Singing Trees

[Euro92]

Has anyone tried the new Singing trees from light o rama? I am thinking of adding singing trees and wondering if these are good or the holiday coro trees better. It seems like the mouth of the light o rama trees are unnatural and odd looking. I do like how they are pixels. Any input would be nice. Thanks

[gsmith37064]

You can get the pixel singing tree for Holidaycoro as well. That is what I run.

http://www.holidaycoro.com/RGB-Singing-Christmas-Tree-p/100rgb.htm

 

[Orville]

11 minutes ago, Euro92 said:

Has anyone tried the new Singing trees from light o rama? I am thinking of adding singing trees and wondering if these are good or the holiday coro trees better. It seems like the mouth of the light o rama trees are unnatural and odd looking. I do like how they are pixels. Any input would be nice. Thanks

I know some folks have bought the LOR ones, but haven't heard how well they worked. 

The LOR Singing Trees look fine to me and I hope to possibly purchase one, or two if I'm lucky for my 2019 Christmas Display.  I just prefer to stick with everything LOR in my display when possible.

[k6ccc]

I added two Holiday Coro singing trees for 2018, so let me give you my observations and opinions.  I specifically did not want the pixel based trees.  Because of the size of the pixels being twice that of dumb LEDs, the resulting spacing of the pixels was too large.  The closer spacing of the dumb LEDs looked better.  Of course the major limitation is you can’t chnge the colors. In my case, I used green of course for the tree outline, and warm white for all the mouth movements.  One tree uses warm white for the eyelids and green eyes, and other tree uses cool white eyelids and blue eyes.  I think that came out well.  I also added two strings of 100 multi-color LEDs in a zigzag pattern so it looked a semi-traditional tree for use on instrumental sequences.  Lastly I added a pink bow for songs where the singer was female.  The singing trees were VERY popular with my viewers.

BTW, Only use non-removable LED strings.  If you have removable bulbs, they will unplug from the socket if you need to pull the light out of the coro.

As for the LOR trees, I like the different patterns.

[Euro92]

K6ccc what  brand of LEDs did you use?

[k6ccc]

I got them from Holiday Light Express (pre-sale in progress now)

https://www.holiday-light-express.com/

 

[k6ccc]

BTW make sure to certify light count for each channel before ordering.  For example on the Holiday Coro faces, different channels have different string lengths - order appropriately.

 

[MikeERWNC]

I am thinking of making my own this year. 

Those videos are going to make life easier. http://www.holidaycoro.com/RGB-Singing-Christmas-Tree-p/100rgb.htm

I am thinking about a 4'x8' talking tree and a 4'x8' talking Santa using 3/8" plywood.

You can usually cut a 100 LED string into three sections. As long as there are sections with two wires, you will be fine.

I do this all the time. 33 LEDs makes a 7' section. 

[dibblejr]

You do not need to cut anything down. Get what you can find. Any overages cannot be see through the coro - trust me I might have 2 or 3 singing faces. If you have to many overages do like I do, get a bucket. cut an access door and poke them inside the bucket. Drill 1/2" holes  in the bottom of the bucket allows any water to drain, put the top on the bucket and hang it on the prop.

Of smaller quantities of overages just put them in a grocery bag, poke a hole in the bottom and tie on back of prop.

You should not be cutting any store purchased LED strands that are less than 100 down to anything less than 50. Doing so will usually result in quick failure.

Incans are easy to find smaller count strings but LED's are more difficult and not many under 35 count and you pay more per bulb for shorter count strings. Be careful not to purchase battery operated strings by mistake.

Also if you truly want to build your own- smaller mouths - they look mush better than larger mouths.

JR

[dibblejr]

24 minutes ago, MikeERWNC said:

I am thinking of making my own this year. 

Those videos are going to make life easier. http://www.holidaycoro.com/RGB-Singing-Christmas-Tree-p/100rgb.htm

I am thinking about a 4'x8' talking tree and a 4'x8' talking Santa using 3/8" plywood.

You can usually cut a 100 LED string into three sections. As long as there are sections with two wires, you will be fine.

