pb9630 Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 Okay so this was year 2 for me and I added a bunch of elements this year. i have all my controllers in my garage to keep them safe and sound, but since they are not close to my elements i have 2 100' (200 feet) per element and i have 32 channels. So as you can imagine, I have alot of extension cords. Last year i was able to stuff them all in a new xmas tree storage bag, but OMG it was heavy. Should i just bite the bullet and buy tub containers for the cords? Any ideas would be helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. P Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 I use one very large tub container that stays in the garage year round. This tub holds only the outdoor 14 gauge type etxtension cords that get used only for connecting controllers. All of my props use led lights so the bulk of my extension cords are SPT wire which cuts down on 75% of the bulk and weight compared to using outdoor cords. I guess it would come down to what you are using for extension cords. Are you purchasing typical outdoor cords or are you making your own with SPT wire? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pb9630 Posted January 10, 2018 Author Share Posted January 10, 2018 Yeah i live in Michigan which means there is a foot or 2 of snow on the ground when the show is on. So i use the heavy duty outdoor extension cords. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpageler Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 One bag versus one tote of cords, that's not going to change the weight. I use multiple tote to organize display element locations tor quicker setup. Porch display goes into one tote, the front of garage goes into another. This means controllers, cords, lights and other hardware into one tote. If you have to carry tote any distance from storage, I have found totes in the 27-30 gallon size to be manageable. I have one larger tote that gets rather heavy and it's a bear to haul form the basement but it contains eaverything for one location of the display. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBS99 Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 I have a very large front yard about 2 acres and lots of extension cords and spt-1 wire. I use 4 trash cans. 45 gallon size that stay in my shed. When they are full I can't move them. I try to only buy spt wire now to cut down on storage. Tom 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericm Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 THis year I bought a couple rolling trash cans to store them in... that’s way I don’t have to separate the bundles for the props in the yard... also make them easier to move. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lyori1 Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 Just wanted to share my thoughts. Sorry about the length, but I've been thinking about this same thing the past week as I've been storing and reorganizing my display components. The tubs make it very neat so you don't have to see the cords if they are only used once a year for your lighting display. Also, they are stackable and inexpensive compared to most other options. The down side is they get extremely heavy. In our large display for the church we have 176 AC channels most of which are still traditional lights. Dozens of 80 ft and 40 ft cables are used. It takes two of us to safely lift and store the bigger cord tubs. Yes we could put less cords per tub but that requires additional space. Also, if you are using 14 gage outdoor cables of anything length, unless you put only matched length cords in a single tote and label them, you sometimes have to dig through the heavy cords to find the one you may want. This is especially true if you use the cords for multiple purposes and displays throughout the year as we do. Something I ran across this week is the "Wrap It" products. It is a hook and loop (Velcro) strap, that come in various sizes that has a metal eyelet to allow hanging. If you have wall space, I was thinking about using large cup hook that you can get for about .$75 ea and purchase a correct length WrapIt per cord, about $3.00 ea to hang them on the wall almost like a peg board. See image below for the general idea. You could even overlap them a bit to take up less space if you desired. You could label the WrapIt with the cable length and then you would be able to see the length of each cable immediately. Whenever you needed a specific length cable, you could simply walk up to the wall and select that cable from the wall. The down side as you can tell is the cost per cable is much higher and you would be able to see the cables while in storage if that is an issue. You could possibly double up cords per "WrapIt" as that may save you a little $. I personally ike the flexibility of having the cords separated and at hand when I need a power cord. As stated earlier, a move to LED reduces the size and weight of prop power cabling. SPT is fine in the weather as long as you use the proper connections elements and load. Just food for thought. Good luck. If you come up with a clever solution, please share. I would love to see it. You can see the "WrapIt" products on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Storage-Straps-Organizer-Hanger-Extension/dp/B01N6VG9YY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1515598051&sr=8-3&keywords=extension+cord+hangers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDucks Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 I use the 'food' method for storage. (I get all year of snacking to get ready to store More ) 3 gallon Ice cream pails for longer strings/strips, SPT (prop) cords . Bagel bags or Tortilla (20ct) bags for shorter strings, Skippy jars for plastic hooks and bits. Small containers and bags go into totes BY SHOW SEASON/prop, Cords and some strings that are used across shows, get their own tote. Heavy Duty (SJO type) cords hang on METAL hose racks( Plastic ones frequently crack under a half dozen cords load after a few years 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 56 minutes ago, TheDucks said: I use the 'food' method for storage. (I get all year of snacking to get ready to store More ) I like that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibblejr Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 I have a small motorcycle trailer. The car roof cargo bin mounted to it. Since I have to large building store it in its convenient for me. This year though I was tearing down most of my stuff with a very short dry window. I'm gonna catch the stuff soon because 50% of my cords are rolled up but thrown in the back of my truck. Just needed to get them up before the rain and barely achieved it. I still have my mega tree and c9's roof and eves to get down but left up because 1- 60' up and 2- they will dry faster hanging up. Gonna rain rest of the week so they will come down next week. (I hope) I also like theDucks method. JR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caniac Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 we use totes and separate them out by type (spt-1, heavy duty, multi-outlet, etc.), using smaller totes makes them easier to carry and stack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sax Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 I use yellow and black storage bins. I roll each cable and place that cable in a plastic grocery bag. Then, I put that bagged cable in the bin. Cables don’t tangle since they are separated. My RGB cables typically stay with the element. I had help this year for tear down and now they are rolled and in bags. Sigh. Setup gonna take longer next year but the tear down went super fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HVACR Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 I roll my cords on a large water hose spool. I get about 800 ft of 15ft cords on a spool. I have 5 spools full this year. HVACR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daryl Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 I use Christmas tree storage bins from Walmart. They are kind of pricey but they have wheels on one end so I can wheel them around and they can be stacked. I put all of my lights and extension cords (SPT2) in 5 or 6 bins. Also when I put the lights in, I coil them up and put cardboard in between the layers so they don't tangle as much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EARLE W. TALLEY Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 i use KITTY LITTER pales, you can stuff a lot of spt1 and lights into one and they are not as heavy and are easy to stack. I have about 50 that i use and best of all they are FREE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Pest Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 KittyLitter bins are also good for electrical and plumbing supplies. They can work for tools as well. But yes totes and kittylitter pails work well for storage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan24438 Posted February 3, 2018 Share Posted February 3, 2018 I use small totes (15 gallon size) to store everything in. I have 40 or 50 totes I believe. I like the smaller totes because it limits how much I can put in them and helps keep the weight down. I organize my totes by controller. So all of my extension cords for controller 1 will be labeled and in 2 totes, controller 2 will be in two separate totes. Same with the lights. Lights used for controller 1 are in their own separate totes, however many it takes to hold them etc. Some totes are full, some only half just depends on what the tote is labeled for. I have found this makes setup very easy. Whatever element/controller I am working on i'll pull out the tote for and have everything I need right there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DisneyMatt10 Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 We use big plastic totes from Walmart. We try to keep the extension cords sorted in the totes for the different areas of the yard they go to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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