Safety precaution while finishing Aether please read

[batdive]

Already I briefly mentioned the issue I ran into while finishing my aether in my last post but wanted to detail it now, so hopefully it will help others to not get hurt as the potential is there.  This is not meant to worry anyone as it is a pretty safe build, but as anything with electricity you have to take precautions and this is just one to add to the list.


First I was finishing the aether and installing the power leads to the board all went well, until I plugged it into a socket.  By plugging it in, it popped my circuit breaker for that part of the house.  Reset it and tried it again to see if I could see the problem, but had the same issue.  

So I realized I had something grounding out some place.  

Now I know the next part is probably not the best way to do it, but I always use precautions with electricity and make sure not to touch certain parts.

Anyway I tilted the Aether out of the case and made sure to hold it in such a way I was pretty much clear of an electrical issue.  The board moved slightly and caused an arch in one of my aluminum holders that was bolted to the side of the case.  

.After looking everything over I found the Hot lead had bent down and the "crimped" part was making CONTACT with the copper back of the board.  This electrified the whole back of the Aether PCB which caused the short as it attached to the braces and caused the circuit breaker to cut since the ground for the housing is attached to the case.  


This is where I say thank you for safety grounds  .

I did have the leads bolted up and pointed towards the side as the video suggests to help with folding the wires as it goes in and out, but appears the hot lead during the reinstall got bent back to normal for the most part and that is where the contact was made.

To fix the issue, I took the leads off and put electrically tape around the "crimped" part of the lead up to the eyelet.  Bolted it back on and rebent the leads towards the back of the case.

After that no problems.


I just wanted to make sure everyone checks this area before tightening up the board back into the case and take the extra second to make sure those leads are bent up and electrical taped so if they get bent down they wont make contact with the copper.


Hope this helps someone as in the end, you can see from my other pic it is an awesome light and as I write this post my eyes are still trying to adjust from the brightness the Aether puts out.


-JS

[Gary]

I'm having a shorting problem as well, but I don't think it's being caused by the same thing. Rather than removing the wire and wrapping electrical tape around the crimped part, I taped the wires to the board with electrical tape to isolate them from the case to prevent any shorts that way. I couldn't troubleshoot this too much, as I had to head out of town for the weekend, so I'm now typing this at my brother's place.

I can't look at the unit right now since I don't have it in front of me here.

I'd like to ask: is there anything else that can cause a short while in the case? I cleaned out all metal fragments with compressed air. It works fine with the board (carefully) dangling outside the case. I see that the 1/2" screws holding the aluminum bracket to the case to seem to stick out quite a bit. If they touch any part of the transformer (the iron core, or the shiny little metal leads on the side) or triac heatsink, would that be an issue?

What if one of the edges of the board touch the case? That should be fine, right? I did set the bracket for the board in an extra 1/16" of an inch extra in addition to RJ's recommended 3/4" because when I first put it together at 3/4" depth, I did a clearance test for all my lenses, and the tallest lens was too close for comfort (I put a piece of paper on the lens, closed the door, shook the unit, and the paper didn't move)... so that's why I added the extra 1/16" of an inch for compensate for measuring error. While the board is not set in the case as far as it would go as though there were no brackets, when I drilled and screwed it in, the left edge of the board (where the transformer is) does touch the side of the case. Could it be bad luck that as a result of the board being a bit extra to the left, a screw is touching the transformer on one of those shiny leads causing a short?

I'm getting a bit tight on time before my scheduled grand unveiling start date for the neighborhood Wednesday of next week, and an Christmas light event planned by the wife the following Friday. And I have a few other loose ends to deal with. I was hoping that someone could give me a few ideas.

[RJ]

If your screws are touching things you need to cut them or relocate the pcb back to where it is suppose to be so they do not touch any more. Nothing should touch with the exception of the back of the pcb should make contact with the aluminum brackets that are screwed to the case.

Are you sure you do not have a bad solder joint that is showing up when you tighten the pcb down? They sometimes only show up with a little help from something pulling the right way.

RJ

[batdive]

I'm having a shorting problem as well, but I don't think it's being caused by the same thing. Rather than removing the wire and wrapping electrical tape around the crimped part, I taped the wires to the board with electrical tape to isolate them from the case to prevent any shorts that way.

