Arches too bright

[FarrOut]

Perhaps it's a newby thing, but all the time I was planning displays and various objects I was worried that they wouldn't be bright enough.  

I made my arch segments with 100 bulbs wrapped around a 17" piece of tubing.  Seven segments per arch, 6 arches.  42 segments, 4200 lamps.  

So I fired off the display last night and lit up the neighborhood.  Much of the rest of the display is LED, but those arches just about burned out my eyes.

I'm going to start going through the sequences and reduce the max brightness to about 60 percent of max.

Anyone else run into this?

[Surfing4Dough]

Too bright?!?  Sounds like the rest of your display is too dim!

[Santas Helper]

Too bright?!?  Sounds like the rest of your display is too dim!

 

+1

[LORisAwesome]

You could try setting the max intensity setting on your controller that runs the arches.

 

It might cause a problem if there are other display elements on the controller other than the arches...

 

Jerry

[FarrOut]

Oh, I like that, where do I set that?

[George Simmons]

You could always just pull a bulb from each of those strings.  That would reduce the brightness by almost 50% and also give you a quick field repair option if one of the halved strings were to go dark one evening.

[Jim Hans]

I don't know if your arches are LED or not but my display is 100% LED and when I sequence I never go higher than 75% for my lights or I end up blinding the people that watch... which is bad for repeat business!

[Santas Helper]

I'm 100% brightness on all my LEDs.

[LORisAwesome]

Oh, I like that, where do I set that?

You can set the max intensity of a controller in the Hardware utility.  Once this is done, none of the channels on that controller will exceed the intensity you have set.

 

Jerry

[Orville]

From the OPs original description, the arches would be incandescent. 

 

I agree with the OP, incans ARE usually brighter than most LED's.   So when I used my coro baby sidewalk arches in my display, not this year, I always ran them at 40% or 50% intensity within the sequences, occasionally, depending on the song, I may have ramped {faded} them from 100% to 0%, but that was a quick fade down, so it wouldn't burn out your retina's! LOL {not that it would really do that, well maybe, if you put your eyes right on the bulbs!}

[FarrOut]

Thanks, I set the level in the hardware utility to 60%.  Fortunately all 14 channels were on one controller and there is only one other thing on it, and it's not a big deal.

[MikeERWNC]

You would want to dim the lights?

I want my LED's brighter. I called some friends in Albuquerque and they still can't see my house.

I guess I need 47,000 lights.

 

 

I only set the intensity on my station sign.

[FarrOut]

The arches are incans.  Most of the rest of the display is LED.  

[Surfing4Dough]

From the OPs original description, the arches would be incandescent. 

 

 Based on what in his original description?

 

 

 

I agree with the OP, incans ARE usually brighter than most LED's.  

 

Not sure where you are buying your LEDs, but I definitely haven't witnessed that with mine (from HLE).    I suspect that the only reason he is noticing them being quite so bright is because the bulbs are so concentrated on an arch segment.  However, many have made their arches with 100ct incandescent strings over the years without problems.

[Jeff Messer]

You would want to dim the lights?

I want my LED's brighter. I called some friends in Albuquerque and they still can't see my house.

I guess I need 47,000 lights.

 

 

I only set the intensity on my station sign.

I have 47000 on one mega tree and it does not out shine the led spiral tree I have beside it. LOL

Jeff

You would want to dim the lights?

I want my LED's brighter. I called some friends in Albuquerque and they still can't see my house.

I guess I need 47,000 lights.

 

 

I only set the intensity on my station sign.

[Orville]

 Based on what in his original description?

 

 

Copied and pasted from OP's original message:

 

"Perhaps it's a newby thing, but all the time I was planning displays and various objects I was worried that they wouldn't be bright enough.  

I made my arch segments with 100 bulbs wrapped around a 17" piece of tubing.  Seven segments per arch, 6 arches.  42 segments, 4200 lamps.  

So I fired off the display last night and lit up the neighborhood.  Much of the rest of the display is LED, but those arches just about burned out my eyes.

I'm going to start going through the sequences and reduce the max brightness to about 60 percent of max.

Anyone else run into this?"

 

I got it from the text I Bolded, Italicized and underline in the OP's original comments in the above quote, and from the OP's use of the word "bulbs", most folks will state LED, not bulbs, therefore, my conclusion is, and would be,  incandescent. 

 

Of which the OP did confirm it in another message.   

 

If I use, or see "bulbs" in a message, that too me says incandescent, not LED.    As an LED is not a bulb, they are two completely different things.

 

And that's how I based my conclusion that the OP's arches were made with 100 ct. incandescent bulbs.

 

Remember, YOU asked.