Chinese garland: scheme, repair

The New Year comes - and here from the boxes come Christmas decorations and garlands. And if the toy is simply hung on the place chosen for it, then with garlands there are different accidents. This is especially true for cheap options. Everyone who has ever repaired this miracle of technology knows that the Chinese garland, the scheme of which is simple, has some features.

Features of a garland from China

More often, the Christmas decoration of Chinese masters attracts a pleasant price (from 150 rubles per piece) and bright lights that blink in several modes. Four kinds of light bulbs, and sometimes LEDs, pleases the eye and wallet. However, after a while one or several colors cease to burn. There may be several reasons, but the fact remains that the garland does not work for 100% any more.

If the product has deteriorated, it is not necessary to change it to a new one. Although it is customary to enter the new year in the New Year, our hands are not created for boredom. Is it really difficult to change a light bulb? The point here is not in the price and not in the time spent on repair. The point is, in principle. And every person who first decided to repair the Chinese garland, begins to wonder.

Misunderstandings

The most unpleasant surprise in the repair - thin wires wires. You start to wonder how it all works and has not crumbled to this day. It becomes clear both the price of the product and the reliability of operation. This is the Chinese garland. Scheme, repair and search for breaks - that's your next fate. The wiring connection, of course, is the weakest point. Therefore, the search for a break should begin with a commuting box.

In addition to the surprisingly thin wiring, the Chinese product can please the quick failure of the thyristors controlling the color lines, as well as the main controller. To replace faulty items, one often has to look for domestic counterparts, or rewrite the whole scheme.

Types of malfunctions

Consider some of the possible cases when the scheme of the Chinese garland is not needed. From the course of electrical engineering, only 2 problems are known, connected with the failure of electricity: a short circuit and a break in the circuit. In the case of a non-working garland, one needs to look for a break. Let's say that the blue color is not lit. There are 2 options:

• Somewhere, the wire connecting the blue light bulbs tore;
• One of the blue elements is blown.

Now you need to find a break or a burned light bulb. As a rule, visual inspection will help us in this. Most often, the gap is visible with the naked eye, and repairs 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 twist helps. Naked wire must necessarily be wrapped with electrical tape.

Attention! Any repair of an electrical product is made without connection to the network.

If the gap is not visible, you should pay attention to the box with the button. Chinese garland, the scheme of which does not differ from the standard, has a control unit in a flat box. By removing 2 or more screws, you can see a small printed circuit board with several elements. Two wires from the plug fit to it: phase and zero, and also 4 wires with bulbs of four different colors. Gaps occur most often at the junction of the conductor veins.

A number of faults are associated with a malfunction of the control unit. Here, the mode switch button itself may fail. "It is treated" such a problem by cleaning the contacts or by a complete replacement. The Chinese garland, whose scheme is standard, necessarily has a controller in its composition. It can also deteriorate, and it can also be replaced. A weak link can be any of the 4 thyristors - one for each color.

Problem changing elements

To replace defective items, Chinese colleagues offer their element base. The whole problem is that the lamps quickly become obsolete, and finding the right Chinese version is problematic. 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 element, it is important to know the parameters of the Chinese product. Often the forums look for a transistor PCR406J. The Chinese garland, whose scheme is made on such elements, is familiar. Only the desired element actually turns out to be a thyristor, and its Russian counterpart MCR100 is almost identical in parameters.

In Search of a Chain Break

What to do if there are no breaks? The scheme of the Chinese garland is simple. All the lamps are connected in series. Hence, if the blue line does not burn, you must find at least one blown blue lamp. There are two options.

• Check all the elements in the chain sequentially.
• Search for a broken light bulb by dividing the line in half. Having found half, not passing current, it is necessary to divide it once 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 tape.

The second method can be avoided if you use a multimeter with thin needles attached to the ends of the probes. However, the conductors used in Chinese products are so thin that they can even be torn with 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 increased voltage on the remaining bulbs, because 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 have a significant impact on the service life. Despite the fact that the schemes of Christmas tree garlands are Chinese, everything works on general principles.

LED garlands

Such products have recently become very popular. In this regard, on garlands instead of light bulbs appeared low-power elements. The scheme of the Chinese LED garland differs little from the standard. But, given the fact that the LED is designed for a much lower voltage, in the circuit for a network of 220 V, each of them will have a resistor. In another variant, a step-down transformer will be implemented at the system input.

In addition to the usual scheme, where the elements are arranged in series, there is a scheme of a Chinese garland on LEDs placed in parallel. In this case, even burning several light elements at once does not introduce dissonance into the overall picture.

Advantages of LED products

The Chinese garland, which is based on LEDs, has a number of advantages.

• Economical. This is due to the small consumption of electricity by LEDs. This immediately gives rise to the following two advantages.
• Durability. The service life of LED products is two and more times that of incandescent lamps.
• Security. LEDs, unlike incandescent lamps, can heat up to a maximum of 60 degrees. Therefore, they are less flammable than their counterparts.
• Brightness. Garlands on LEDs are brighter and more pleasing to the eye.
• Frost resistance. LED products can withstand a temperature drop of up to 40 degrees below zero without any change in performance.
• Moisture resistance. Such garlands can be used to decorate bathrooms and wet greenhouses.

LED Chinese garlands are very convenient to use for decorating the street part of the house. Thanks to high moisture and frost resistance, such products will please the eye for a long time without repair.

Conclusion

Buying such a product, it does not always turn out to please yourself and your loved ones with a qualitative adornment. Sometimes behind bright lights and attractive cost is hidden a rather simple and cheap Chinese garland. Its circuit will be easy to learn and convenient for the application of electrical skills. Repair of the product can also bring moral satisfaction. Everyone determines for himself whether it is worth the time and effort. Or maybe it's better to immediately take the option more expensive? After all, even Chinese garlands for a great price are much better than their cheap "compatriots". The choice is yours!