I do this all the time. 33 LEDs makes a 7' section. 

Why use heavy plywood. You can purchase 5mm coro at most of the large hardware stores. Make a frame out of 2X4's. 

Depending on how you intend on moving it around it will be very heavy. Coro lasts years. I have 2 faces that are over 14 years old. They both still have the incan light bulbs.

Also if you haven't pushed 1000+ mini lights through a coro hole that stretches before just wait trying to push them through plywood.

JR

Edited January 11, 2019 by dibblejr

[k6ccc]

7 minutes ago, dibblejr said:

You do not need to cut anything down. Get what you can find. Any overages cannot be see through the coro - trust me I might have 2 or 3 singing faces. If you have to many overages do like I do, get a bucket. cut an access door and poke them inside the bucket. Drill 1/2" holes  in the bottom of the bucket allows any water to drain, put the top on the bucket and hang it on the prop.

On my two faces, I did not even bother with covering the extras.  However I did buy strings appropriate to what was needed.  For example, one of the mouths is 82 LEDs so I used a 50 count string and a 35 count string.  Another is 92 LEDs so using a 100 count string.  The eyelids are 46 and 48 LEDs so using 50 count strings.  All the rest are easily available exact numbers (50, 100, 200).  The extras are just hanging behind the coro.  If you walk up to my front door, the extras are plainly visible, but not at all to the audience.

 

[dibblejr]

11 minutes ago, k6ccc said:

On my two faces, I did not even bother with covering the extras.  However I did buy strings appropriate to what was needed.  For example, one of the mouths is 82 LEDs so I used a 50 count string and a 35 count string.  Another is 92 LEDs so using a 100 count string.  The eyelids are 46 and 48 LEDs so using 50 count strings.  All the rest are easily available exact numbers (50, 100, 200).  The extras are just hanging behind the coro.  If you walk up to my front door, the extras are plainly visible, but not at all to the audience.

 

I actually use the extras as a quick ref. Look out window, look through security camera and I would know if I have a network or more down.

This comes in handy with the rain esp this year. However I only lost 4 faces and that was because I used the same network as tomato cage mini trees and they are trip o native. 

I was trying to consolidate networks from 14 to 11 or 12 . Tried the 11 and that was results ended up with 12. Never lost another face.

15 of 20 faces made it in Christmas show. With the flood in my yard I had no viewable place to put them.

JR

[MikeERWNC]

I have cut hundreds of store bought LED's without any failures. You can only cut them where there are two wires. 

Coro does not last long enough. I have coro which is flaking away right now as I type. 3/8" plywood is not that heavy unless you are 90yo.

 

[dibblejr]

26 minutes ago, MikeERWNC said:

I have cut hundreds of store bought LED's without any failures. You can only cut them where there are two wires. 

Coro does not last long enough. I have coro which is flaking away right now as I type. 3/8" plywood is not that heavy unless you are 90yo.

 

Here’s why you are able to get your 3 cuts- they are not 100 count light strings- they are 120. Therefore you should be able to Cut them to 40 count. However anything less than 40 count without the proper resistor to replace the missing bulbs can be dangerous to human or structures.

A 100 count led light string can be cut down to 50 and give you two sections of 50 workable lights.

Just because you do it doesnT mean it’s correct. In the video referenced above proves the point “100 count string” the box clearly shows 120 bulb string.

If you are going to give people advices based on your above method I would def include a disclaimer.

Pesonally the cost of lights is just not worth cutting them. When it comes to the point that they need to be cut they become spare bulb strings.

Buy the shortest string you can get to the count and let the rest remain for safety if nothing else. 1mA can kill a person.

JR

 

Edited January 11, 2019 by dibblejr

[Mister]

All good advice! 

Me I do like jr does buy strings close to what u need the extra bulbs are not seen from the front, and work well for extension wire from the prop at times. I found it more aggravation to cut the strings to length.

But this is the best statement:

Also if you haven't pushed 1000+ mini lights through a coro hole that stretches before just wait trying to push them through plywood.