Im not sure I understand this part correct but it sounds like you taped the hot and neutral wires down to the board to isolate it from the case?  If that is the case that is all great, but the crimped section if flat will touch the copper backing of the PCB and short out since the back copper plate touches the aluminum supports which are attached to the case and the safety ground.

Besides what RJ mentioned I would double check the hot wire specially and make sure it is not making contact with the copper back of the PCB.  If the hot wire is lying flat instead of bent up, it will make contact with the PCB and cause the short.


Hope this helps

-JS

[RJ]

Yes if that is what you mean please do check this. I actually edit the layout for future use to opent the area around the connector larger where even if the connector lays on the pcb it can not contact the pcb. That was my intent all along and if you look you can see the other side is this way. I just made a mistake when shifting stuff around on a later change.

RJ

[Gary]

Im not sure I understand this part correct but it sounds like you taped the hot and neutral wires down to the board to isolate it from the case?  If that is the case that is all great, but the crimped section if flat will touch the copper backing of the PCB and short out since the back copper plate touches the aluminum supports which are attached to the case and the safety ground.

Oh, oh, oh... of course! I thought the issue was with the wires touching the case, and not the board. I guess I was thinking it was the case because the problem occurred when I was installing it into the case. Sorry I didn't read your message more closely...    I was in a rush to try to find your message that I read a week or so prior, found it, read over it quickly, wasn't thinking, and misinterpreted what you had to say. Sorry about that. Or maybe I was thinking that the back of the board was totally isolated from hot, neutral, and ground as well... just to be exclusively used as a heat sink.

RJ, I guess that's why you always tell us to take our time doing assembly of our projects as rushing causes mistakes.

[RJ]

At least it wouldn't hurt anything. I missed it in your post so that was a Great catch by Batdive! This should get you working.

RJ

[batdive]

Im not sure I understand this part correct but it sounds like you taped the hot and neutral wires down to the board to isolate it from the case?  If that is the case that is all great, but the crimped section if flat will touch the copper backing of the PCB and short out since the back copper plate touches the aluminum supports which are attached to the case and the safety ground.

Oh, oh, oh... of course! I thought the issue was with the wires touching the case, and not the board. I guess I was thinking it was the case because the problem occurred when I was installing it into the case. Sorry I didn't read your message more closely...    I was in a rush to try to find your message that I read a week or so prior, found it, read over it quickly, wasn't thinking, and misinterpreted what you had to say. Sorry about that. Or maybe I was thinking that the back of the board was totally isolated from hot, neutral, and ground as well... just to be exclusively used as a heat sink.

RJ, I guess that's why you always tell us to take our time doing assembly of our projects as rushing causes mistakes.

Hope that is the fix and if it is, you will need the one thing I think was missing from the COOP.  A good pair of sunglasses or in the case of the Aether maybe a welding mask   


RJ on a side note thanks and BTW these things still amaze me.  Have like 80% of my show up and well what an addition they make.   My neighbor did the wizards of winter for both of our houses and the Aethers are an amazing addition.  I'll get a video when I get a chance.


-JS

[RJ]

RJ on a side note thanks and BTW these things still amaze me.  Have like 80% of my show up and well what an addition they make.   My neighbor did the wizards of winter for both of our houses and the Aethers are an amazing addition.  I'll get a video when I get a chance.

-JS

Looking forward to the video!

RJ

[Gary]

If your screws are touching things you need to cut them or relocate the pcb back to where it is suppose to be so they do not touch any more. Nothing should touch with the exception of the back of the pcb should make contact with the aluminum brackets that are screwed to the case.

Out of curiosity what would happen if a screw touches (what I believe is) the transformer's iron core? I suppose it's nothing. I realize it's not ideal, but would like to know what would if it did.

[tbone321]

If it does not come in contact with the transformers windings thenprobably nothing but if you are asking then you seem to e concerned  and if that is the case then perhaps it would be better to cut the screw to a shorter length and avoid all risk.

[RJ]

+1

RJ

[Gary]

Yea, my problem was also solved by wrapping the crimped part with electrical tape.

[batdive]

Yea, my problem was also solved by wrapping the crimped part with electrical tape.

Nice to hear, glad it is up and running.  Hope you wore sunglasses during testing  .


-JS