Channel stays on triac & opto not the culprits SOLVED!!!!!

[urthegman]

Different board than the one I posted a picture of earlier. This one has channel 10 staying on, I did the remove the opto test first and since the channel stayed on, I replaced  the triac. When that didn't do it I swapped the opto with a known working one and it still stays on. Checked intensively for solder bridges and found none. Any ideas? I am going to try reflashing the pic since I took it out and it appears fine. Thanks, George

[devoidelk]

I figured out my problem was the usb to the dongle was shorting out and the controller would lose signal and turn a random channel/channels on.. dunno if that helps.

[urthegman]

Thanks, I tried hooking it up in place of the controller that I fried the one channel on last night, thinking the data line  might give it an off signal, but the bugger still stays on. Mind I didn't run a sequence because it is raining here, but perhaps I can try running it with a sequence on the off chance that that might make it work?

[rm357]

Has it always stayed on on this LE or did it work at one time?

[urthegman]

It has always stayed on since I put it in use. During building and testing it the LED on the board didn't light up so I didn't know of the problem until I plugged actual lights into it. The virtual lights were no problem at ALL!!! LOL Just kidding.

[lortiz]

Try swapping the PIC with one from a known good unit.

Leo

[urthegman]

Thanks Leo, that was the first thing I tried after the triac and opto didn't work, I thought maybe a pin was bent under but that wasn't the case.

[hicksjo]

It has always stayed on since I put it in use. During building and testing it the LED on the board didn't light up.

does the #10 led light up when testing that channel, or not at all?  this is curious ... either bad LED or installed backward or shorted across?

with no power connected to board, I would do the following as troubleshooting steps

a) look closely at the gate to terminal and terminal to terminal pins on the triac and make sure they are isolated
b) look closely at the 120V side of the opto coupler socket ... make sure those pins are isolated and you are not bypassing the opto altogether
c) check pin 18 on the PIC, if it is being grounded somehow it is turning the opto on and in turn activating the triac gate
d) check continuity from pin 18 on PIC (not socket) all the way to - (neg) side of #10 LED, and then across the LED all the way to pin 2 (cathode) of opto

[urthegman]

Yes, it lights up when I use the test function.

[hicksjo]

I am not an expert, self taught through this forum and other research, but I have gained enough knowledge to have basic understanding of these boards and the concepts how they work ... I am sure others might have more direct approach to troubleshoot, but in the absence of that I offer my opinions:

knowing #10LED lights up when testing indicates the triac is not being triggered on constantly by the PIC or by the DC side of the opto
seems the LED is only coming on when DC side of opto is being grounded on pin 2 (through the LED to PIC pin 18) ... as it should

but TRIAC is also firing when this is not the case, so I would concentrate attention on the AC side of the opto and on the triac itself  ... looking for shorts, etc. that bypass the triac gate or the opto pins 4 and 6

...

or again, the TRIAC or OPTO are malfunctioning ... but I think you feel like you ruled that out already

[urthegman]

I am not an expert, self taught through this forum and other research, but I have gained enough knowledge to have basic understanding of these boards and the concepts how they work ... I am sure others might have more direct approach to troubleshoot, but in the absence of that I offer my opinions:

knowing #10LED lights up when testing indicates the triac is not being triggered on constantly by the PIC or by the DC side of the opto
seems the LED is only coming on when DC side of opto is being grounded on pin 2 (through the LED to PIC pin 18) ... as it should

but TRIAC is also firing when this is not the case, so I would concentrate attention on the AC side of the opto and on the triac itself  ... looking for shorts, etc. that bypass the triac gate or the opto pins 4 and 6

...

or again, the TRIAC or OPTO are malfunctioning ... but I think you feel like you ruled that out already

While following your instructions, I decided to retouch the solder joints on the triac and opto, that did the trick. They LOOKED ok, but apparently they weren't!!!!! Thank you EVERYONE!!!!! It's good to have another reliever in the bullpen, just in case!!!!