New Year is coming - and now Christmas decorations and garlands are taken out of the boxes into the light. And if a toy is simply hung up at the place chosen for it, then there are various accidents with garlands. This is especially true for cheap options. Everyone who has ever repaired this miracle of technology knows that the Chinese garland, whose layout is simple, has some features.
Features of garland from China
Most often, the Christmas decoration of Chinese masters attracts with a pleasant price (from 150 rubles apiece) and bright lights that flash in several modes. Four types of light bulbs, and sometimes LEDs, delight the eye and wallet. True, after some time, one or several colors cease to burn. There may be several reasons, but the fact remains - the garland is no longer working at 100%.
If the product has deteriorated, it is not necessary to replace it with a new one. Although it is customary to enter into the New Year in everything new, our hands are not made for boredom. Is it really difficult to change a blown bulb? The point here is not the price and the time spent on the repair. The point is in principle. And each person who for the first time decides to repair a Chinese garland begins to be surprised.
Misunderstanding
The most unpleasant surprise during the repair is thin wires. You start to wonder how it all works and still has not crumbled. It becomes clear and the price of the product, and the reliability of operation. This is the Chinese garland. Scheme, repair and search for gaps - this is your future fate. Wiring is naturally the weakest point. Therefore, the search for the gap should begin with the switching boxes.
In addition to surprisingly thin wiring, a Chinese product can please with a quick failure of the thyristors controlling the color lines, as well as the main controller. To replace faulty elements, most often you have to look for domestic counterparts or redo the entire circuit.
Types of malfunctions
Consider some of the possible cases when the Chinese garland scheme is not needed. From the course of electrical engineering, only 2 problems are known related to electrical problems: short circuit and open circuit. In the case of a broken garland, you need to look for a gap. Suppose blue is off. 2 options are possible:
- somewhere a wire broke connecting the blue bulbs;
- one of the blue elements burned out.
Now you should find a gap or a burnt out light bulb. As a rule, a visual inspection will help us with this. Most often, the gap can be seen with the naked eye, and the repair on this quickly ends. To connect the two ends of the wire, you do not even need to have a soldering iron on hand - the simplest twisting helps. Bare wire must be wrapped with electrical tape.
Attention! Any repair of an electrical product is carried out without being connected to the network.
If the gap is not visible, you should pay attention to the box with a button. The Chinese garland, the scheme of which does not differ from the standard, has a control unit in a flat box. Having unscrewed 2 or more screws, you can see a small printed circuit board with several elements. 2 wires from the plug are suitable for it: phase and zero, as well as 4 wires with bulbs of four different colors. Breaks most often occur at the junction of the conductors.
A number of malfunctions are associated with a malfunction of the control unit. Here the mode button itself may fail. Such a problem is "treated" by cleaning the contacts or by a complete replacement. The Chinese garland, the standard scheme of which, necessarily includes a controller. It can also deteriorate, and it can also be replaced. A weak link can be any of the 4 thyristors - one for each color.
Element replacement problem
To replace faulty elements, Chinese colleagues offer their element base. The whole problem is that the lamps quickly become obsolete, and it can be problematic to find the right version of Chinese production. In this case, the domestic element base comes to the rescue. The most important thing is to choose the right analog.
To select the analogue of the desired item, it is important to know the parameters of the Chinese product. Often forums look for the PCR406J transistor. The Chinese garland, the scheme of which is made on such elements, is familiar. Only the desired element actually turns out to be a thyristor, and its Russian analogue MCR100 is almost identical in parameters.
Looking for an open circuit
What to do if no gaps are found? The layout of the Chinese garland is simple. All bulbs are interconnected in series. So, if the blue line is not lit, you must find at least one burned out blue lamp. There are two options.
- Check in sequence all elements in the circuit.
- Look for a faulty light bulb by dividing the line in half. Having found half that does not pass current, you need to divide it again in half. And so on until there is a problem. After replacing the lamp, all pieces must be reassembled. It is better to do this with a soldering iron, but you can do with twisting or insulating tape.
The second method can not be used if you use a multimeter with thin needles attached to the ends of the probes. However, the veins of conductors used in Chinese products are so thin that they can even be torn by a needle.
It happens that at hand there is no second spoiled garland and a new light bulb. In this case, you can simply connect the two ends together. This is fraught with an increase in voltage on the remaining bulbs, since according to the laws of electrical engineering in a serial circuit, the voltage is divided equally. But if you remove one or two elements, this will not greatly affect the service life. Despite the fact that the schemes of Christmas tree garlands are Chinese, everything works on general principles.
LED lights
Such products have recently gained wide distribution. In this regard, low-power elements appeared on garlands instead of bulbs. The circuit of the Chinese LED garland differs little from the standard. But, given the fact that the LED is designed for a much lower voltage, each of them will have a resistor in the circuit for a 220 V network. In another embodiment, a step-down transformer will be implemented at the input of the system.
In addition to the usual circuit, where the elements are arranged in series, there is a circuit of the Chinese garland on LEDs placed in parallel. With this option, even the burning out of several light elements at once will not introduce dissonance into the big picture.
LED product benefits
The Chinese garland, the circuit of which is built on LEDs, has a number of advantages.
- Profitability. This is due to the low consumption of electricity by LEDs. This immediately implies the following two advantages.
- Durability. The service life of LED products is two or more times the service life of incandescent lamps.
- Security. LEDs, unlike incandescent lamps, can heat up to a maximum of 60 degrees. Therefore, they are less fire hazard than their counterparts.
- Brightness. LED garlands are brighter and more pleasing to the eye.
- Frost resistance. LED products can withstand temperatures of up to 40 degrees below zero without changing performance.
- Moisture resistant. Such garlands can be used to decorate bathrooms and wet greenhouses.
LED Chinese garlands are very convenient to use to decorate the street of the house. Due to the high moisture and frost resistance, such products will please the eye for a long time without repair.
Output
Buying such a product, it is not always possible to please yourself and loved ones with quality decoration. Sometimes, behind the bright lights and attractive value, a rather simple and cheap Chinese garland is hidden. Its circuit will be easy to learn and convenient for applying electrical skills. Product repair can also bring moral satisfaction. Everyone determines for himself whether it is worth the time and effort. Or is it better to take the more expensive option right away? After all, even Chinese garlands for a great price are much better than their cheap "compatriots." The choice is yours!