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building a design


sibbs

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Is it possible to build a weatherproof rope light to follow a pattern I'm building out of rebar? See attachment.  there are a few spots that "dead end" where I'd like to preserve that detail,  is this possible?

Is there any kind of 90, 45 T fittings to hook different light strings together?   

 

horns.JPG

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Marine grade silicone 3M 5200 will seal the deal. It can be applied under water, I have used on my boat in the past. You can get a small tube or a tube like used in a cauking gun. Will never leak for your purpose. I never had a leak. Almost like JB weld.

To connect two ends try getting some clear tubing at your hardware store that will slip over the ends and use the same silicone to cover the over lap. 

You can also use 3M 4200 in your case, its a little more flexible than the 5200 but I use 5200 for anything needing to be water proof/ resistant.

JR

Edited by dibblejr
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The weather proofing isn't as much of a concern for me as the small segments of lights needed that dead end.    Most of the rope led lights I've seen online have cut intervals at 3'3",   I've got pieces in there under a foot,  is that even doable?     Ideally that would be best,  the other option is to loop everything with a continuous light and suppress the light where I don't want it.     

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My monster singing faces are made of rope light and they too have areas that are almost a foot long or more that aren't being used for the prop. I just get black electrical tape and make a layer to black it out the light then a layer of white electrical tape to blend in with the prop. Then I hide it behind another peice of rope light within the same pattern and zip tie it off. In your case with the rebar if you go with electrical tape just leave it black. It would blend in nicely. With mine you can't even tell it's there at all...

https://goo.gl/photos/n1NbSrUtm9QbSqSz9

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When I built my 14 foot tall snowman with moving arms and singing face I was able to source out 3/8" rope light that had 1foot cut intervals and it would bend in about a 1" circle.

I too then just slipped black heat shrink tubing over the end.

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I have never tried the stuff but maybe look at some electroluminescent wire?  Maybe something like this:  http://www.elwirepros.com/  Since it can be cut to the foot from the looks, maybe it would be better suited to a prop like this?  Just throwing out an idea.

I have used rope light for a couple of props myself and used heat shrink to "hide" sections when necessary.  Seems like there should be a newer tech way to do this though.

Edited by beeiilll
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since I'm welding all the pieces of rebar together one thought I had was to weld in steel round pipe where I want light suppressed,  shove the rope light through and caulk the ends.    I'll look into the elwire,  being that it's such a low power supply I wonder if it would be bright enough.   most of them I've seen use a battery pack which I would not want,  I'd need an inverter so I can hook it up to 110 and control it with the LOR.  

Also waiting to hear back from a rep at Environmental Lights where they have a 24v led strip lighting where you can cut the wire every few inches, plus they have T and L fittings so I can get the "dead ends" I'm seeking, that was pricey though and only 5M rolls,  so I may do a combination of the two,  regular rope light for the general outline, and then get the same color of the 24V light for the small detail pieces.  

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After talking with several lighting websites most thought they did not have a product for me,  mostly I think because it's such a small time project and not worth their time.    Except one,  I ended up going with a LED light by Cbconcept,  they seemed to have a good selection of T, 90, and end fittings and power chords.    The cut interval is 19" which I'd rather be smaller but I figured I can always double up the light where I have to on the frame.     Moment of truth this weekend putting everything together.   

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Was able to get the props built over the weekend,  now it's time to get the lights added.  

rebar.JPG

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the finished props,  with 3 days to spare!  Thanks all for your suggestions.    Both of them are one continuous light with black tape or flex conduit suppressing light where I don't want it.     May work the skull head some more and get the mouth singing.  

lights.jpg

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Setting up the campsite now at rock fest, on our site is a 60’ pine tree that has lights in it but we’re missing 2 power cords, any idea if these are available anywhere? 

Would an other option be to splice the wire and put on a different chord?

93129876-886A-4114-947E-44FDAF2DF759.jpeg

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  • 3 weeks later...

I know you are done with your frames. They are really cool! 

A probably too late answer to your questions: you can cut most LED rope lights to designated sizes at manufacturer cut marks. Do a search for "cutting LED rope lights."

 At most you need an additional piece if you are splicing, etc.

They do make right angle connectors, T connectors, etc . Examples:

https://www.birddogdistributing.com/led-rope-light-l-connector/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIq9GHosbH3AIVjeDICh3eswsfEAQYASABEgLPEvD_BwE

https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/97044/FT2-U120NA12T-CON.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsd3U9MbH3AIViD8bCh3AjQnkEAkYBiABEgLczPD_BwE

Lots of info & videos:https://www.christmaslightsetc.com/pages/Rope-Light-Instructions.htm

 

 

 

 

Edited by Tharkun
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