dkoehler42 Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 Can Lightorama user a rope light controller like this one: http://www.christmaslightsetc.com/p/3-wire-6-Function-Controller-for-LED-Chasing-Rope-Light-Rope-Light-Controllers--20918--904.htm?I haven't found a good option for doing the chasing lights in Lightorama. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khawes Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 Sounds like you want to do what I did last year.I have a 13' tall 1/2 mega tree that hands form the roof peak over the garage and ends just above the garage door. The rope light is red & green (1" spacing alternating color) I wired up each light with two plugs, one plug with hot & neutral and the other just hot. I used 3 prog plugs so I couldn't plug them in wrong.Here's what I did:I took three lengths of wire and pushed them in with the help of an awl to stretch the plastic. and cut them off even. Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khawes Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 Then using crimp on barrel connectors crimped one on each wire (I used liquid electrical tape to seal all this in the end. You could also just solder your wires directly to them. Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khawes Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 I got a 50' 3 prog Christmas (green) extension cord and cut in to length (8 6' lengths for me) and using a small section of the light, figured out where neutral was. (Sorry I don't remember which one it was -- but two lit red, two lit green and two did nothing, the common line when it lit was neutral for me) Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khawes Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 Two wires (one neutral to one plug the other to the other plug. Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khawes Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 first one Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khawes Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 then the other Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khawes Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 End result Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khawes Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 Result (green lit)And I tested far far away from my controller, with a switched outdoor outlet, and a long extension cord in case I screwed up. Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkoehler42 Posted August 19, 2011 Author Share Posted August 19, 2011 I'm not quite sure what you've done here. By the pictures, it looks like you cut out the red. I'm trying to get the chasing effect, though I found out I have 2 wire rope light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmoore60 Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 2 wire rope light is only one circuit of lights. 2 wires, 1 is hot and 1 is neutral. there is no way of getting a chase with just one circuit of lights. Unless you chase between rope light 1 to rope light 2 to rope light 3. laying side by side.As far as your statement of not finding a good option to do a chase in Lightorama. I think you need to explore the software much better. The software has chase tools as well as you could do the chase manually in the sequence editor. To really do a chase you need at LEAST 3 ciruits of lights. Or in the case of rope light 4 wire rope light would give you 3 circuits of lights.Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khawes Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 dkoehler42 wrote:I'm not quite sure what you've done here. By the pictures, it looks like you cut out the red. I'm trying to get the chasing effect, though I found out I have 2 wire rope light.I actually separated the red & green onto separate channels:you can see it here (about 15-18 seconds in it switched from green to red)http://www.youtube.com/user/ChristmasOutLoud?feature=mhee#p/u/0/vy74K8DFc9U Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkoehler42 Posted August 20, 2011 Author Share Posted August 20, 2011 Khawes, that's pretty impressive. I take it that was 3 wire rope? Also, how did you get the wire you pushed in to stay in direct contact with the rope light channels? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khawes Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 dkoehler42 wrote:Khawes, that's pretty impressive. I take it that was 3 wire rope? Also, how did you get the wire you pushed in to stay in direct contact with the rope light channels?Yes it was a 3 wire rope. I used some romex and cut it in 4" lengths, stripped all the insulation off. I then sharpened one end with a file (don't really need to do this if you heat the rope with a hair drier). I pushed them with needle nose pliers about 1/16" at a time so as not to bend the wire or impale my hand, until I had about 1/2" up in the rope.Oh there are holes where the rope's wire is just follow the holes. Another option is to get connector kits and push one side on the rope and connect the controllers to the other end. I didn't have those and also did not have time to order them.It took about 2 hours to do all 8 ropes.--Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkoehler42 Posted August 21, 2011 Author Share Posted August 21, 2011 Looking over the steps again, I'm not clear on the extension cord. Did you take one and cut it to get multiple cords? Otherwise, how do you connect the barrel connectors and what appears to be one hot plug and one with only a ground? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Back to the original question:dkoehler42 wrote: Can Lightorama user a rope light controller like this one: http://www.christmaslightsetc.com/p/3-wire-6-Function-Controller-for-LED-Chasing-Rope-Light-Rope-Light-Controllers--20918--904.htm?One option is to connect that rope light controller to a LOR channel, and only turn that channel on 100% or off. If you fade or shimmer that channel it could possibly damage the controller, but there isn't enough documentation on that site to know for sure.In this case, your rope light will chase at the speed you set. You won't have any additional control.Another option is to figure out how the "chasing rope light" is wired. For instance, what voltage does it use? How many segments are there? Again, there is no useful documentation on that web site you posted, although perhaps there is an owner's manual that comes with the rope light. If there is no documentation, then the best way to figure out how it works is by taking the chasing controller apart and see how it's wired.If it's wired the way I suspect it may be, then you can control it with a LOR controller, 4 diodes, and a 3-pin connector. It would require 4 channels and you would have the ability to chase in both directions at any speed, as well as turn all the lights on at once, or fade in any combination. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khawes Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 dkoehler42 wrote:Looking over the steps again, I'm not clear on the extension cord. Did you take one and cut it to get multiple cords? Otherwise, how do you connect the barrel connectors and what appears to be one hot plug and one with only a ground?Yes I hacked 1 50' 3 prong cord into 6 foot lengths (one for each of the 8 ropes that make up the tree).As for the plugs/barrel connectors One got the neutral and the hot that controlled the green, and the other got the hot that controlled the red. Since neutral is shared both on the rope light and in the controller I did not bother to separate it out as a 4th wire.No wire actually connected to the Ground prog on either plug, I used the 3 prog barrel connectors to be sure I could not plug them in wrong and thus fry the controller or myself.Plug 1: HOT (G), Neutral (W), Ground (none)Plug 2: HOT (, Neutral (none), Ground (none)Green controls green lights B (black) controls the Red lights.Oh, I checked this weekend and neutral was the center wire in my rope light (your mileage may vary). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 khawes wrote: I used the 3 prog barrel connectors to be sure I could not plug them in wrong and thus fry the controller or myself.It's not very likely, but it's still possible to fry yourself with this method. If the Blue string is on (for example, it's in the middle of a sequence), and you unplug Plug 1 and touch either pin, then you will feel it. In this case, voltage will be applied through Plug 2, through the Blue string, and out the neutral pin of Plug 1. It will also go through the Green string and out the hot pin of Plug 1.That's why I use multi-pin Molex connectors for all my wiring harnesses, including a 9-pin connector for two 8-channel elements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khawes Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Steven wrote:khawes wrote: I used the 3 prog barrel connectors to be sure I could not plug them in wrong and thus fry the controller or myself.It's not very likely, but it's still possible to fry yourself with this method. If the Blue string is on (for example, it's in the middle of a sequence), and you unplug Plug 1 and touch either pin, then you will feel it. In this case, voltage will be applied through Plug 2, through the Blue string, and out the neutral pin of Plug 1. It will also go through the Green string and out the hot pin of Plug 1.That's why I use multi-pin Molex connectors for all my wiring harnesses, including a 9-pin connector for two 8-channel elements.Note to self, a) no touchie plug while power is on, invite the pharaoh over for lunch and some help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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