Leaderboard

I know it's hard NOT to use all channels on an AC Controller, but as others have said, you might need 1 or 2 in the event a channel fails. It does happen. Usually not so much if a controller is brand new, but it's happened. My 3rd year of doing this I had 2 Triacs fail in 2 different controllers, and I had used every channel on every controller I had at the time, so now I had 2 props that were dead and had to remove them from my display. As dead, non-working props in a display just doesn't look good. If I'd have kept at least 2 channels open and available on my controllers, I wouldn't have had to remove props, wiring and extension cords. Then I had to do some shifting of everything left in the yard because of the gaps those props left in the display. Believe me, you would be better off NOT using those 5 channels and keep them in reserve in case of a channel failure in the controller. I learned this the hard way my 3rd year. I now have downsized to only 2 AC Controllers in my display since going 95% RGB, and even those two controllers don't get fully utilized, I use around 12 channels on one and about 8-10 on the 2nd. I could add quite a few more things to them, but after having the experience with channel failures, I've learned it's better to have MORE channels than items plugged into all of them. Just swap out the channel to a working one, and change the sequence to reflect the channel change. Only takes a very short time to do that. Good Luck, whatever you choose to do is your decision. All we can do is offer our advice and why it's better to have spare channels as to not, usually because we've experienced it.