LOR / singing faces

[rbauer007]

well maybe somebody might have a answer for this  ?   I am using 32 channels for my coro singing faces and that leaves me only 16 channels for house and yard does any one have a  y cord plugin switch kinda like what they use in houses for generator backup so i could shut off and devert power from the faces to other decorations  ?

 

thanks randy

[Vince4xmas]

I assume you want to "cheat" by switching control from one output to another using the same channel. You could gang some relays together and fire the coils on relays when you want to switch the inputs.

[thevikester]

another thought, alot of time, the backup singing faces, as I like to call 2-4, you could double up some of those...say 3-4 shares channels so they are only using 16 as opposed to 32

[Mr. P]

another thought, alot of time, the backup singing faces, as I like to call 2-4, you could double up some of those...say 3-4 shares channels so they are only using 16 as opposed to 32

 

I agree, since you are only running 48 channels you can double up and save some channels. If the faces stay on all the time you can run all the face outlines on one channel and that will save you three channels. Most songs have a main singing face and the other three are backup singers, you can sync the three backups together and save about 16 channels. You will probably have to modify the songs a little bit but until you get more channels this way will save about half the channels and still provide a good show.

[RaZZlo]

I did the same thing with my Arches and Mini-Trees.  I did not have enough channels last year to add the mini-trees so I used the same 32 channels from the arches to light the trees.  Worked out pretty nice, just had to do some planning. 

[Box on Rails]

I agree, since you are only running 48 channels you can double up and save some channels. If the faces stay on all the time you can run all the face outlines on one channel and that will save you three channels. Most songs have a main singing face and the other three are backup singers, you can sync the three backups together and save about 16 channels. You will probably have to modify the songs a little bit but until you get more channels this way will save about half the channels and still provide a good show.

 

to add to this if you use one channel for the outline and lower eyes you save 1 channel per tree and if you don't care about whether the eyes blink you can free up 2 channels per tree by having the outline and both eye channels on one channels. and if you did this with all 4 trees making the outline and eyes on all the trees on the same channel you would free up a total of 11 channels. There are lots of ways to free up channels. 

[Bizywk]

Just to clarify for the Newbies:   

 

The possibility of consolidating channels on faces props is most often a real no-brainer and a cost effective way to approach display planning (especially in the early years) due to the small amount of lights involved, but if anyone decides to free up channels by ganging up bigger props, groups of incan light strings, etc on a single channel, its in their best interests to really be aware of how much power is being drawn so they don't risk over-driving the controller circuitry and/or cause a potential fire hazard.    The risk isn't normally high, especially with LED displays, but it is something to think about during the planning phase.  

 

If you have a CTB16PC, you're single channel limitation is:  1amp with no heatsink, 4a with a Low Power heatsink, and 8a with a regular heatsink.       Each bank (Chan 1-8 or 9-16) can handle up to 8a without a heatsink and 15a with a regular heatsink.      http://www1.lightorama.com/PDF/CTB16PCv1.pdf

 

 

If you're not sure how to measure the current draw, you may want to look into one of the consumer level measurement devices available at Walmart, Amazon, big box stores, etc under the trade names EZ-Watt meter, Kill-A-Watt meter, P3 Meter, etc.