Sunday, September 11, 2011

Suit Success, Refurbishment...

Three nights out on the playa, the light suit did not disappoint! So much fun to embody the bouncing red LED, for me and folks around me. It ran so much the second night-- music response mode and a high brightness can really draw current-- that I went through both batteries, ending the night unlit! The third night with all batteries charged and on-hand, there was no shortage of power and I ran it bright, but it was getting rough after so many miles, with a few segments not responding and a few dead 3-LED groups. All the time, the system worked beautifully, and I left it running when I finally took it off and stuffed it in a box Sunday morning, rippling and flickering, so bright before switching off.

Taking it out of the box Thursday in a puff of dust, a few segments did not respond but the system worked just as when I put away. I stripped out the main left arm board, all board-to-board cabling, the MOSFET boards, and then the light strips, pulling them off one at a time, removing the right arm accelerometer last. The suit and (surprisingly) sneakers made it through the wash and look great. I'm checking LED strips now, making a to-do list of fixes, remakes, and changes. I'll clean off all the boards and hook it together for a full pre-test, and then stuff it back in the suit.