Strobe Failures

**Skunberg** · 01-10-2018, 09:53 PM

The whole problem is these are "curtain strobes". They are made for indoor use. And our hobby is always searching for the cheapest option so we use them. They don't fit a C9 socket well, condensation collects inside, the boards tend to fail under this abuse they were not designed for. So till a better option comes around we are stuck with them. FYI the 3/4Watt led strobes from acl are great but they may not have another group buy.

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**Some Guy** · 01-11-2018, 08:26 PM

Originally Posted by Skunberg

FYI the 3/4Watt led strobes from acl are great but they may not have another group buy.

What is ACL an acronym for? AusChristmasLighting.com? I quickly looked on their web site, and I saw some kits, but I was looking for something that I just screw into a socket, rather than screwing around with assembling!

Before kids, I had more time to assemble boards, now I direct my Christmas lighting hobby "me" time toward assembling yard display that I can't buy.

**Strawberry** · 01-11-2018, 10:02 PM

I used the ws2811 version, they worked great
https://m.alibaba.com/product/607293...roduct-tab.0.0

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**Skunberg** · 01-12-2018, 12:13 AM

Originally Posted by Some Guy

What is ACL an acronym for? AusChristmasLighting.com? I quickly looked on their web site, and I saw some kits, but I was looking for something that I just screw into a socket, rather than screwing around with assembling!

Before kids, I had more time to assemble boards, now I direct my Christmas lighting hobby "me" time toward assembling yard display that I can't buy.

Yes ACL is AusChristmasLighting. The last group buy they were assembled and sealed. 30 cm apart on a string. Great strobes but we may not see them again. Smaller forum with different goals sometimes, being summer on that side of the line and different thoughts of what a light show should be and how to do it sometimes. I'd like to get a couple more strings.

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**DaleP** · 01-12-2018, 11:50 AM

What about a DIY strobe? Get some circuit boards made up for some little led strobes order a bunch of parts and make them your self. Your not going to make them cheaper than what you can buy them for, but you could make them better.
How about a 12 volt version and controlled by a pixel controller?

**Skunberg** · 01-12-2018, 12:39 PM

Originally Posted by DaleP

What about a DIY strobe? Get some circuit boards made up for some little led strobes order a bunch of parts and make them your self. Your not going to make them cheaper than what you can buy them for, but you could make them better.
How about a 12 volt version and controlled by a pixel controller?

This is how the ACL strobe started. After hashing it out for 6 months they had a board with 3 led option, many hardware options and endless programming options. Even added options while collecting for the group buy. While many people got just what they wanted, many more had trouble with mismatched options, smd soldering errors, smd identification errors, programming errors. With all the options it was almost impossible to help people with problems. The next year ACL strobe 2, one board, one led, one program to adjust strobe speed. Still a kit with the smd issues, but some members volunteered to build the board and program for a small fee. This round went much better and people were happy. After a couple years comes the ACL strobe 3. Although it's not called 3 as it's basically still the version 2. They moved to a 3/4 watt over the 1/2 (more difference than you would think), programmed for random flash with in a range, 5vdc on and off (5vdc is the ACL favorite), prebuilt and epoxy sealed. The only option was 15cm or 30cm spacing on the string (30cm being the most common). My favorite. So if you have read this far, don't make the same mistakes.

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**ukewarrior** · 01-12-2018, 01:38 PM

Do you know if they share their design files and sources?

Originally Posted by Skunberg

This is how the ACL strobe started. After hashing it out for 6 months they had a board with 3 led option, many hardware options and endless programming options. Even added options while collecting for the group buy. While many people got just what they wanted, many more had trouble with mismatched options, smd soldering errors, smd identification errors, programming errors. With all the options it was almost impossible to help people with problems. The next year ACL strobe 2, one board, one led, one program to adjust strobe speed. Still a kit with the smd issues, but some members volunteered to build the board and program for a small fee. This round went much better and people were happy. After a couple years comes the ACL strobe 3. Although it's not called 3 as it's basically still the version 2. They moved to a 3/4 watt over the 1/2 (more difference than you would think), programmed for random flash with in a range, 5vdc on and off (5vdc is the ACL favorite), prebuilt and epoxy sealed. The only option was 15cm or 30cm spacing on the string (30cm being the most common). My favorite. So if you have read this far, don't make the same mistakes.

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**DrNeutron** · 01-12-2018, 02:25 PM

I bet they would, I believe David_AVD was contact for the board design and for the last group buy they used a fellow called Ben Brown (ACL member) to get them made in China.
They have the design schematic and hex files in their wiki: https://auschristmaslighting.com/wiki/ACL-Strobe-Mk2
As mentioned by Skunberg, the Mk3 is basically a finished product with the board/LED/jacket all enclosed with epoxy for waterproofing.
As a side note, David also made a power board for driving these strobes that helped make them look more random: https://auschristmaslighting.com/thr...-strings.9982/
I have the older Mk2 with the .5W LED, still haven't put them in display as of yet...LOL