Looking into Light O Rama.. How durable are the enclosures?

[fearthisinc]

We are currently in the process of building a home and I always loved decorating for the holidays.. I always wanted to go the route of a full on light show but due to our living arrangements I decided to hold off until I had my own house.. Anyway.. I was looking at the Pro Series kit they have and was wondering how durable the enclosures are and if they would be ok to mount to the exterior of the home year round.. Looking around online it looks like many do temporary mounting or mount them under different enclosures to keep them out of the elements. I was actually thinking of having them mounted right along the side of the house.. Any input would be appreciated..

[PaulXmas]

I had 3 mounted on the south side of the house for 2 years.

I moved 2 to save on extension card.

The boxes are similar to the ones used by the telephone company.

The only issue I have heard of is bugs and other creatures getting inside.

[George Simmons]

I've had seven of my controllers mounted permanently outside - either southern or eastern exposure, full sun, full rain - since 2008 and/or 2009.  Except for the afore-mentioned bug issue (Asian beetles and a few wasps in my case) there have been no performance-related issues whatsoever.  I have LOR, Keptel, and custom made enclosures.  The store-bought enclosures look fine - the custom-made one starting to show signs of paint fading.

[cgreenfield]

We have 2 Pro Series controllers with the metal Enclosures and they are mounted in the garage year round for 3 reasons, 1- we thought they would last longer inside, 2- It is easier to troubleshoot them inside, 3- We have a stucco house and my dad doesn't want to drill holes in the stucco. we also have the CCF controller mounted in the garage because we use it for Halloween and and the previous reasons. We are however going to mount at least 2 out of the 3 CCB controllers outside because they they don't recommend over 6 feet leader wire (but we are going to probably use 12 feet). The 2 CCB's will be mounted on the back of one of the two wooden columns by the front door. Then the 2 CG-1500 boxes for DMX will also be in the garage. 

 

I know for a fact that some people use sheds from the hardware store mount there LOR controllers in. I will try and find a picture of the shed i am talking about.

 

Srry for ranting on for so long,

   -Chris-

 

Edit: Found it:

Picture: http://forums.lightorama.com/uploads/imported/222776=12322-IMG_0020.JPG

Source: http://forums.lightorama.com/index.php?/topic/11896-lets-see-those-controller-boxes/?hl=%20controller%20%20housing (Post #26)

Edited June 23, 2014 by cgreenfield

[james campbell]

As others have said the lor enclosures are solid. I put mine in the yard out in the elements . I use the pc plastic models. I leave one out all year. I think the boxes lor uses are also used by certain utlity companies. So even the residential version will hold up well

Edited June 24, 2014 by james campbell

[Jim Hans]

I think the reason you see most people putting them out for the season and not mounting them on the house year round has more to do with putting your controllers closer to the elements they control to cut down on extension cord length than worries about them holding up.

[spoonjr]

This is my first year, but only plan to have one near ground level at this point. 2 will be up under the eaves, so I don't think the weather will be so much of an issue. I will lock the other controller to a tree. We have a person here in town who was apparently making one of his neighbors mad about the flashing and twinkling of lights. He would get up every morning and check his display and on a few occasions found where a lot of his light strands had been cut. I have also heard of controllers getting stolen, hence putting them up high and locking to a tree. I am guessing that leaving the box in the elements wont be to bad as I have watched a ton of videos where the boxes are left in the elements, some have purchased plastic tubs to put theirs in to be a bit safer. I always run a electrical tape around the plug connections to keep the water out.

[Liberty-Laser]

 I always run a electrical tape around the plug connections to keep the water out.

 

Others may disagree, but BAD idea.  The only time I have had issues is when I tried to keep the water out or didn't have them above the water flow.  They are built for outside, and to drain. Use your GFCIs, keep the plugs off the ground & you should have no problems.  I have had near blinding rain and the show never misses a beat.

Edited October 3, 2014 by Liberty-Laser

[kiplorenzo]

I double protect all of my controllers... Meaning... the LOR controller ships in its case, then i go to either Walmart or the Container store, Purchase a plastic heavy duty tote (to size) and then mount the controller in the plastic tote. We get some typhoon type weather here in Colorado and the controllers are out year round.

 

As far as bugs and critters, I use a sheet of Bounce in each controller. for some reason the critters do not like the smell.. No spiders (which I had a friendly Black widow move into one Controller- The Dyson ate her up!)

and no other critters.