Strange Wireless to Wired Issue with Express and SSR4s

[jwilliams31]

Currently I'm running 4 Expresses, all wireless, and 3 SSR4s.

I had the 3 SSRs connected to a single Express in series.  I had the last SSR terminated.  Intermittently, all of the lights connected to the 3 SSRs would go out for a few seconds, then come back on.  The lights connected to all of the Expresses were fine.

I tried moving the 3 SSRs to a different Express, but had the same problem.  Finally, I split them up.  2 SSRs to one Express and 1 to another Express.  This seemed to fix the issue, at least they haven't gone out while I've been watching.

Any thoughts on what could have caused this?  I'm guessing it was a DMX signalling issue since all 3 dropped at the same time.

Thanks.

Jason

[rrowan]

the ssr4s seem to have problems with low voltage. Are they all connected to the same power cord or circuit?

Are these the latest version of the SSR4 or previous ?

or one of the RS-485 chips is flaky

Rick R.

[jwilliams31]

Yes, they are all connected to the same power cord.

Also, all of the SSRs are version 2.0.

I doubt it's a chip because all three boxes would drop out, regardless of which was "box 1" in the chain.

Thanks.

Jason.

[onesmoothhead]

I had this happen to me before and it is because they are connected to the same power source.  If you split them to different power sources than the should be fine.  SSR4 hate low voltage.

[chrisatpsu]

it can also happen with longer smaller conductor extension cords.

[rm357]

Yup, I've had similar issues with the ssr4. If you turn all the lights on at the same time, the voltage can drop at the ssr4 and the pic reboots. The gauge and length of the power cord along with how much current is needed for the lights all adds together.

Running separate runs of power cord is almost the same as using a heavier power cord

For example 2 runs of 16 gauge is about the same as 1 run of 14 gauge.

[jwilliams31]

I will give separating the power a shot.

Thanks for the info.

Jason