direct short on test?

[duane.mosley]

while testing my leaping arches, i had a direct electrical short on my le. now channel 9 is on full with no dimming or control? did i fry the chip or the triac?


thanks

duane

[tbone321]

You cooked the Triac.  The PIC is on the low voltage side and is protected by the opto-isolator chips and they are just controlling the gate of the triac and triggering it on. 

[Jeffl]

Sounds like a triac to me but others will chime in.  I keep multiple on hand just in case as well a complete controller if things go crazy.  So far I have only had to replace one in five years.

[duane.mosley]

You cooked the Triac.  The PIC is on the low voltage side and is protected by the opto-isolator chips and they are just controlling the gate of the triac and triggering it on.

that's kinda what i figured. i have some extra's so i will get it swapped out before show time. this is my first year and i just finished building my leaping arches and wanted to test them. because i was just testing, i didn't tin all my wires and had a stray strand of wire short out. not the flash of light that i was wanting on initial test! lol

thanks
duane

[bisquit476]

I'm sure a lesson learned , and that is it saves time to do it right the first time.

[UncleBuck]

This is my first year, I built 6 LE's and wasn't going to tin any of them!! I thought better of it and took the time to tin them all. After hearing this I'm glad I took the time. Besides it makes it a lot easier to insert the wires into the terminals. 

[devoidelk]

This is my first year, I built 6 LE's and wasn't going to tin any of them!! I thought better of it and took the time to tin them all. After hearing this I'm glad I took the time. Besides it makes it a lot easier to insert the wires into the terminals. 

What do you mean by tin them?
Do you mean you twist and solder the end of the wire going into the terminals on the pigtails for?

[bisquit476]

This is my first year, I built 6 LE's and wasn't going to tin any of them!! I thought better of it and took the time to tin them all. After hearing this I'm glad I took the time. Besides it makes it a lot easier to insert the wires into the terminals. 

What do you mean by tin them?
Do you mean you twist and solder the end of the wire going into the terminals on the pigtails for?

Yes, and I highly recommend it.

[duane.mosley]

well when my connections are permanent, i will tin them all. this was a temporary test. the lengths on my spt-2 are not determined yet, therefore it didn't make any sense to tin them all and have to cut it. it takes 5 minutes to replace a triac as opposed to 15 minutes to tin 48 wires and waist solder when i know i am going to cut them again. when my show is running and connections are permanent, it will be done right the first time!