WS2811 Technicolor Strings Have High Failure Rate

[johno123]

Sorry to hear that Steve.  I'm planning on soldering up my pigtails this week and retrying my mega tree over the weekend with 9v buck converters....

[Steve Gase]

I've been zip-tying old IP68 strings onto conduit all day.  I'm orienting each pixel as ChrisatPSU showed in his pictures.  So far, not a single pixel is bad.

but, my fingers are so sore and my hands need a big soaking.

...and little progress so far.

[Hauvega]

In my opinion, If the 1804tc's have the same circuit design as the bullet 1804's. Then the tc's work at 12v with no problem.  The problem is then in the pcb design, the injection molded process, lack of conformal coatings, and possible shortcuts for costs and/or production time.  So far the ones I have failed have been due to poor pcb design ie the data pcb pad is too close to the 12v pad.  Any moisture that is inside the pixel causes a semi conductive path that takes out the 2811 chip in the previous and dead pixel.  I have one string that has this problem.  I replaced 6 chips already.  Unless someone does extensive testing on the new design pixels, including dis assembly to see if can have any issues, I would not buy any of them. 

[Made2Rock]

I removed the plastic from one of the nodes and showed it to a friend who is an aeronautical engineer. I explained the reason these nodes were failing and I explained the "improvement" planned for them. In his opinion it will help the overheating BUT when asked if he felt it would reduce the temp by 10% we didn't think it would help that much.

So unless they are planning on reducing the total wattage of each node the next revision to these strings will most likely suffer the same as these.

Joe

[bassmants]

After running 100 of these on a Megatree star since December 1st.  50 went crazy last night.  Just a matter of time I guess.  I didn't change anything, I just let them run, be damned!  I'll order and put standard nodes up there for next year.

[Hauvega]

The moisture must be getting to one of them.

[joshuashu]

Quick question? Is there a 5v version of these? I got some from the owner and the box says 5 v only but on the power wires it is marked with a tag 12v

[Steve Gase]

I understand that Ray put a variety of chips into the TC nodes, 5v, 12v, TM1804, WS2811, WS2801...  they are working on a new design that will put the chip type on the casing.

[Made2Rock]

I understand that Ray put a variety of chips into the TC nodes, 5v, 12v, TM1804, WS2811, WS2801...  they are working on a new design that will put the chip type on the casing.

I don't know about the casing but he is working on a new design to address the heat problems. He will be putting the power regulator on the opposite side on the circuit board while adding more copper. The idea here is get the heat away from the chip and help distribute the heat. I'm not sure how much help that will be BUT I believe he is also reducing the power going the to LED itself. This would be a big help.

I've been an engineer all my life and have on the all sides of problem designs. The bottom line is we are all human and we all make mistakes. I've been talking with Ray on the problems I have been having and it is still a work in progress but once it comes full circle I will add my comments here and create another thread.

Joe

[txag2008]

I've just sent Ray my request for refund/replacement.

Steve, any luck with this?  I'm debating if it's even going to be worth my trouble to try.

There is a Technicolor v2 that's supposed to be coming out that addresses issues.  I'm still going to be weary though after all the issues I and many others had with Technicolor v1s.

[Steve Gase]

I asked for, and received a refund. 

Ray is still A-O-K in my book!

[keitha43]

Did you have to pay shipping back to Ray? I did on the original ip66 nodes a few years ago.

Sent from my Thunderbolt using Tapatalk 2.

[arw01]

Not answering for Steve, but Ray told me he trashed all his strings in the garbage and he was still working on the new ones with a few proofs out for testing.  He also mentioned better to make orders after Chinese New Year from the 25th of January to the 10th of February, long holiday he is taking.

Alan

[Made2Rock]

Not answering for Steve, but Ray told me he trashed all his strings in the garbage and he was still working on the new ones with a few proofs out for testing.  He also mentioned better to make orders after Chinese New Year from the 25th of January to the 10th of February, long holiday he is taking.

Alan

Chinese New Year is a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR holiday to the Chinese (I've worked in Hong Kong and see it in action).

[sittinguphigh]

So what is the conclusion on these technicolor WS2811 strings?
How many people are having problems?
Are they bad design or manufacturing?
Or is this a normal % of manufacturing failure?
Have they been fixed or not?