Wire Management

[Frybread]

I have read several post that talk about keeping the plugs and wiring dry. I have dealt with wiring in computer networks for years and know it can be a real challange to manage all the wires so that you can get to the one you need without ruining the entire mess. Or making the whole thing look like a rats nest.

Living in a "Northern" Climate, the weather here is all over the board. I am thinking about creating some way to keep my wiring off the ground. I visited a fellow LOR nut's (121 Channels, over 100,000 light) setup the other day and he has T-posts throught his display and wire ties his runs a foot or so off the ground to keep them up.

I was thinking of something like 1/2 PVC 2' long sharpened on one end, driven into the ground with a T on the top and one other short piece sticking out to hold the wire up.

How do you all do this?

Is it an issue?

[Scott T]

My wires are all over the ground and I don't tried to keep the water out. As soon as you do, the water will get in and then be trapped. I have never had a problem, but I also wont walk in to my display area while the show is running.

[Gary Blair]

You don't have to keep the wires off the grould but if you can keep the plugs up and out of the moisture that will help.

[Guest Don Gillespie]

Living up North I try to keep my plugs up off the ground but that doesn't neccasarily happen all the time, in all the years I have had a display I have never had a problem ( knock on wood)

[R Weiland]

Frybread; I am about 20 miles from downtown Seattle, and my cables are flaked on the ground and my only thing I do is to keep the connections out of the puddles. Never had a problem. IMO any attempt to keep moisture out will also trap any that does get in and it will.

[jim6918]

The only time I had a problem with plugs and water was last year just before start up. It was a drought year and I had cleaned up the yard, and decided to run the sprinkler system to get some water on the lawn to help for the following 45 days or so. The sprinkler must have sprayed directly on a bunch of plugs to one of my live trees. It immediatly popped my GFCI. I let things dry out a day and everything was fine. Other than that I have had plugs laying on the ground. burined in snow and never had a single trip. Pretty sure if you search the posts here, the general wisdom is to try to keep plugs dry if you canm but not to do anything extraordinary to waterproof as that can often make things worse in the long run.