tjc5880 Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I just purchased my first LOR. I had a cheap store brand with 4 channels before. Regarding wiring for the lights. Does anyone recommend anything special for the power cords. So there are not so many cords and plugs? I was thinking about rewiring to have a thinner extension cord? Is this a crazy idea and to much work? Or does everyone just buy tons of extension cords? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Maue Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Or does everyone just buy tons of extension cords?Pretty much everyone goes this route. Search this forum for "SPT1" or "SPT2" and you'll find lots of threads that discuss making your own cords.Welcome to the madness, er, addiction, I mean, um, hobby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orville Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 I was thinking about rewiring to have a thinner extension cord? Is this a crazy idea and to much work?You don't want to make the cords thinner, if the length is too long, it probably won't be able to handle the current or amperage, depending on what you will have connected to it. Could actually cause and/or start a fire by the cord getting to hot because the wire isn't thick enough to handle the load{s} on it.Most of us either make our own out of SPT1 or SPT2 and vampire plugs or we buy as many premade ones as we can afford to get! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Czerwinski Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 SKU270 SPT-1 18AWG Wire 1000 feet (10 Amps, Green) $132.95 ChristmasLightShow.ComPhone: Phone: (615)-301-8635URL:: www.Christmaslightshow.comI just bought 2000ft of the wire and about 100 vampire plugs and am so pleased with using these things for the first time. Originally I was buying some $15/extension cable at Home Depot, but that can add up, and the cords are never the right length. But I made 30 extension cords yesterday, at a fraction of the cost, with everything at a perfect length, and it was quite easy. I took a multimeter and checked every plug for connection or even shorting, and I am so extremely happy to say that it all was perfect to 100%!!! Those little slide connectors do the trick!!With all of the other connectors they have available (C9 for instance) I may never buy another extension cord again. (except for the main feed from my house to the LOR controllers)I got this advice from you all here. THANK YOU ALL FOR SUCH A GREAT COMMUNITY!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EARLE W. TALLEY Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 Wow!!! someone actually listened to what we had to say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zman Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 (edited) SKU270 SPT-1 18AWG Wire 1000 feet (10 Amps, Green) $132.95 ChristmasLightShow.ComPhone: Phone: (615)-301-8635URL:: www.Christmaslightshow.comI just bought 2000ft of the wire and about 100 vampire plugs and am so pleased with using these things for the first time. Originally I was buying some $15/extension cable at Home Depot, but that can add up, and the cords are never the right length. But I made 30 extension cords yesterday, at a fraction of the cost, with everything at a perfect length, and it was quite easy. I took a multimeter and checked every plug for connection or even shorting, and I am so extremely happy to say that it all was perfect to 100%!!! Those little slide connectors do the trick!!With all of the other connectors they have available (C9 for instance) I may never buy another extension cord again. (except for the main feed from my house to the LOR controllers)I got this advice from you all here. THANK YOU ALL FOR SUCH A GREAT COMMUNITY!!!!Earl, evey once in a while.....................Note: while you can make cords pretty easy and inexpensively, I would not go to the extent that they are at a fracion of the cost. Yes on the longer cords that may be the case, 25' and above. The shorter lengths, 6'-15' you can still find great bargains on the lamp cords which will rival what you can make them for.The real savings is in storage. It takes less to store SPT(X) cords than it does regular cords. Weight and space are key. My back can attest to that.The other note. I would still recommend buying good quality 14/3 cords for your power grid. Don't use SPT(X) for this. Edited October 8, 2012 by zman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubado Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 Usually the best place to buy 6-15' cords is Menards. They should have a sale or rebate program soon. I also use these cords for my dongles off the controller, saves money and bulk. Next year's expansion will require me to buy some SPT wire and plugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 You'll also see another school of thought here, and that is to mount your controllers close to the elements being controlled. That way you'll only need one (albeit thicker) extension cord per controller. Almost everyone with a mega tree does this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Czerwinski Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 You'll also see another school of thought here, and that is to mount your controllers close to the elements being controlled. That way you'll only need one (albeit thicker) extension cord per controller. Almost everyone with a mega tree does this.I'm a newbie for outdoors, so I'm freaking out over leaving controllers outside. For now I'll trade wire over controller exposure. Plus, I'm in a neighborhood that has overlapping HOAs with dozens of maintenance crews walking through my display...I might end up having to use an industrial lockbox in the future for mega-tree like elements. Thanks for the thoughts!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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