how do you weather proof electric plugins

[cliff65Z]

Okay, you guys have told me what kind of wire to use for my Christmas light LOR. I thank you for your input on that.

Now tell me what you do to make the plugins on the ground safe from rain or snow, how do I weather proof them?

[JBullard]

You will probably never be able to weather proof them. Most attempts have resulted in trapping water in the connections.

Just keep them off the ground slightly so they would not be in standing water.

[DownTown]

Cliff -

Just get them up off the ground... use anything you want to raise them up a couple of inches. Weatherproofing is not necessary. It will be difficult to "weather proof" the connections, and even if you do try, the likely result will be that water and dirt will seep in, and then not be able to seep back out because of your weather proofing effort. This will corrode your conductoirs and ruin the plug. You are much better off just keeping the plugs off the ground, and letting any rain that gets in drain right through.

I think you will find that this is the most widely used approach.

D.T.

[G Sawyer]

HI
What i use here in Australia is what they call a weatherproof plugpod. You simply plug your cords together place inside pod and tighten lid up can hang anywhere. Fully weather proof, price here is $5.00 We normaly get them from the local hardware store ,which = i think your Wal-mart.Or go to www.cabac.com,(search - Plugpod) hope this helps

Tom

[-klb-]

With about 1,000 channels, and miles of SPT2 with vampire plugs, the most key thing is keeping connections up off the ground. That is my one and only attempt at waterproofing from the dongle set out.

All the outlets are properly covered with in use covers, and I try to minimize how many connections are between the feed outlets and the controllers..

After keeping the connections off the ground, my next biggest issue is actually some of the outdoor rated tripple tap extension cords. The ones with simple rectangular head are often hollow, will collect water, and eventually dissolve enough copper inside them, that they will trip the GFCI... So I try to avoid those. The cast tripple taps with all 3 outlets in parallel, or facing 3 different ways have been a lot more GFCI friendly.. I also try to keep the female side facing down on all inlet cords.

[Greg Young]

I'm with the majority - keep the cords off the ground, without completely sealing the plugs.

Weather proofing is often water tight, but almost never airtight, so it allows for condensation with drops in outside temperatures. Once you get moisture in a connector, if there is no way for it to drain it off, it will lead to issues.

For some speed controllers (chase type, along with simple sequencers) I will cover the unit with a freezer bag, but leave the bottom open, to allow any trapped moisture to drain out.

Over the years I have seen quite a bit of moisture drain out, which if it had been sealed would have damaged the electronics of the units.

Greg

[testraub]

I got a bunch of these as some of my plug for the mega tree are facing up. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00081J3N6 Not a bad price for 36 in a pack.

Tom Straub

[Guest guest]

testraub wrote:

I got a bunch of these as some of my plug for the mega tree are facing up. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00081J3N6 Not a bad price for 36 in a pack.

Tom Straub

I got those 50 in a pack at my Local Wal-Mart for about the same price. But that was last year, price may be different now.

But I also painted all mine black too. The white plastic is too reflective if near clear incandescent bulbs or if you use them in a Halloween display and have a black light near them, they stand out worse than a sore thumb! So I painted mine all black, worked out very well as the paint actually made them a bit thicker on the prongs that seat into the female outlet. So I got an extremely snug fit and even a couple that ended up under water last year in a rain puddle were never affected, nor did any water get into the socket. I use them on ALL my open female plugs at the end of a light string as well as in the female pass through on the back of the male plugs.

Definitely work very well and in my opinion well worth the investment. Keeps my GFCI from tripping! Before I started using them, I had constant GFCI trips and issues whenever it rained or the sprinklers came on, even with the plugs elevated and usually pointing down I had problems with the GFCI tripping. Installed these and never had another problem, but I still elevate the plugs to keep them out of water/flood zones.

[PaulXmas]

Keep them off the ground.

Use GFIs !!!!

Never had any issues with water because it is minus fricken cold in the winter here!

[Steven]

When deciding how to weatherproof your display, consider these facts:

• Water that provides a conducting path between the hot and neutral is not a problem. The problem is a conducting path between hot and ground. You could stick the end of your extension cord in a plastic bucket of salt water, and as long as the sides of the bucket remain dry, and nobody sticks his hand in the bucket, nothing bad will happen.
• Clean water does not conduct electricity very well. Rain water is usually pretty clean. Problems happen when the socket is on the ground, and the dirty water from the ground soaks into it. This also means that sometimes your GFCI will trip in the first rain, but after the rain water washes the dirt off, it won't trip again.
• Water (clean and dirty) will seep into cracks so small you can't see them. It's a losing battle to attempt to seal everything.
  

[Greentree38]

Build a box! Put the LOR controller (the actual box) inside a box off of the ground..... In Australia you can get these joiner plastic things that clip over the joining point of extension cords from basically anywhere!