Labor day gave me time away from the labor that pays so I could do some labor on the controllers. I was able to fix the 3 bad triacs I mentioned in my last post. When I had it apart I replaced 2 additional triacs that were on the same bank with the CHN912 date code for a total of 5 replaced. After fixing those and re-assembling the controller the 17th channel wasn’t working. In my diagnosis I found that it was simply the optocoupler. Whew! I was hoping I wouldn’t have to take it apart again.

I was able to pull down the RPM E1.31->DMX Bridge for diagnosis as well. As I was hoping, the wall-wart I was using only read .48 volts so I figured that was the problem. A new wall-wart and the board appears to be working just fine again so it’s remounted up high.

I also cut CAT-5 for the extensions from the E681 controller to the pixel strips along our roofline, however they likely won’t work. I plan on purchasing some 18/3 to use instead as I’ve heard good reports of that stuff working. I think it will work better with the waterproof connectors I purchased anyways, so it’ll be win-win with the only loss being that I have to spend a little more money.