LED Light Issue

[thedementedelf]

I noticed tonight a set of lights on my garage roof are not working properly. They are only coming on once in awhile and not very bright. They are also making a clicking noise. Nothing I can do tonight, but was wondering if any suggestions on what to look for in the daylight.

Thanks

[wbottomley]

Kevin... what kind of boards are you using for the set?

And, have you upgraded to the latest firmware version for that board?

[John]

Kevin,

What brand LEDs are they?

Clicking noise? From the LEDs?

[thedementedelf]

Kevin... what kind of boards are you using for the set?

And, have you upgraded to the latest firmware version for that board?

Using D-Light boards and the lights were working last night. Firmware is up to date

[thedementedelf]

Kevin,

What brand LEDs are they?

Clicking noise? From the LEDs?

John:

They are GE's and yes the lights are clicking. Almost sounds like a relay. I've never heard lights do that before either.

[John]

John:

They are GE's and yes the lights are clicking. Almost sounds like a relay. I've never heard lights do that before either.

Uh, Kevin, how long have you had the lights? Sounds like they are taking after you and are "demented"

Do they have rectifier packs on the cords? Could it be "sparking" in the rectifier packs, that sounds like clicking?

Realizing they are on the garage roof, but when you hear the "clicking", could you touch or feel the "wart", is it HOT not warm but HOT?

If so, due to them being dim, appears like the rectifier pack is going bad. Kind of like what some of us experienced with the CDI 2008 lights, right before they melted down and burst into flames. They also had a capacaitor in the pack, and the dimming would cause the circuits (rectifier, capacitor and resistor) to fail.

Kevin, to be safe, I would make sure those strings are unplugged tonight.


William, you help Kevin from the board level, and I'll blame the lights

[thedementedelf]

Uh, Kevin, how long have you had the lights? Sounds like they are taking after you and are "demented"

Do they have rectifier packs on the cords? Could it be "sparking" in the rectifier packs, that sounds like clicking?

Realizing they are on the garage roof, but when you hear the "clicking", could you touch or feel the "wart", is it HOT not warm but HOT?

If so, due to them being dim, appears like the rectifier pack is going bad. Kind of like what some of us experienced with the CDI 2008 lights, right before they melted down and burst into flames. They also had a capacaitor in the pack, and the dimming would cause the circuits (rectifier, capacitor and resistor) to fail.

Kevin, to be safe, I would make sure those strings are unplugged tonight.


William, you help Kevin from the board level, and I'll blame the lights

Ok light show is over for the evening. Unplugged that set of lights to be safe. Couldn't reach them to touch them. I don't remember if they have a rectifier pack on them or not. I listend to them again and it does sound more like a electrical short sound. More of a buzz then a click I guess. This is second year with the lights.

[John]

Do a visual on them tomorrow, see what you can see.

If no visual damage, then see if you can just plug them in (bypassing controllers) and observe the brightness level, and carefully (safely) take their temperature if they have "warts" on the cords.

If they don't have "warts", then do the plugs look especially long? The 2008 CDI problem lights had the rectifier packs in the plugs. May be from the same factory.

Sounds like they may be "toast".

[thedementedelf]

John:

Thanks for the advice and what to look for. Going to be a bear to get them down. I pulled thm up the roof from the back yard, after throwing a rope over the roof from the driveway.

The lights are on the Garage roof.

[Al in Raleigh]

It could be water too. If the LEDs are not sealed then the water rushing off the roof could be substantial enough to flood the sockets.

However, I agree with John. The rectifier is the likely culprit. If the rectifier shorts closed, the lights could catch fire. The clicking perplexes me. I have never, ever heard an LED click, even when overvoltaged with AC or DC.

[John]

John:

I pulled thm up the roof from the back yard, after throwing a rope over the roof from the driveway.

The lights are on the Garage roof.

Ah, could the sound be gurguling? Sounds like you might have strangled them with that rope!

Courious to hear what the visual inspection showed.

[thedementedelf]

Just came in. I had to lower the whole thing down to gutter level. It looks like the rectifier is in the plug. Plugged the set in it buzzed and nothing. the plug didn't get warm,so I went ahead and replace it. Just did an all lights on check and everything seems fine. I now have a string of 100 spare bulbs I guess.

Thanks guys for the advice. I also posted about this on PC and not one response

[John]

I also posted about this on PC and not one response

Kevin, you should know by now that the smart people are here, not over there
(even though some of us are called "smart alecs" )

Glad you got something working, although I can imagine it was a pain.

[Al in Raleigh]

Sounds like water in the sockets. I thought that it might have been arching to a downspout but that would have tripped the GFCI.