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Dumb RGB Flood Extension Cords


bryan.hurley5

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I want to wire up my house with my new eight 10w light o rama dumb rgb floods. However, they will not be able to reach my CMB24D board. I have seen pre built extension cables on various websites but they too are pretty short. What does everyone use? Do you just use 4 conductor wire and splice them together? Or do you use the pre built cables?

Bryan

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I found this wire that comes in a 100ft spool that's pretty cheap. Has anyone used wire like This? Just want to make sure it can handle the 12vdc power. 

 

Monoprice Access Series 18 Gauge AWG CL2 Rated 4 Conductor Speaker Wire/Cable - 100ft Fire Safety In Wall Rated, Jacketed In White PVC Material 99.9% Oxygen-Free Pure Bare Copper https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003KPYRJM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_akT3BbEGGDDDR

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I make my own extensions out of 16 or 18 gauge 4-wire cable. This way I don't have a lot of excess laying around, for one it looks neater and two, with some of my longer 80' runs I don't need 10' of  excess cable which just aids in voltage drop.

The cable you linked to will work well it is all copper and not CCA. I just prefer a black cable so it disappears in the dark as the white tends to stick out unless you can hide it.

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8 minutes ago, Mr. P said:

I make my own extensions out of 16 or 18 gauge 4-wire cable. This way I don't have a lot of excess laying around, for one it looks neater and two, with some of my longer 80' runs I don't need 10' of  excess cable which just aids in voltage drop.

The cable you linked to will work well it is all copper and not CCA. I just prefer a black cable so it disappears in the dark as the white tends to stick out unless you can hide it.

Do you buy a dongle adapter or just splice the wires directly to the flood wires?

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I will usually solder plug adapters on as this keeps me from constantly unplugging/unscrewing cables from the controller, the less you mess with a controller the less chance something can go wrong with it.

I try to keep all of my plug adapters from the same source as different vendors have different sizes. Example: LOR plugs do not work with HC plugs as they are different sizes so it is best to pick a vendor and stick with them for the plugs. I hate having to look for two or three different sized plugs when setting something up.

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2 hours ago, bryan.hurley5 said:

I want to wire up my house with my new eight 10w light o rama dumb rgb floods. However, they will not be able to reach my CMB24D board. I have seen pre built extension cables on various websites but they too are pretty short. What does everyone use? Do you just use 4 conductor wire and splice them together? Or do you use the pre built cables?

Bryan

LOR has extensions for their 10W floods.   http://store.lightorama.com/10wafl10exco.html  they have 10 and 20 footers

Mixing other sources can be a nightmare, as there are no 'standards'

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12 hours ago, Mr. P said:

I will usually solder plug adapters on as this keeps me from constantly unplugging/unscrewing cables from the controller, the less you mess with a controller the less chance something can go wrong with it.

I try to keep all of my plug adapters from the same source as different vendors have different sizes. Example: LOR plugs do not work with HC plugs as they are different sizes so it is best to pick a vendor and stick with them for the plugs. I hate having to look for two or three different sized plugs when setting something up.

Shoot me a link on where to purchase the plugs you are talking about.  Would like to buy same cable and plugs lor uses to keep consistency.

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I used this to extend my floods. 4 Wire 16 ga 250 ft

https://www.ebay.com/itm/OUTDOOR-Speaker-Cable-Direct-Burial-Black-Audio-Wire-14-2-14-4-16-2-16-4-AWG-UV/272880891067?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=572047147166&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

What I did was remove the end from the board in the housing then ran the correct length of new wire the soldered the connector to the extension. Worked great last year, but just so you know the wire is a little stiff when unrolling it. It's not the softer wire LOR uses

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4 minutes ago, TheSignGuy said:

I used this to extend my floods. 4 Wire 16 ga 250 ft

https://www.ebay.com/itm/OUTDOOR-Speaker-Cable-Direct-Burial-Black-Audio-Wire-14-2-14-4-16-2-16-4-AWG-UV/272880891067?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=572047147166&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

What I did was remove the end from the board in the housing then ran the correct length of new wire the soldered the connector to the extension. Worked great last year, but just so you know the wire is a little stiff when unrolling it. It's not the softer wire LOR uses

Be careful with that wire as it is CCA. I used CCA wire a few years back and it only lasted maybe two years then it just disintigrated into a fine powder.

Edited by Mr. P
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1 minute ago, Mr. P said:

Be careful with that wire as it is CCA. I used CCA wire a few years back and it only lasted maybe two years then it just disintrigrated into a fine powder.

That's why I got the UV coated wire. I hope it lasts longer then a few years....

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35 minutes ago, TheSignGuy said:

That's why I got the UV coated wire. I hope it lasts longer then a few years....

I found the direct burial wire the other day, looks like a better solution, I wish the conductor colors had blue!  I really like for things to be consistent even though not necessary.  I really want to find good 4-pin barrel connectors, looks like solid appollo led has some at $13 for make and female.  My brother works as chief field technician for mohpd and maintains all communications and is a whiz beyond belief.  He is looking for some good options!

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21 minutes ago, Jadkins said:

I found the direct burial wire the other day, looks like a better solution, I wish the conductor colors had blue!  I really like for things to be consistent even though not necessary.  I really want to find good 4-pin barrel connectors, looks like solid appollo led has some at $13 for make and female.  My brother works as chief field technician for mohpd and maintains all communications and is a whiz beyond belief.  He is looking for some good options!

Get a kit of the colored lineman electrical tape. It has blue. Put a piece around each end- consistency on the part you can see. You cant see the rest of the color under the shield anyway

Just an option

Also you can buy pre solder butt or barrel connectors with heatshrink. They are good stuff for this hobby as well as around the house. Its a low heat solder so doesn't take much to heat up and very little skill required.

JR

Edited by dibblejr
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7 minutes ago, dibblejr said:

Also you can buy pre solder butt or barrel connectors with heatshrink. They are good stuff for this hobby as well as around the house. Its a low heat solder so doesn't take much to heat up and very little skill required.

JR

About two years ago when the solder connectors became popular I caught a great sale and got 1,000 at .03 cents a piece ($30). Everywhere I look now they are around .20-.25 cents each, glad I got so many when i did.

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27 minutes ago, Mr. P said:

About two years ago when the solder connectors became popular I caught a great sale and got 1,000 at .03 cents a piece ($30). Everywhere I look now they are around .20-.25 cents each, glad I got so many when i did.

Do you have a link where you found them?

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1 minute ago, Jadkins said:

Do you have a link where you found them?

Can't remember where I got them but I haven't seen them at that price since.

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I was gong to splice mine also. Then George replied to a post I made about the cables telling me that cables from DIY express would work with the lor floods. So I have ordered a bunch of them and they work with the lor floods. They have 2.5 foot, 5 foot, 10 footers, http://www.diyledexpress.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=37_38 . I Use lor for the longer ones and DYI for shorter ones so I don't have a bunch of extra cable coiled up. DYI express only have green and white colors

Edited by Wayne K
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I am really wanting just ends to solder up exact lengths that can be labeled and installed the same way every season.  Have not had much luck other than expensive pairs that are field installed with screw down connections.

Edited by Jadkins
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I have used either 4 conductor 16 gauge or 4 conductor 14 gauge speaker cable from Monoprice.  Cut and solder to length.

 

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26 minutes ago, Vince4xmas said:

Does anyone have a manual for the LOR 10watt floods?

To be honest, I don't remember there being one, and I see there is not one on the LOR downloads page.  Not much to put on one either.  What do you want to know?

 

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