Flickering channels? help!

P

planker

New member
I am having several channels flickering on and off during the running of some channels. These channels are all on the 4th pic on the grinch. Any thoughts or suggestions? When I got the pics 3 years ago they were already flashed for me. So reflashing isn't an option unless I buy stuff to do that if that is the problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I am ruining grinch with ren-c and a zc.

Chris
 
Hmmm..... either of the chips used in the Grinch are not programmable so the programming could only be on the 16F627A chip in the Ren-C. It's possible it could need reflashing. None of them would work if there was no ZC so that's likely not the issue. Have you experimented with swapping chips with the 4th chip to see if the problem follows that chip? If so, simply replace the chip and the problem should be solved.
 
I have tried other channels and it seems to move around. When ssr 1 is on for Channel's 1-4 it appears on ch 44,48 when ssr 4 is on and 16-20 are on it could be on ch 5-8. It's very random.
 
Planker, have you found your problem yet? I too have a Grinch set up that I have been running 40 channels from for the past three or 4 years without any issues. This year I decided to add the remaining 24 available channels (to get the 64 max from one Grinch) and none of the new ones worked properly. I swapped the chips with brand new ones, even swapped with the three verified working ones from the past few years and same issue. I'm getting random blinking as well as other channels are bleeding into the new ones. Example: the new channels are for say arches and hey are getting sequencing from the mega tree ( say for instance new channel 41-44 get sequencing from channels 20-24 or similar) Are you getting this type of activity? I also wonder if it has to do with the way my parallel port is configured. I tried the ssrs on different channels and those are all working fine, it has something to do with the last chip on the Grinch...
 
Yes same thing. This year I added the last chip to have the last 16 ch and now Thant is identical to what I have going on. I've swapped ssr no luck. Moved pics no luck. Reseated everything and nothing. Show runs fine if I pull the last pic on grinch. Even if I swap it with one of the others it still does it. Hopefully someone will have some insight.
 
Have you made sure that you updated your sequence and plug-in for 64 channels????

The Grinch will just shift over data unto the last chip whether it is the correct data or left over data from the previous event interval.
 
Could be a voltage issue - My Grinch was very picky about the voltage.
When running it with exactly 5V I had flicker and random channels all over the place - It ran best with around 4.6 V.
 
Odd thing is I never had the issue till I added that 4th pic. I had the prob before when I had it I but wasn't using it and removing it helped.
 
I have had this problem and have solved with some help from others. This is an extract from an old thread

Earlier this year when I built my REC-C I had a problem with ghosting of channels using a Grinch. For example I would turn on Channel 12 and Channel 42 would start to flicker.

In the end I reflashed the chips to the latest firmware and cut a track on the REN-C and soldered a wire in. The hardware changes are documented in the asm file.

;; "This change requires a h/w change to the board - disconnect the ZC
;; signal from pin 2 of the HC02, and connect pin 2 of the HC02 to pins
;; 11,12 of the PIC.

The way I did it was easy to do and easy to reverse. See my post on the 29th of June in this thread. It even has photos
http://doityourselfchristmas.com/for...t=7044&page=10

Jon
 
jpb said:
I have had this problem and have solved with some help from others. This is an extract from an old thread

Earlier this year when I built my REC-C I had a problem with ghosting of channels using a Grinch. For example I would turn on Channel 12 and Channel 42 would start to flicker.

In the end I reflashed the chips to the latest firmware and cut a track on the REN-C and soldered a wire in. The hardware changes are documented in the asm file.

;; "This change requires a h/w change to the board - disconnect the ZC
;; signal from pin 2 of the HC02, and connect pin 2 of the HC02 to pins
;; 11,12 of the PIC.

The way I did it was easy to do and easy to reverse. See my post on the 29th of June in this thread. It even has photos
http://doityourselfchristmas.com/for...t=7044&page=10

Jon
Click to expand...

Ditto to that. I had 2 Ren-C's running and that fix eliminated the flickers and ghosting also.

http://doityourselfchristmas.com/fo...with-Ren-c&highlight=fix+requires+change+pins
 
Last edited:
Yes that's it. They are also available through Joshua systems (J1SYS) on these forums

Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk 2
 
Ok we'll I ordered a pic flasher. I'll try that when it comes and then if need be make the zc changes and the. Grinch changes.
 
OK, let me get this straight again:

Your Ren-C->Grinch combo works fine when there are only 3 chips on the Grinch
Your Ren-C->Grinch combo doesn't work when there are all 4 chips on the Grinch

Correct??

Do you have a CAT5 connecting "From 595 Out" on the Ren-C to "Out" on the Grinch? If you do, try removing it and see how it works. Won't hurt to try.




RL
 
RL that worked. I reseated the 4th pic and it got it to only a few channels did it. I unplugged that jumper and boom fixed! Now let's hope it stays away.
Thanks,
Chris
 
I wouldn't call it "fixed". It is just working in a non-PWM mode (which it was before). If that is working for you now, I wouldn't mess with anything until you are ready to take down the display.

Then you should to try the hardware mode mentioned earlier and that should be the real fix that will allow you to use the PWM mode.




RL
 
nice! im still having that issue with mine. although im not running a ren-c. just grinch straight up. still get the flickering and ghosting when i use the 4 chip. and it only as that issue on that set of 4 ssrs. the original 40 channels are all fine. any guess what that could be?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top