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Mounting RGB and CCR Strips - Solution


ShaggySS

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I see this question asked a lot. How do I attached my very fragile very expensive RGB or CCR strips to my house. I too was trying to figure out the perfect answer to that question. I went to Home Depot and Lowes and wandered up and down every isle in the store looking for the answer. I am sure many of you have done this too. I found lots of stuff I never knew existed but not what I was looking for. PVC seemed to be the best option but I am very critical about things looking just as good during the day as they do an night.

Ken a local LOR enthusiast had the idea of using square metal tubes. I meet him at this really random metal shop and they had these square tubes for mounting my strips to. Even better they were hollow so I could run power wire down the middle of the tube and inject power into every section. So this place cut the tubes and we cleaned them up and welded eye bolts to them and painted them to match the color of my trim. In my case brown. I got some of those RayWu waterproof connectors and so they could easily be connected. I will install some eye hooks to the outside of my house and paint them brown to blend in and easily put them up and take them down. See the pictures below. The metals tubes were only $12 for 20ft and are very sturdy. My 18ft run will only require 3 eye hooks to hold it in place.

strip1.JPG

strip2.JPG

strip3.JPG

Due to the distance 30+ feet from the power supply I was concerned about the voltage drop so I also ran A|C to power a waterproof power supply for the last strip of lights. So these tubes held a 18/4 an well as SPT2 no problem. I put vampire plugs on the end of each section so each peice could be independent.

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a couple things about your method.. first, the zip ties should -only- be over the solder pads, not anywhere near the chips or pixels. You said yourself, too fragile..Too much chance of wrecking the power line traces underneath the silicone covering.

Secondly, are these supposed to shine straight outwards or towards the wall? If you're trying to wall-wash, it isnt aimed downwards far enough (45-60deg angle).

Last, how long are your strips between power injection points? I have abt 130' of strips on my house (on pvc, under the eaves, aimed at 45deg to wall-wash) and no strip is longer than 20'. Each strip is fed at the end (no daisy-chaining), or center-fed at the mid-point solder pad.

Edited by TJ Hvasta
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Could you not paint the PVC brown like you did the metal tubes to match your house?

It is a good idea but for me, $2 PVC pipe and no welding required is much easier IMHO.

Again, you have a good idea.

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Thats a nice idea for single story homes.

I have a 2-storey home so getting those frames up there would not be easy at all. I went with PVC conduit and ziptied the strip to it :)

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I went the PVC route also. I just clipped spring hand clamps to the edge of my gutters and then laid the pipe into the upright handles. I used the small plastic hand clamps usually found at Harbor Freight. I spray painted them white to blend in with my white house gutters. My PVC sections have a butt connector on one end and I made a 1/2" cut laterally on the opposite end to make it easy to separate the sections. I also kept each section to 7'6" for easier storage.

I did a "test fit" installation this afternoon and was pleasantly surprised of how fast it went up- less that 45 min for about 60ft, and that was taking the time to custom cut 4 small fill-in sections. (I had the 7.5ft sections pre-made)

I plan to flex-tie my icicle strings to the bottom of the PVC pipe. I think I'll have it up in no time this year!

If you want to take a quick look -->http://roseengineart.com/display-album.php?album_id=5

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a couple things about your method.. first, the zip ties should -only- be over the solder pads, not anywhere near the chips or pixels. You said yourself, too fragile..Too much chance of wrecking the power line traces underneath the silicone covering.

Secondly, are these supposed to shine straight outwards or towards the wall? If you're trying to wall-wash, it isnt aimed downwards far enough (45-60deg angle).

Last, how long are your strips between power injection points? I have abt 130' of strips on my house (on pvc, under the eaves, aimed at 45deg to wall-wash) and no strip is longer than 20'. Each strip is fed at the end (no daisy-chaining), or center-fed at the mid-point solder pad.

I was contimplating where to put the zipties so I put them in between the chip but they are far from tight. Mine are to shine straight outward.

My strips are 2811's so my longest run in 18 ft and I injected that from both ends but past the data all the way down my 50ft run.

Could you not paint the PVC brown like you did the metal tubes to match your house?

It is a good idea but for me, $2 PVC pipe and no welding required is much easier IMHO.

Again, you have a good idea.

Technically yes painting the PVC is a good idea but I wasn't fond of how it mounted the the house and it was still pretty flimsy so it would require more holes in my house. I do like with the PVC you can aim them more towards your audience very easily. Didn't think of that unitl TJ mentioned that above. I have no idea how to weld so if it wasn't for Ken I would have gone the PVC route. Great guy to have near by.

Thats a nice idea for single story homes.

I have a 2-storey home so getting those frames up there would not be easy at all. I went with PVC conduit and ziptied the strip to it :)

That is a concern but I am not big on the ladder I feel safer on the house so I climb the ladder get on the roof and toss down a rope. Then I hoist them up and hang over the edge to put them over the eye hooks. At least thats how I have it all planned out in my head. Its funny how thing sound easier that way. Overall they are not very heavy and 18 ft is my longest run the rest are around 10ft. I will post a picture when they are up and let you know how it worked out.

I went the PVC route also. I just clipped spring hand clamps to the edge of my gutters and then laid the pipe into the upright handles. I used the small plastic hand clamps usually found at Harbor Freight. I spray painted them white to blend in with my white house gutters. My PVC sections have a butt connector on one end and I made a 1/2" cut laterally on the opposite end to make it easy to separate the sections. I also kept each section to 7'6" for easier storage.

I did a "test fit" installation this afternoon and was pleasantly surprised of how fast it went up- less that 45 min for about 60ft, and that was taking the time to custom cut 4 small fill-in sections. (I had the 7.5ft sections pre-made)

I plan to flex-tie my icicle strings to the bottom of the PVC pipe. I think I'll have it up in no time this year!

If you want to take a quick look -->http://roseengineart....php?album_id=5

I like the idea of zipting the iceciles to the bottom. I might have to do that for christmas. Great idea!

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