Author Topic: 26% failure using 2811 strips - not happy  (Read 3554 times)

Offline Ryan_Ohio

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26% failure using 2811 strips - not happy
« on: October 18, 2017, 07:19:22 PM »
I use 30/10 waterproof strips for outlines of the house (roof, windows, garage doors).  My show ran perfect for an amazing 4 days last year, then hell of a storm and water got into my controller box and fried the controller.  I evidently made the mistake of leaving the lights on the house year round.  I read somewhere that hot glue could be used to mount things to the house so that's what I did and I didn't want to take the shit down after doing that. 

I just checked everything today and out of 10 models and 586 pixels, I lost 151 pixels!!!  Many of the failures is just 1 out of the 3 colors doesn't work on that pixel.  This is far past unacceptable as far as I'm concerned and I'm sure too late to go back to the vendor.  I have zero issues with bullets.   I'm thinking about buying all bullets to replace and put in pvc and mount that to the brick...

Anyone else have any issues using strips?

Offline Gilrock

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Re: 26% failure using 2811 strips - not happy
« Reply #1 on: October 18, 2017, 07:44:17 PM »
No issues in 4 years but I don't leave them on the house all year.

Offline babybear

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Re: 26% failure using 2811 strips - not happy
« Reply #2 on: October 18, 2017, 08:07:54 PM »
so you really want to hear my story? I like strips but every year just after Thanksgiving it rains heavy here. No matter what I do they get water inside of them. so before the cold sets in I'm outside cutting and splicing in new sections every night. 2 mega trees, house and window outlines, snowflakes on and on. End of last season took it all down packed it up and gave it away. The person who I gave them to knew what issues I had but free is free. I replaces all with just over 10,000 bullets. The last few weeks I installed the house and window outlines. Only one bad bullet so far. Oh wait everything is now built and tested. 1 out of 10,000 nice. the only strips I have now are in my moose and Ferris wheel. I tested the Ferris wheel the other night and I had a spoke and 8 lights not working. Cut out the bad bulb still bad, cut out 2 and still.(w2813) Yep dumb a$$ it was a controller setting. works great now.  With in the first year I found a few cracks in the covers and Ray replaced for free.
JimmyG
Rochester, New York

Offline Ryan_Ohio

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Re: 26% failure using 2811 strips - not happy
« Reply #3 on: October 18, 2017, 08:23:44 PM »
so you really want to hear my story? I like strips but every year just after Thanksgiving it rains heavy here. No matter what I do they get water inside of them. so before the cold sets in I'm outside cutting and splicing in new sections every night. 2 mega trees, house and window outlines, snowflakes on and on. End of last season took it all down packed it up and gave it away. The person who I gave them to knew what issues I had but free is free. I replaces all with just over 10,000 bullets. The last few weeks I installed the house and window outlines. Only one bad bullet so far. Oh wait everything is now built and tested. 1 out of 10,000 nice. the only strips I have now are in my moose and Ferris wheel. I tested the Ferris wheel the other night and I had a spoke and 8 lights not working. Cut out the bad bulb still bad, cut out 2 and still.(w2813) Yep dumb a$$ it was a controller setting. works great now.  With in the first year I found a few cracks in the covers and Ray replaced for free.

Thanks for the story. Makes me feel like I'm not the only one at least. Same issues here with water. I went to liquid electrical tape for connections to try and seal things off this year hoping for a better outcome.

All my bullets are from Ray as well. Zero issues fortunately...so far


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Offline Ryan_Ohio

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Re: 26% failure using 2811 strips - not happy
« Reply #4 on: October 18, 2017, 08:27:15 PM »
No issues in 4 years but I don't leave them on the house all year.

Gil - I know you don't buy from HC so I can cross them off, mind if I ask where you get yours from? 

I went out and bought a bunch of pvc. Building window outlines to attach lights too now so I can take them down each season.  The hot glue was a bad idea. 


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Offline babybear

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Re: 26% failure using 2811 strips - not happy
« Reply #5 on: October 19, 2017, 03:43:47 AM »
I tried to get my bullets out of Ray but Card issues with Aliexpress. They wanted my first born male child.  Whole story there. I used Pixel Sequencing. About the same price. At this time he has nothing in stock not sure what's going on there.
JimmyG
Rochester, New York

Offline ScottyJ

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Re: 26% failure using 2811 strips - not happy
« Reply #6 on: October 19, 2017, 04:55:58 AM »
Baby bear try going straight to Ray and bypass Aliexpress all together, send him an email with what you want then he’ll send you a quote then just pay him directly.  It’s usually cheaper to do it that also..
his email is,    sunlei_lighting@126.com

Offline dkulp

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Re: 26% failure using 2811 strips - not happy
« Reply #7 on: October 19, 2017, 07:37:23 AM »

I used the 30/10 from Ray for 3 years without a single failure, but I did do all the connections and waterproofing my self.   Last year I switched them all to the 12V 30/30 (the kind with the little buck converters every meter on the back) and the only "failures" I had are where I didn't do the the connection/waterproofing myself and relied on  Ray's job there.   That was the mistake.   I have had several that failed due to his poor waterproofing.   I took them apart afterword and discovered that on the incoming end where there it the 3 wire going in along with the extra 2 wire power, he injects silicone around the wires, but doesn't get enough/any between the two so water can get in between the wires.  I've now cut them off and replaced with my own.   When I inject silicone into the tube, I inject enough that the first one or two pixels end up completely covered in silicone.  Probably overkill, but like I said, I haven't had an issue with the ends I've done.
Daniel Kulp
Framingham, MA

Offline Gilrock

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Re: 26% failure using 2811 strips - not happy
« Reply #8 on: October 19, 2017, 08:07:31 AM »
No issues in 4 years but I don't leave them on the house all year.

Gil - I know you don't buy from HC so I can cross them off, mind if I ask where you get yours from? 

I went out and bought a bunch of pvc. Building window outlines to attach lights too now so I can take them down each season.  The hot glue was a bad idea. 


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I bought mine from Ray but I don't think it matters where you buy them.  For one I hang mine vertically so the end where the wires come in faces down.  Second I'm in Arizona so after it rains things dry fast.  I have more of an issue where I've accidentally cut the sleeving when removing zip ties.  Sometimes I have a pixel that will stay green for a day and then drys out and works again.  Out of 12 strips I've only seen 1 bad pixel and that's not enough for me to cut it up.  I'd rather just replace an entire strip than try to cut it up.

Offline jnealand

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Re: 26% failure using 2811 strips - not happy
« Reply #9 on: October 19, 2017, 08:39:08 AM »
There are multiple forums with many stories from folks who like strips but have switched to all nodes after having many, many problems with strip failures.  I am one of them.  I still have my failed strips in my basement for the day when I have lots of hours available to play with them although that has not happened since I removed them from the show 3 years ago.  LOL.
Jim Nealand
Kennesaw, GA