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UV concerns


jerseyjim

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New to coordinated lighting is an understatement.  It seems fairly obvious that yard and tree based displays will be taken down and put up again, but can the house based lighting be left on the house or will the UV rays/harsh weather compromise the lights?  It seems logical to take down and store, but wanting to calculate time needed at start/end of season.  I appreciate your advice.

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9 hours ago, jerseyjim said:

New to coordinated lighting is an understatement.  It seems fairly obvious that yard and tree based displays will be taken down and put up again, but can the house based lighting be left on the house or will the UV rays/harsh weather compromise the lights?  It seems logical to take down and store, but wanting to calculate time needed at start/end of season.  I appreciate your advice.

One of my friend that I have been to his home has had his CCR ribbons up for their 4th year I believe. It could be 5th by now. There are many others here that have the ribbons and other lights up year round but I have seen my friends. 

I based my decision to put ribbons on permanently (until needed to e removed) on my home. I just haven't had time to do it.

I have a few pixel node strings that have been on my ccr tree frame for 1 year now in all weather. They have not discolored and still work when I test them.

Happy lighting.

JR

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I had ribbons on my eaves that have stayed up and been used for the last six years. This year I took them down and replaced with new ones as they were getting too yellow and were affecting my colors.

So yes, eventually the sun will start to affect them but how long they will last depends on how much sun exposure they get during the day.

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Too much sun in Florida.  I had considered putting mine up when I get them and leaving them year round, but as I have no overhang to help keep the sun off them.

I figured it's better to put then up and take them down at the end of the season.  

If I had real or any eaves on this glorified trailer{manufactured home they like to call them}, the only section with any type of eaves are the ends, the long sides, none at all.  

So if I had eaves on the home, then I'd probably leave them up year round.  Figuring that the sun wouldn't be as harsh on them with at least some protection.  Or at least I'd think so.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 9/2/2018 at 3:48 PM, Mr. P said:

I had ribbons on my eaves that have stayed up and been used for the last six years. This year I took them down and replaced with new ones as they were getting too yellow and were affecting my colors.

So yes, eventually the sun will start to affect them but how long they will last depends on how much sun exposure they get during the day.

Maybe your ribbons were exposed to the sun directly ??   I've mentioned elsewhere that I put mine up under the eves and they still look good and not discolored after several years.   I live in the high desert at 5,000 feet so the sun UV is intense up here.

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I have both dumb and smart ribbons that are installed for my year round landscape lighting.  A lot of it is in direct sun, and the rest gets reflected sun.  None is completely sun protected.  I have ribbon that has been installed for as much as six years.  Yes, the silicon tubing will dull in well under a year, but does not really affect the light - at least enough to notice.  I have had some segments fail, but I can not attribute it to sun damage.  Will it eventually fail due to sun?  Likely yes.  As Mr. P said, his turned yellow enough to cause color shifts.  I would think the most likely failure would be the outer silicon tubing cracking, resulting in water getting inside and causing damage.

 

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I have ribbons mounted on my eaves that have been up for almost 4 years mounted to J Channel.  The ribbons are fine, the only issues I've run into is the zip ties have gotten brittle and so has the J channel.

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8 minutes ago, sticks4legs said:

I have ribbons mounted on my eaves that have been up for almost 4 years mounted to J Channel.  The ribbons are fine, the only issues I've run into is the zip ties have gotten brittle and so has the J channel.

Yea, been there done that ?  Zip ties for most anything outside has been a problem for me as well so I stopped using them a few years ago.

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Like k6cc (Jim), I use ribbons year round.  Mine sit on some J-channel just behind my rain gutters and under the eaves.  After about 4 years they had turned yellow/brown, but that didn't effect the lights.  I replaced them all last year, changing from Dumb strips to Pixels, and they were still working fine.  I have used pieces in new props so I didn't have to buy new ones.  

Here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5i2F72IyBY  at about the 7:07 mark, you can see where/how I have them mounted. 

I also use strip lights as my house lights, and they still work just fine after about 4 years as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuLiJSMCDXY 

 

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