Renc Heartbeat

D

DreamGuy242

New member
I've been having issues with my Renc/Grinch. My entire display will flicker or some channel will be on when they should be fading. It's pretty much the same problem many people have had with the Grinch dimming.

The other day when I was messing around trying to fix the renc i notice that my heartbeat was a lot faster when I was playing a sequence then it was when i wasn't playing a sequence. I want to say it blinks two times faster when I play a sequence then it does when i don't have anything playing.

So now I'm thinking the cause of my flickering could be because of my Rent circuit? I used a small AC stepdown transformer to make my zero crossing signal. I wasn't sure if the different rates of blinking could be the cause of my flickering. I don't have any programing tools so I don't know what firmware I have. So I can't re-flash it if its a firmware issue.

So is there a chance that my rent is the cause of my flickering? Or am i going to buy the tools in order to re-flash my Renc?

Any information will help, I would like my display not to flicker this year.

Thanks,
Nick
 
IF you can download the Ren-c beta firmware it eliminate my flickering.

I have both in HEX format if you need them
 
Do a search for PIC PROGRAMMER here on DIYC and you'll get more information than you can shake a stick at...
 
Maybe, maybe not. Grinch has been known to encounter a little flicker here and there. Lots of infomration in the GRINCH forum about mods you can make to the board. Personally, I have a couple Olsen 595's with Grinches and I had some flicker with mini-lights until I flashed it with the NEWEST firmware. Sweet. May or may not work for you... but it's out there in one of the Ren-C threads...

If you're using LEDS, you may expect some flicker, especially down in the lower intensity ranges, especially if the LEDs are half-wave. No solution there other than to replace the half-wave rectifier with a full-wave. Not hard to do, but takes a little soldering....
 
If you PM your address to me, I'll send you a ZC kit I made a while back. Circuit board, parts, you just supply the 120VAC power cord and connect it to the proper pins on the Ren-C. Bingo, instant ZC.
 
I am having a similar issue. The minute I plug my Ren-T Ren-C Grinch in all 65 ch start flashing. Sometimes it flickers, sometimes they are almost steady at about 70%, sometimes the almost go completely off.
This is on a setup I had working perectly 1 month ago in the basement. So Ilm hoping some damp got on it somewhere. If it stops raining I will tear into it. I hope I don't have to pull it in and reprogram it.
 
I got my ZC circuit board today. I assembled it and connected it to my Ren-C and I got the same flickering issue...

So it looks like I'm going to have to flash my PICs with the newest firmware. I have 2 brand new 579-PCI16F627A-I/P chips from Mouser. So all I wound need to do is plug the chips to my Ren-C buy the PICKit2 plug that into the Ren-C and flash it with the new software? Is that the basic idea?
 
Just for the heck of it, try removing the PICs from their sockets and re-inserting them (without re-flashing them). In the dim, distant past we viewed IC sockets as a major (but often unavoidable) source of unreliability. I often wonder if many of the problems 'cured' by re-flashing the PICs was actually due to contact problems with the sockets.
 
I tried removing the PICs from it's socket and re-inserting it...It didn't work

I ordered my PICKit today I should get it some time next week.

RichF can you send me the Bata Fimware Hex File? That would be great!

Thanks
 
UPDATE:

Sorry it's almost been a year but I'd figured I would let everyone know the update. I never ended up getting a PICkit. I decided to cancel my order and run the grinch without the Ren-C. This year I figured out my problem was my SSRez boards, because of the miss printed silkscreens in 2009 I wired all my Triacs backwards (It only took me 2 years to figure that out). This year I resoldered 24 SSRez boards and it seemed to fix my problem.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top