spiral tree mystery?

[PeKu 2]

ok so i finally had the time to run my 16 strands of C6 lights on my tree...its ten feet tall with 16 lines of 1/6 cable securing it . I started at the top an ran my first strand around until i got the desired look. after that i simply moved to the next one using my eye and keeping it looking consistant. overall the first six went great but slowly i found myself ending with longer and longer lengths left at the bottom?? ok so i realize the tree starts to colapse in a bit in the middle and my spacing may be a little off but by the 14th 15th and 16th sttring i was at almost 2 feet longer. Overall the tree looks great lit up but any idea where i went wrong? is it possible that the lights are that different from box to box? Im not taking it down at this point but it does have me wondering.

The first test https://vimeo.com/54169307

need to adjust a bit of the spacing still but overall im happy with the first attempt

[testraub 8]

Found that measusing each string DO'ES help. I took one string and using a special tool I made, I could make each string dang close to the other in length. HELPED A BUNCH! Also keep the stringers from top to bottom as tight as possible.

Tom Straub

[PeKu 2]

Found that measusing each string DO'ES help. I took one string and using a special tool I made, I could make each string dang close to the other in length. HELPED A BUNCH! Also keep the stringers from top to bottom as tight as possible.

Tom Straub

Tom what do you mean "make" each string the same length? i bought 16 boxes of the identical lights. pulled them all as long as i could before stringing them. wouldnt or should i say shouldnt they be roughly the same size from the manufacturer/

Edited November 24, 2012 by PeKu

[Ron Boyd 268]

I know the feeling. I wrapped my Spiral 5 times before giving up, doubling the strings and wrapping 1.5 times. Everybody who's seen it loves it but I'm disappointed. I may try to re-wrap it next weekend.

PS your spiral looks quite nice.

Edited November 24, 2012 by Ron Boyd

[PeKu 2]

I know the feeling. I wrapped my Spiral 5 times before giving up, doubling the strings and wrapping 1.5 times. Everybody who's seen it loves it but I'm disappointed. I may try to re-wrap it next weekend.

PS your spiral looks quite nice.

Thanks Ron.

a few lights were off in the video( i put strands upside down Hahahah ill fix it tommorow) and i need to space them better. i originally built the tree based on a 1 1/2 turn but homedepot put these lights on sale and i ended up witha 2 1/4 turn i think it gives a fuller look than i would have got so im happy with that.

[testraub 8]

Thr machines that twist the cables are NOT created equally I have found. One is usually longer or shorter. Maybe not by much, but with that said, I found strings anywhere from a couple inches to dang near a foot longer or shorter then the main one I used for measuring. To shorten I twisted in the same direction as the wrap done by the machines or opposite to lengthen.

Tom Straub

[Mark Showalter 0]

Another item to look at would be your support lines the lights are wrapping around. As you add more weight (light strings) the support lines can sag toward the middle. That would make a smaller distance for subsequent light strings to travel as the wrap around the tree. This is my third year with a 20 foot tall Weber tree and the 16 wire support lines each go to a steak in the ground and are tightened with turnbuckles.

[75redman 150]

Have someone help and pull the light strings tight. A lot of them stretch out when you put them up or after the sun warms them up. This has hepled me out.

[dknahoolewa 20]

Thr machines that twist the cables are NOT created equally I have found. One is usually longer or shorter. Maybe not by much, but with that said, I found strings anywhere from a couple inches to dang near a foot longer or shorter then the main one I used for measuring. To shorten I twisted in the same direction as the wrap done by the machines or opposite to lengthen.

Tom Straub

Whats worst is....I don't think the chinese can count. I found about 4 strings out of 25 that only had 47 bulbs on a 50ct string. (box store LEDs)

[Stingray 0]

Not only are they different lengths I found the sockets to be different diameters. When making wooden snow flakes I measured two or three sockets and picked a bit .005 larger anticipating paint build up. After drilling 400 holes my wife and daughter quickly found some sockets didn't fit in or were loose. I re-measured sockets on different strands and found drastic variations within a strand. The Chinese make stuff cheap but not real consistant.

Edited November 27, 2012 by Stingray

[Guest wbottomley]

I made a spiral tree last year. During the testing phase, it began spinning so fast that it screwed itself in the ground. I cut my losses and put up standard mega-trees. YMMV, do plenty of testing before showing off.

[PeKu 2]

I made a spiral tree last year. During the testing phase, it began spinning so fast that it screwed itself in the ground. I cut my losses and put up standard mega-trees. YMMV, do plenty of testing before showing off.

cmon mega and spiral trees are like doing a presentation...only you know when you made a mistake lol trees not perfect but at night when the lights are on it looks preety cool and thats good enough for me ( well ok its not because like most on here im mildly OCD hahahaha)

[Guest wbottomley]

cmon mega and spiral trees are like doing a presentation...only you know when you made a mistake lol trees not perfect but at night when the lights are on it looks preety cool and thats good enough for me ( well ok its not because like most on here im mildly OCD hahahaha)

Really? You might want to put that sarcasm hat on.

[PeKu 2]

Really? You might want to put that sarcasm hat on.

i got your your sarcasm and it even made me chuckle...i was just having a little fun back.

:lol: :lol:

[TGabriel 38]

Hey just think reverse the power leds and I bet the baby will spiral right out ot the ground

[Guest wbottomley]

Either way, it's screwed.

[Max-Paul 282]

How long is the gestation for a spiral tree?

[Guest wbottomley]

Light Years.

Edited November 28, 2012 by wbottomley

[mjbadb 4]

Whats worst is....I don't think the chinese can count. I found about 4 strings out of 25 that only had 47 bulbs on a 50ct string. (box store LEDs)

Ditto!!

[PeKu 2]

well it gets worse lol... the ones that werent working... it turns out they all failed in the centre where they appear to have spliced two shorter strands together in each case a bulb failed, but whats crazy is the two bulb at the splice are different and they dont supply a spare. talked with the manager and she agreed to let me return them all after the season for a full refund and even wrote it on my reciept.

[Darrell 1]

I also have a 16 strand spiral tree. To get the spacing even, before I put up the cables I put a zip tie every 4 1/2" down half of the cables. I got the spacing from the spiral tree calculator on one of the other posts here. I also had to put a little hot glue on the zip ties to keep them from just sliding up and down the wire. Once the cables are up, you use the zip ties to keep each light string coming down with even spacing. I used the small bull dog clips from Staples to clip the light strings to the wire supports vs more zip ties. The clips are quicker to put up and take down, plus they let you easily adjust any light strings to need to adjust to the spacing. This is the 2nd year for this tree and putting it this time was significantly faster and easier.