jimswinder Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 Okay..so I have begun soldering up my 30 LOR kits and I have been debating something within my mind for awhile now, and figured I would ask you guys...the experts.And let me preface this my saying I run 100% LED, plan on using SPT-2 for my dongles and 95% of my lights will be within 5' (or less) of the controller they will be plugging into.So, the 16 dongles per controller...would you make them all short and the same length coming out of the controller, OR make them the correct length to plug into the lights they will be controlling, therefore eliminating the need for any extension cords?I can see where if I only had a few controllers, this would be a no brainer, but I will have 33 controllers, meaning 528 extension cords using 1056 vampire plugs...and at 50 cents for each plug, that's another $528 just for the plugs.So...thoughts, opinions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wbottomley Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 In my video ( ), you'll see that everyone is the same length.I prefer them that way... but what do I know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-Paul Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 Jim,This might not be the smartest way of doing things. But here is what I am doing. In lots of cases I am cutting off the plug on the LED string and soldering the SPT wire directly to the LED string and using heat shrink that has the sealant to make it water tight. Then I am crimping on the female quick connect to the other end. I am also using a ID tape that you can write on and putting this near the Q.C. so that it is protected inside of the box when installed.My reason and take on this is this. The more connections (plugs and sockets) the more points of failure. So, at the end of the season I wrap up the SPT wire and LED strings as one complete unit. Now I do not have to contend with both the string of LEDs and an extension cord separately.This is my way and YMMV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted April 30, 2010 Author Share Posted April 30, 2010 Mountainwxman...Seems to be a bad link to your video...I get a "page Not Found" error from VimeoI think it is because you have the closed parenthesis and comma with the hyperlink.You hooked them there wires up pretty fast!!!! Max-Paul...Sounds pretty good to me...My problem is that 80% of my lights are permanently attached to structures such as Mini Trees, Mega Tree, Weber Tree, Streamers (my term) and Arches...Would make those items pretty heavy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wbottomley Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 &^%$!It's working now. :dude: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beeiilll Posted May 1, 2010 Share Posted May 1, 2010 Well Jim just to through in some confusion for you , I am going to use a combination of both William's and Max's methods. I too am using all LEDs except for my blowmolds which are just one mold on a channel so very low draw.This will be my third year doing the display and I see advantages to using both methods. My lights around the house I am going to solder splice some 18-8 cable onto the ends of the lights sets and then run that to my controller which will have "standard" 2 foot dongles on it. I use 4 colors of LEDs around each window and door so this will make just 1 cable to run from the controller to each spot.Some things like my mini trees will have the controller box with various lengths of dongles on it to use so that I can control 4 trees with one box (again 4 colors to each tree). I am making the dongles out of spt-1 and will have them a few feet longer than I need so that I can move the mini trees around some if I want to later on.My mega tree I made extension cords up for the lights and my controllers for the tree are in a weatherproof enclosure box with the receptacles inside it.So it seems like it is more of a matter of how you want things to go and how your display will be set up as to how you will end up doing things, but there are advantages and disadvantages to both methods.Good luck.Billhttp://www.longlakelights.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toymakr000 Posted May 3, 2010 Share Posted May 3, 2010 I can add even more confusion!! Sorry...I have my controllers mounted in custom industrial type enclosures like this.http://www.bazillionlights.com/Tech/LightsTechLOR.htmlThen for a lot of the things I use regular extension cords. However if there is a custom piece of the display that never changes I've installed long custom length cords to run all the way back to the controller box. All my window frames and eaves c9 strips are done like this. What I have noticed is if you have a group of cords qty 3, everything is nice and organized and easy to untangle. If you have a bundle of 16 long cords coming out of each controller it may become frustrating or unmanageable.My arches have the controllers located between two so the longest cord run is 9'.The 64 ch megatree has the controllers located centrally so the longest cord is only 6'. My mini trees are the same with minimal cord lengths.There are so many ways to skin the cat or so to speak. Just do what you think makes sense for your display. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted May 3, 2010 Author Share Posted May 3, 2010 toymakr000 wrote: I can add even more confusion!! Sorry...I have my controllers mounted in custom industrial type enclosures like this.http://www.bazillionlights.com/Tech/LightsTechLOR.htmlHey...was just sitting here at work looking for enclosures (my next step). I was wanting to put 3 controllers per enclosure...and even 4 per enclosure for 12 of my controllers.Where did you get your enclosures? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beeiilll Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 JimHere are a couple of enclosure ideas similar to ToyMakers ideas.I picked up the single ones on eBay and the bigger ones from a friend who works for an HVAC controls company.The big one you certainly can't walk off with and it makes it nice to have the cards all in one "box". I use it for my mega tree and am building a couple more to use for the mini trees and arches, although the single ones work equally well and can be hidden easily if need be. I just bolted them to the bottom of my bleachers that I had my choir blowmolds on last year and it worked great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebiggkm Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 Loved the idea for color coding the spt plugs. I label everything but this would definitely make setup easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beeiilll Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 Thanks.It sure makes it a lot easier to run the lines and they also have numbers on the side of the plugs as well. Since everything is 4 color in my display this just made more sense to do it this way for me.Just take a bunch of the vampire plug covers and spray them with Krylon paint for plastic in whatever colors you need. Makes it quick for hookup time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted May 5, 2010 Author Share Posted May 5, 2010 I did the same thing with my plugs...made hooking up 48 Channels a breeze...To protect the actual spades of the plug from getting painted, I just plugged each extension cord into itself...thus protecting both the spades of the male and the inside of the female plugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Ancona Posted May 6, 2010 Share Posted May 6, 2010 Mountainwxman wrote: In my video ( http://www.vimeo.com/2291293 ), you'll see that everyone is the same length.I prefer them that way... but what do I know. William, At the speed you put that together, I think you better cut back on the caffine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wbottomley Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 LOL!Too much sweet tea!Oh yea... I forgot. It's a southern thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted May 7, 2010 Author Share Posted May 7, 2010 Mountainwxman wrote:Oh yea... I forgot. It's a southern thing.HEY!!! Some of us Northerners drink sweet tea too!!! (Drinking some right now!)It must have been those 8 years I spent in humid Gainesville, Florida... lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wbottomley Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 jimswinder wrote:It must have been those 8 years I spent in humid Gainesville, Florida... lolYou're a good man! :dude: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 Hey - what makes you think it's just a "southern" thing - we had sweet tea in San Antonio TX when I was stationed there back in the '70's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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