Jump to content
Light-O-Rama Forums

Sealing the female socket of lawn decor


Speedster

Recommended Posts

We use bulb stakes to hold up as many of the plugs/sockets as we can, I try to have them either horizontal or with the female socket facing down. I also put baby plug covers in all the female sockets that face up, the ones that face down I leave open to allow any moisture to drain out.

https://www.christmaslightsetc.com/p/7.5--All-in-One-Light-Stake-100-Pack-40005.htm

Edited by rcktpwrd
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have only six AC light circuits out in my yard for Christmas.  They are all together and almost six feet off the ground at the top of a block wall.  You can see in the background of the photo below to the right of the tree at the top of the white stucco wall (there were only three when this photo was taken several years ago).  The far end of the 200 count strings are also at or near the top of the wall.  I do nothing to waterproof them and have not any problems.  The females at the far end just hang down (gravity is your friend in this case), so any water that gets into them will tend to fall out.  The supply wires (six runs of SPT-1) run up an over the strut that keeps the pixel tree vertical mainly to keep someone from getting caught on them while getting to the trash cans or firewood storage that is behind the tree.  They never get hear the ground.  The single AC cord (SPT-1) that powers the CCP controllers does run along the ground.  It plugs in an outlet just to the right of the 2nd string of the tree in the photo.  It runs across the lawn to the three CCP controllers.  At each controller there is a female tap for the SPT-1 that the CCP power cord plugs into.  The joint it Ty-Wrapped to one of the wooden stakes that holds the CCP controller so it is about a foot off the ground.  The controllers are each covered with a trash bag mainly because this is Southern California and I have to run the lawn sprinklers during show season so the controllers would get drenched with water going sideways (oh yea, once in a while it rains too).  You can see the arrangement in the second photo.

2014_Pixel_Tree.jpg

2014_2_arches.jpg

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for all the suggestions, looks like there are quite a few possible solutions that I could implement.  I definitely need to do something though, since most of the candy canes have the female socket less than 2 inches from the ground.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I ended up buying a bunch of those plastic baby-proof outlet protectors and used 2 on each candy cane. 

image.jpeg.68fded853c64eeec26263784e7c5470d.jpeg

I've trapped the female socket in an upright position against the candy cane with a landscaping stone and capped it and the female side of the male plug with the outlet covers.  I'm hoping this is good enough to prevent GFCI breaker trips when it rains.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Man.  That’s a very heavy-duty extension cord for just 1 cane. Hopefully you got them on a clearance sale pricing plan. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, Mega Arch said:

Man.  That’s a very heavy-duty extension cord for just 1 cane. Hopefully you got them on a clearance sale pricing plan. 

I already had a lot of extension cords from my previous 2 yrs using a non-LOR system.  Instead of making all the additional SPT1/SPT2 cords myself that I would need this year, I figured I'd just need to buy an additional $100 worth of extension cords.  I did buy them on sale, but I severely under-estimated how many I would need, and spent closer to $300.  Now I wish I had gone the DIY route and just made the cords myself!  Oh, well....I'll  have plenty of time to do that between now and next Christmas, since I know I'll add a few things to the show next year.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

43 minutes ago, Mega Arch said:

Man.  That’s a very heavy-duty extension cord for just 1 cane. Hopefully you got them on a clearance sale pricing plan. 

Perfect case for SPT1 and Vampire plugs.

FWIW I converted a bunch of those type canes to LED strips. I used 30 Warm Wight Leds/M  (Overkill :D ) and drive 3 canes from a RGB channel (actually, I have a Pair of canes per port 321123 placement and another RGB port drives a 6 can propeller )

BTW to plug the upside down canes, I found a 11/16 plastic plug at the hardware store. Not a seal, but should shed water (I could not find more of the caps locally)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, TheDucks said:

Perfect case for SPT1 and Vampire plugs.

FWIW I converted a bunch of those type canes to LED strips. I used 30 Warm Wight Leds/M  (Overkill :D ) and drive 3 canes from a RGB channel (actually, I have a Pair of canes per port 321123 placement and another RGB port drives a 6 can propeller )

BTW to plug the upside down canes, I found a 11/16 plastic plug at the hardware store. Not a seal, but should shed water (I could not find more of the caps locally)

Yep, definitely gonna do the SPT1 & vampire plugs next year. 

I originally wanted LED candy canes, but they were $10 each at Menard's.  I needed 16 of them and that was just too much to spend on candy canes.  So I got the canes with mini-lights from Walmart for $2.97 each.  They're actually not too bad, but I would've preferred the taller LED canes from Menard's if I could have afforded them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...