bktalon Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 Just a word of caution to anyone using these products, this has not been an isolated incident, in fact, it has now happened 5 times to us, most recently this morning, I was working on a sequence, and saw smoke outside my window. The cord powering the rope light heats up and begins to melt, then the cord catches fire, and can start a big fire in a matter of seconds. Thankfully we have been able to catch it before any damage has been done to anything except the cord. I purchased this rope light from ebay, and it is indoor/outdoor lighting, and has happened with both 3/8 and 1/2 inch rope light Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 You might want to tell us what stuff you're running, and also take a good look at what you have wired. I don't remember anyone else mentioning light rope as a fire safety problem and lots of people use it, and second, is LED light rope should not be drawing enough current to get the power cord even warm - let alone hot enough to catch fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-Paul Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 (edited) True Jim, but if water gets into the rope and bridges over between the two wire. Well things can start to heat up. Notice how these coffee makers that use the little cups of coffee, how they heat up the water? Surely is not with a heating element. Run power straight through the water. Lots of heat and fair amount of current. I suppose the OP should be using a fuse inline with the plug. Edited December 1, 2014 by Max-Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebuechner Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 you need to watch the gauge of wire and length that you use to supply those lights. put a watt meter on there and check you might be surprised on how much current your drawing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mega Arch Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 Just a word of caution to anyone using these products, this has not been an isolated incident, in fact, it has now happened 5 times to us, most recently this morning, I was working on a sequence, and saw smoke outside my window. The cord powering the rope light heats up and begins to melt, then the cord catches fire, and can start a big fire in a matter of seconds. Thankfully we have been able to catch it before any damage has been done to anything except the cord. I purchased this rope light from ebay, and it is indoor/outdoor lighting, and has happened with both 3/8 and 1/2 inch rope light5 times? Return them to vendor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iresq Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 Doesn't need to be water. Remember the CDI led strings with bad rectifiers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bktalon Posted December 2, 2014 Author Share Posted December 2, 2014 the rope light, is using the standard power cords sent with them, and none have used more the 15 feet of extension cord leading to them, they are only in their 2nd year of use, and the longest length has been about 15 feet . the cord starts to melt about 6 inches below the connection to the rope, and I have seen sparking in the rope itself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 If this is genuine, you need to do three things: 1. Stop using that product immediately. 2. Contact the vendor and mention your attorney's name. 3. As previously requested, share what specific product you're referencing so someone else here might save their house from burning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonsimp911 Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 (edited) Planning on purchasing some rope lighting off eBay shortly, so I'd be interested in knowing what product has been giving you so much trouble so that I can avoid it.And not that it matters Max-Paul, but Keurig coffee makers most certainly use a heating element and do not conduct electricity through the water itself LOL - I just replaced the heating element in my Keurig last weekend. Edited January 29, 2015 by jonsimp911 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sax Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 I use led rope light from here:http://www.christmas-leds.com/productinfo_v3.aspx?productid=LED-38-150FT-RP-METLed. Cuttable every 20". 3 years old now. No fire yet.I do make my own cables. So no rectifiers are used just straight 120 into the rope. I do use the supplied cables for testing when I receive the rope light. I highly recommend this rope light over any from eBay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khawes Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Just a word of caution to anyone using these products, this has not been an isolated incident, in fact, it has now happened 5 times to us, most recently this morning, I was working on a sequence, and saw smoke outside my window. The cord powering the rope light heats up and begins to melt, then the cord catches fire, and can start a big fire in a matter of seconds. Thankfully we have been able to catch it before any damage has been done to anything except the cord. I purchased this rope light from ebay, and it is indoor/outdoor lighting, and has happened with both 3/8 and 1/2 inch rope lightOnly took one time for me to stop using the red led ropes from Phillips I got at target in an after christmas sale a 4 years ago. on their 2nd season, I applied power and ... smoke & flame for 10 seconds. Took the others down and replaced them with strings of m6 from CDI and haven't worried about it since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonsimp911 Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Sounds like I'll be placing another order with CDI. Thanks for the heads up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-Paul Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 I had problems with the last year that CDI offered rope lights. The problem I had was that the pins from the power cord and the actual spacing of the leads in the rope were of a different spacing. One one occasion the power pins ended up angling towards each other and touched. This blew the rectifier. I agree with the earlier comment (sorry forgot who made it). Got to do a really good job of sealing the ends so that water does not enter the rope. Dirty water and high voltage (120VDC or AC) will heat up the moisture and can cause the plastic to melt and allow more current to flow that gets hotter and so on till something catches on fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainyoregonchristmas Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Pikadroo had some "Cuttable" rope light, I believe two years ago, that was literally exploding when power was applied. The details are a little muddled in my mind since a lot of time has passed, but I remember him saying that he had to stop using it because it kept exploding on him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LORisAwesome Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Wow, does he have any left? We could use it for the fourth of July. lol Jerry 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 (edited) I'm still waiting to find out what brand/source the OP was using. That would certainly be, at the very least, friendly - and perhaps even life saving - information to provide. I don't understand someone having those kinds of issues and not broadcasting loud and long what product they used. Makes me question the legitimacy of the OP's original post ... Edited January 31, 2015 by George Simmons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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