V4 test firmware

[zwiller]

Just asking if there's a chance before show time.  Gonna have to burn in a ton of nodes last minute and would help immensely.  Thanks in advance. 

Willing to beta test...   

[arw01]

You guys worry me with the burn in the nodes..  what do you do leave the blinking on the test sequence for a day and is this really needed with Ray's strings?

Alan who would not mind a test version either as I have more 10 ssc's to program next day or so!

+1 on beta, and I am highly computer literate if you needed some esoteric troubleshooting

[tbone321]

Since you have to use a hub to supply power to the SSC's anyway, why not just set up a looping test sequenc and let it rip.  Doesn't XLights have that ability anyway?  All you really need to do is light them up white and let them burn.

[arw01]

So you guys just let them get "hot" with full power for how long, and why would I want to do this versus putting them in the show and blinking them, if a node is weak, at least I would get a few weeks out of it maybe before it might go dim or out?

[twooly]

It's more than just dim.  If a node goes out most likely it will cause issues down the string since the data passes through that bad node to get to the rest.  You'll get strange colors or even the rest will go out.

[tbone321]

So you guys just let them get "hot" with full power for how long, and why would I want to do this versus putting them in the show and blinking them, if a node is weak, at least I would get a few weeks out of it maybe before it might go dim or out?

That is oversimplifying it a bit.  These are nodes, not just LED lights and it can be more than just a light going dim.  Each one of these nodes has 3 different color LED's as well as control circuitry.  If all that happens is that one of the LED's fails, then you will get the wrong color at times which may or my not be a big deal but if the control circuitry fails, it can get much worse.  It could shut down the rest of the strig or perhaps the whole string.  It could cause unexpected behavior that could make your whole sequnce look like crap.  It is a much better better to let them run for a day before putting them in the display to find and correct issues before they ruin your hard work.

[zwiller]

Yes I can burn em in with xlights so it's not end of the world.  I just really like having one ssc with test firmware for testing for blown fuses or communication issues.  I'll just swap a  an older one with a v4 from my elements. 

I have only seen 1 or 2 issues with all my rgb stuff during burn in, but the problem nodes were evident immediately.  I only burn in for a few hours and that has worked well for me.  My concern is that since my gear gets permanently mounted I just want assurance that I don't have to splice anything after mounting. 

[keitha43]

I have had nodes that don't show a problem for hours. Wrong color due to either red, blue, or green not working in the node. Node stuck on. Node dead. Node causing problem down the line due to bad output. If they can make it 24 hours I know the chance of failure outside will be greatly reduced. Of course the neighbors wonder why your house windows keep changing color all night.