What size rope light for a talking face

[JoeKinne]

We are looking at doing a talking face from WireFrame Delights this year and I can't decide what size of Rope light to use. We are planning on using orange incandescent, my first thought is to use 3/8 rope (It's easier to bend), but the I question whether it will be bright enough, the face will be about 30' up and 50' back from the street. Anybody have any words of wisdom or comments?

[jbzeus]

I used 3/8 and it worked well. 1/2" is a bit harder to turn a tight radius. My face is 8' x 8'.

I also painted my rope light orange. Bought clear then found a orange I liked and painted it. Kinda crazy but all the rope light I could find that said "orange" was really more of an amber color.

Light it up before you try to bend it. Easier to bend when it is warm from being lit.

Jeff

[DLTSLC]

How well does the 3/8" hold up? I've had some problems with the 1/2" without stressing it much. Hopefully I didn't get a bad batch

[Jerry]

Hi all, my orange ones are 3/8", The white one is 1/2", purple grave stones are 1/2". Actually I had more problems with the 1/2" (both colors) at very gradual bends. Could have just been a poor batch of both,.

Jerry


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[DLTSLC]

Hey Jerry,

Curious how long you've had them running and did you get them through birddog, actionlighting, etc.?

Thanks

[DougP]

I use the 3/8 inch as much as possible and it is very bright and can be seen very well.

[JoeKinne]

Any other suggestions on where to get the Incan rope lights?

[jbzeus]

Last year was the first year I used the ropelight so I don't have much to report for longevity. No problems so far though.

I bought mine at Action Lighting.

[Jerry]

DLTSLC wrote:

Hey Jerry,

Curious how long you've had them running and did you get them through birddog, actionlighting, etc.?

Thanks

Built them myself, new last year. I had some really strange things happen with the rope lights. They were all brand new. Had a section of the white go out ,took it down, bent it the other direction (about a 24" circle) and it worked . Bent it back and it quit so it went in the trash . Same deal with a section of the purple. Even more strange, the are two different brands !

Jerry


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[Jerry]

JoeKinne wrote:

Any other suggestions on where to get the Incan rope lights?

Hi Joe, I'm going to try www.actionlighting.com for my next project. They have the best price that I've found. If you call them they will send you an 18" sample,with power cord, for well under $10, shipping and all.