Last year I pushed like 3,000 M5 led mini lights, not easy. But alittle at a time over the year was not bad. Singers look better in M5. Mini lights to me then Pixels. But the pixel way is far cheaper to bulb populate.

[Mister]

6 hours ago, k6ccc said:

I got them from Holiday Light Express (pre-sale in progress now)

https://www.holiday-light-express.com/

 

Best site for M5 lights, just takes about 3 months for the order to come in!!

[MikeERWNC]

I hate arguing on the internet... 

Big Lots lights are 120 count. Open the box and you have two sets of 60 LEDs or one set of 120 LEDs.

Cut them where there is only two wires and you have two sets of 30 LEDs. 7 feet.

Whether it is 20 lights or 20,000 light, you will always need two wires to plug into the wall to turn on the string, power and neutral.

Maybe the light strings you are using are different... My lights are from Big Lots and Home Depot and there is always two wires somewhere in the string where a section can be cut safely.

 

 

 

[MikeERWNC]

I have plywood panels now. I have an 8' tall elf house, Toy Shop and a reindeer stable.

You just pre -drill the holes, then hot glue the light into the hole.

Good outdoor paint and they last for years. Much more durable than coro.

[dibblejr]

7 minutes ago, MikeERWNC said:

I hate arguing on the internet... 

Big Lots lights are 120 count. Open the box and you have two sets of 60 LEDs or one set of 120 LEDs.

Cut them where there is only two wires and you have two sets of 30 LEDs. 7 feet.

Whether it is 20 lights or 20,000 light, you will always need two wires to plug into the wall to turn on the string, power and neutral.

Maybe the light strings you are using are different... My lights are from Big Lots and Home Depot and there is always two wires somewhere in the string where a section can be cut safely.

 

 

 

Trust me, this is not an argument. 

More of a safety message.

FWIW

JR

[Orville]

16 hours ago, dibblejr said:

Here’s why you are able to get your 3 cuts- they are not 100 count light strings- they are 120. Therefore you should be able to Cut them to 40 count. However anything less than 40 count without the proper resistor to replace the missing bulbs can be dangerous to human or structures.

A 100 count led light string can be cut down to 50 and give you two sections of 50 workable lights.

Just because you do it doesnT mean it’s correct. In the video referenced above proves the point “100 count string” the box clearly shows 120 bulb string.

If you are going to give people advices based on your above method I would def include a disclaimer.

Pesonally the cost of lights is just not worth cutting them. When it comes to the point that they need to be cut they become spare bulb strings.

Buy the shortest string you can get to the count and let the rest remain for safety if nothing else. 1mA can kill a person.

JR

 

Are you kidding me?  

I have cut 50 LED strands to  2-25 count strands, used them for 10+ years, never failed once.  Never had voltage issues, never let out the magic smoke either. 

I've cut down 70 count LED strands and made 2 strands of 35, cut down 100 count LED strands to 2 50 count strands.   None of these "store bought" and modified cut downs ever failed once cut into 2 sections of whatever 1/2 the original strand count was I took then from.  

One thing to note though, this works best with LED strands that have the bump at each section of LED bulbs, although I have cut down many that didn't have the bumps as well. 

I have used a variety of store brand LED strands cut down to fit locations I needed them for. 

Never had an issue as long as you know where to make the cut to break the strand into separate sections safely.   Done it for years, used the same store bought LED strands I cut down for well past 10+ years in my display, probably well past their original life expectancy. 

I gave them away to our church last year and they've used these same strands going on an additional 2 years now, no failures and they all were still going strong when they took them down about a week ago for storage until next Christmas when they'll get used again.  And no overheating issues with any of them either.   I always checked the wiring for excessive heat during operation, never an issue, wires never even got warm, and this with them burning steady on, since the church doesn't do controllers or specialty lighting effects like in many of our home displays.  I made sure they were safe before I offered then up to the church for their Christmas lighting needs.

You just have to know what you're doing, and where to safely make the cut to split LED store bought strands safely.

Edited January 11, 2019 by Orville