart string controllers I ordered. Afraid that even if 2% are bad it will take more time than I have to repair them.
Nervous.....
RW

[tbone321]

So far the reports look good on the quality of the newest nodes.  Every node that the factory has to replace costs it money and large numbers kill profits.  It looks like they want to make money so quality control seems to have improved.

[cubbieco]

This probably isn't anything you don't already know but for that many splices you might try something like this:  You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login . Just the first result on Google might be cheaper elsewhere.  Your local hardware store will have the same.

Just some kind of crimp on splicer so you don't have to go through the process of strip-solder-heat shrink with every one.  Just cut the wires, crimp it on, then move on.  Not the most beautiful solution but some of them are inline so they won't be very noticeable.

[tbone321]

The ones that you have listed ARE heat shrink butt splice connectors.  Shrink tubing is a good idea when your connections are going to be exposed to the elememts and soldering is still the best way to go.  Sure, it will take a little longer but I would rather spend the time now and just have to do it once.  Crimp connections always have the potential to fail due to corrosion and if not done correctly, form a weak connection that could either pull apart or break.  Crimp connections are fast and I use them for many things but since my lights may be up for months out of the year and in areas that are not easy to get to, I would prefer to use the most solid method of splicing.  These connectors are a good compromise as they give most of the speed of crimp connections with the added strength and corrosion resistance provided by shrink tubing.

[deplanche]

Would the bad nodes that people have received previously still work indoors ok?  I am planning on using some nodes on the inside of windows because they are easier to install, and even might be putting some up indoors at work.  Seems like if the problem is just waterproofing, these would work fine for me.  But I could be mistaken.

[tbone321]

They should work just fine and if you re-seal them with clear Plasti-Dip they should be good to go outside as well.

[Corey872]

...I received what Ray calls an acceptable offering for the 344 bad nodes on 35 strings of lights.  He sent me 3 - 128 node strings and two flex strips (to replace 2 defective  flex strips). 

...  As I figure I will have minimum of 688 splices for the removal and replacement of 344 nodes.  This is going to take some time!!  It is like putting hundreds of band-aids to repair a brand new product.. . . . unacceptable in my book!!!!
...

Any ideas??
...
Any suggestions on repairing what can be repaired would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Pete

I'm shaking my head in disbelief.  Terrible to hear, hopefully the dispute system will work for you.

It may be little consequence, but I think your 688 splices would be the maximum number....assuming you made 2 splices for each individual node for 334 nodes.  A better approach may be to map out the length of good nodes you have and look for ways to splice blocks of nodes.

As examples:

If you had 3 bad nodes in a row, you don't want to make, you don't want to make 4 splices, just cut out the whole section and make one splice.

If you have  a section of mostly bad, perhaps you can splice that as a block as well, the use individual nodes where they are really needed.

I think ideally, if you have to go the route, you want the replacement nodes to be full strings if possible, that way you have flexibility to replace blocks of nodes.  If they come as a bag of individuals, then you do get into the tedious task of soldering 100,s of joints.


As for the splicing,

[tbone321]

Let us not forget that the nodes use 3 wires, not 2 so that maximum is more like 1032.