THSCC Forums

It looks like one or two laser heads have somewhat mysteriously disappeared in the last few years. Maybe only one, depending on how many have been destroyed by drivers. One other which was marked "bad" really wasn't working well and Stephen and I tossed it.

Anyone happen to know where the missing one may be? Someone find one at a site, picked it up, and forgot about it in your garage somewhere?

Any leads are appreciated -- we're down to 2 working heads and we may not be able to get a spare (we ordered 4) before the next event.

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1

I think there is one still stuck in Chuck's GXP - AB

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'14 Toyota Sequoia Platinum 4WD
Super Westerfield Bros - '93 Integra - LeChump Du Jour
STX 93 - Scion FR-S

I have one in my garage. It was dead but might be fixable. It has a pretty messed up cord and a rather epoxy-sealed head that makes replacing the cord look like a daunting task.

It's in my garage because somehow we kept trying to use it for T&S and I wanted it out of circulation.

Scott - is that on a stand and/or with a metal shroud, or just the laser itself? I'll take it and try to do a backup-of-a-backup with it.

Now we're down to one missing:

1 - good in bus
1 - good in bus
1 - bad I just threw away
1 - bad at Scott's
1 - recently destroyed that I threw away

Still leaves one unaccounted for sometime in the last 2 years. Maybe someone punted one that I didn't hear about.

But we're missing one stand for sure. We used to have 6 laser heads on stands with one spare laser only. Now we're down to 2 lasers on stands, 3 empty stands, and no spares. The new ones should ship next Monday ("should") but just in case...

FYI an excellent way to do a quality test of a laser is to see how far away it will "reflect" off of white paper. The 2 good ones are about 12" and 18". The bad one I tossed wouldn't make it more than 2 inches.

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1

It's on a stand an everything, the whole shebang.

You going to be on my side of town any time soon? If you get this tonight, toss it in your car, I may come find you tomorrow in RTP. I'll give you a call.

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1

I'll drop it by on Thursday afternoon (if no one is home I'll hide it near the workshop door).

That works! Thanks!

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1

Did two of them get sent off? I had a pair to ship before Laurinburg, but gave them to Jim when one of the heads got damaged on the school day. I was under the impression that one pair had gotten shipped off.

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RedLanternRacing, builders of the fastest cars in last place.
Success is not an option.
1981 Scirocco, "Vera"

Nope, we were down to 4 at that point and 1 fell victim to the Solstice and another....



And then there were 2.

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Stephen Westerfield
2009 Infiniti M35 | 2007 Honda Fit Sport | 2005 Ford Mustang GT |2000 GMC Sierra |1992 Acura Integra LS | Super Westerfield Bros Acura Integra

Sounds like it's time for Ryan to cash in that CD and buy some new stuff

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http://www.greywinds.com

New stuff is on the way already.

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Stephen Westerfield
2009 Infiniti M35 | 2007 Honda Fit Sport | 2005 Ford Mustang GT |2000 GMC Sierra |1992 Acura Integra LS | Super Westerfield Bros Acura Integra

Hey Scott - FYI that laser is actually fine -- the connector on it is shot, just like on the other 2 laser heads.

So a point of reference for those of you who do or may someday have to help chase down timing problems: The connectors on the laser heads have a finite lifetime. This appears to be about 2-3 years. Replace them often!

All three laser heads we have had seriously intermittent opens when the plug was fully inserted but just wiggled around a little. Initially I was suspecting the male pin connectors on the timing box itself but it appears that the receptacles on the "plug" sides are much more prone to wear and failure than the pins -- the receptacles have the spring contact and spread open over time.

Note this -- there are 3 wires in the connector. One powers the head, one is ground, and one is a signal. Many times I could push on the connector such that the signal was open (looks like something is blocking the beam) but the LASER IS STILL ON. When testing for problems at events don't assume that if you see a red dot that eveything is ok! If the power or ground lines are disconnected, then the dot is gone.

I'm also not sure if this is a real data point, but the all the Switchcraft brand plugs on the extension cables seem to work GREAT even when they look terrible -- it's not possible to create a glitch. All the Neutrix brand plugs and the no-name plugs were crap.

Steven and I replaced the Neutrix connectors with nice new Switchcraft on the 2 good heads. Steven has ordered like 20 of the Switchcraft receptacle-containing plugs so we can replace all of the extension cable plugs.

Like I said the problems seem to be specific to the receptacles which are on the laser heads, not the pins on the box.

If Steven got the parts we'll replace everything over the weekend and I will re-epoxy the damaged head Scott dropped off, then if the JAC order doesn't get here by next weekend we'll have 3 good heads.

PS - Originally I wanted to send all this stuff back to JAC and pay them to troubleshoot/diagnose, but they seemed really unwilling to do it. Now that Steven and I went through it, I'm glad we're doing it ourselves. It helps to really understand the root causes of the problems for the next time we're having problems at the event.

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1

Hey it didn't work, but the laser head said "good" on the top so it kept getting used.

I solved the problem

Glad it was an easy fix!

Here is an accounting of what we have and what I've done. All replacements were tested multiple times after (except display power cables because I don't have the display).

LASER HEADS
Replaced bad/worn plug on 3 laser heads
Re-secured wiring on one laser head (previously damaged) with glue and zipties
Repaired one damaged head wire (solder/shrinkwrap)
Stress tested all head connections and wiring
Performance tested heads and wrote results on heads

TIMER CABLES
Replaced 2 bad connectors
Replaced 2 marginal connectors
Tested and left 2 good existing connectors
Replaced all JAC reels with orange windup reels (to prevent twisting and for ease of windup!)
One extension cable is very ratty and I labeled it as "use last"

JAC BOXES
Added labels cautioning to power down before plug/unplug heads (sometimes kills fuses)
Added big label for problem log
Replaced fuse holder (cap lost at last event)

DISPLAY
Replaced worn connector on green (long) timer power cable
Replaced worn connector on grey (short) timer power cable
Bench test of display - no major problems - to monitor at event

INVENTORY
2 JAC Boxes
3 Good but old laser heads
5 Good 100' timer cables
1 Marginal 100' timer cable marked "USE LAST" (ratty but tested fine)
1 Good 50' timer cable
At least 4 good reflectors
1 Long display power cord, 1 short
1 Long display data cable, 1 short

SPARES - ALL TIMING SPARES ARE IN THE BOTTOM FILING CABINET DRAWER
Bag of 12 Switchcraft XLR "plugs" (with receptacle contacts)
Bag of 4 Switchcraft panel mount XLR "receptacles" with pin contacts
2 Spare fuse holders for JAC boxes
Several 2amp fuses for JAC boxes

_________________
Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1