amperage questions

[Guest guest]

This has probably been talked about a hundred times over, but I am a newbie to this and am trying to plan for next year. My question is multi-part light-o-rama question. First off, I am semi sure of what the amperage ratings imply. for instance the LOR1602W can handle 30 amps total which means 15 amps per "side" of 8 channels each. That means that to have all the lights on at the same time (even for a "all fade" situation) I can only put around 5 strings of minis on each channel (.34 amps per string times 5 strings = 1.7 amps per channel times 8 channels = 13.6 amps). What I want to do is have the same "show" in three seperate areas of my yard. I have twelve bushes in these seperate areas of my yard and I want them to all do the same thing (they are far enough away from each other to not look bad, but close enough for a 12 gauge extension cord). The other option (the one I am not quite sure of) is buying an MCPD and four MC-TB04HF. Am I correct in saying that that would give me around 20 amps per two channels? That would allow me to put 29 strings of minis per channel. Could someone please help me understand this a little more. If I am correct, then I would be spending around $400 using the MC-TB04HF as opposed to using the LOR1602W and spending $900. Trust me, I have no problem buying whatever I need to do this, but we all know that if I can spend less then half, I can probably get twice as much and do even more with it.

[Guest guest]

Hi,

Your calculations are correct. The high power triac card would be helpfull in your case. The MCP is not currently in production and is slated for replacement later this year. You will have the same options as you described and it will give you more power per $ than other options.

Although most folks are concerned with the cost per channel there are times such as this were the cost per amp is more important.

[Guest guest]

Hi am new to LOR i just wanna make sure im on the right track im gonna get a LOR1602W which has 30 Amp capacity 15 on each side right?

so my below stats i should be way under.. each mini tree is gonna get its own channel and the icicle lights are gonna get 1 channel i should be save right?

Thanks for any help

Icicle lights
11 light sets * 150 = 1650 lights

total Icicle light amps 5.61


15 mini tree's * 135 each mini-lights = 2025 lights

total tree's amps 6.8


total amps 12.41


i wanna be able to have everything come on at once with out going over its limit

[Guest guest]

warcraft wrote:

Hi am new to LOR i just wanna make sure im on the right track im gonna get a LOR1602W which has 30 Amp capacity 15 on each side right?

The list you presented will be no problem for the LOR1602W.

[Guest guest]

warcraft wrote:

Hi am new to LOR i just wanna make sure im on the right track im gonna get a LOR1602W which has 30 Amp capacity 15 on each side right?

The list you presented will be no problem for the LOR1602W.

[Guest guest]

Figured this was the right thread for the question. I noticed that the LOR1602W is rated to 30 Amps (15 Per side), but if you just buy the board, it's rated to 40 Amps (20 Per side). Why the difference, and what's really usable?

[Guest guest]

SVO4Turbo wrote:

Figured this was the right thread for the question. I noticed that the LOR1602W is rated to 30 Amps (15 Per side), but if you just buy the board, it's rated to 40 Amps (20 Per side). Why the difference, and what's really usable?

You can use the full rating.... The LOR1602W is rated at 15 amps per side only because it has 2 15 amp ( 14awg ) power cords and plugs feeding power to the card. So you can use 30 amps continuous with the LOR1602W and if you feed enough power to a CTB16DWHS you can run it at 40 amps continuous...

To go to 20 amps you have to use a special plug ( one vertical plug / one horizontal plug plus ground ) and many people do not have 20 amps receptacles available to accept such a plug.

[Guest guest]

Thanks Dan. That's helpful. So just to clarify, since I'm running dedicated circuits off my breaker box, specifically for these controllers, I can install 20 amp breakers for these circuits. Then, I simply need to ensure that I am installing the proper receptacles, and replace the power plugs on the LOR1602W with 20 amp rated (12awg) cable with the proper ends as you mentioned.

That's good to know. A good portion of my display will be C9's, so I need all the power I can get.

I noticed a fuse on each side of the board. Is that a 20 amp ceramic slow blow fuse?

Thanks

[Guest guest]

SVO4Turbo wrote:

I noticed a fuse on each side of the board. Is that a 20 amp ceramic slow blow fuse?

The default is 15amp ceramic fast acting fuses. Given that you are planning to replace the cords to go up to 20amp, you will need to replace them with 20amp ceramic fast acting fuses.

[Guest guest]

thanks dan

[Guest guest]

Don wrote:

SVO4Turbo wrote:

I noticed a fuse on each side of the board. Is that a 20 amp ceramic slow blow fuse?

The default is 15amp ceramic fast acting fuses. Given that you are planning to replace the cords to go up to 20amp, you will need to replace them with 20amp ceramic fast acting fuses.

Good to know.

Thanks!

[Guest guest]

Since this thread is about amps, I have two more for you... I use 6 strands of C9's in my display. It's my understanding that a strand of 25 C9's are 1.46 amps. Correct? Please confirm.

If on a particular strand, you only screw in 12 bulbs (or half of the strand) and leave the other half empty because you run out of room, does that mean you are only using half the amps (1.46/2=.73) and should only count it as such when trying to figure out capacity for a channel?

The reason I ask is because I want all 6 C9 strands on one channel and 6*1.46=8.76...a little too rich for one channel. :{

[Guest guest]

Yes - if only half the bulbs are in, you're only using half the amps.

[Guest guest]

I am planning to get LOR800W (8 channels) from LOR. As I was reading the questions above, it made me wonder how many amps can you have on at one time?

THANKS

JOE

[Guest guest]

jpcrew109 wrote:

I am planning to get LOR800W (8 channels) from LOR. As I was reading the questions above, it made me wonder how many amps can you have on at one time?

The LOR800W can handle 15 amps total load.

[Guest guest]

And thats on all at once correct?(just do not want to overload it)

THANKS

JOE

[Guest guest]

jpcrew109 wrote:

And thats on all at once correct?

Yes.... For example: (AND I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS but will use the example to help clairfy things)

The LOR800W can handle 8 amps per channel... So you could put 7 amps of mini lights (about 2000) on each channel, that is within specs. BUT if you turned on three channels at once you would be drawing 21 amps so a fuse or circuit breaker would pop. You could only have two channels (14 amps) on at a time.

[Guest guest]

Is this correct?

A strand of 25 C9's are 1.46 amps.

Strand of 100 mini's are .34 amps.

Strand of 150 mini's are .51 amps.

Thanks Everyone!:]

[Guest guest]

mcnamara9 wrote:

Is this correct?
A strand of 25 C9's are 1.46 amps.
Strand of 100 mini's are .34 amps.
Strand of 150 mini's are .51 amps.

That would be a very good rule of thumb to go by. As always, you should check the label of the strand in question.

[Guest guest]

Even better, I just spend 30 bucks on a product called "Kill A Watt". It will give you real time Watt/Amperage draw on a single outlet. I plan to use it for load balancing on the LOR products. In other words, I have channel 1 doing "X" light strings, I plan to plug that into my "Kill A Watt" meter, and plug into the wall. Pressing the "AMP" button will tell me exactly how many amps that circuit is drawing. Write that down. Then move to your next channel and do the same. Add them up, and you'll see how you may need to move channels, ect to load balance and get the most out of your controllers.....

If you're interested, just type in "Kill A Watt" on Ebay.