Power- to be or not to be

[SFC SKI]

Who leaves all controllers on all month? Ribbons too? Or do you unplug setup every night? What do you recommend?

[Mega Arch]

I don't use ribbons yet, so no opinion there.

For my setup, I ran 9 circuits just for controllers and future controllers. All 9 tie back to a show load center specifically designated just for lights. I have 1 time clock that controls everything. So I shut them all down after every show.

[JeffF]

Our 21 CTB16PC controllers are on for around 2 months straight. Have done this since I started 7 years ago.

[wbaker4]

Everything stays on until January.  Best to keep everything powered to minimize any chance of moisture.

[dstevens]

I also keep everything powered up throughout the season.

[Denny]

Everything powered up, including controllers for E1.31 controlled pixels.

[George Simmons]

Set 'em and forget 'em.

[Jim Hans]

I power it all up in mid-November and don't shut it down until January.  I don't see any benefit to shutting everything down each night.  Powering up by hand would be a real pain and using timers could work but if your power goes out during the day while you are at work that could mess up your evening's show as the time would be off.  No upside to powering down...

[WhitePlainsNY]

Turned on and left on. Static items on timers and the projector powered by a scheduling remote control. I see my show from the highway on my way home each night since it all starts without anyone home.

[Cdanna77]

Sorry to side track the thread. But could you explain more on how you set up the projector on a remote scheduler. Only a few days in and I'm tired of turning it on/off by hand. Tia.

[bob]

For what it's worth, I have some old controllers that have been on for several years.  I mean, they've been off during the occassional power outage, and I'm sure I've occasionally turned them off for a minute or two here and there over the years, but other than little stuff like that, they've been continuously on 24x7 for years and years.

 

To be clear, I am not making a recommendation of any sort, official or otherwise.  I'm not a hardware guy, and I don't know what the offical LOR recommendation is, or even if there is one in the first place.

[Premier]

Sorry to side track the thread. But could you explain more on how you set up the projector on a remote scheduler. Only a few days in and I'm tired of turning it on/off by hand. Tia.

 

Tia:

 

Set up your Show Editor first with your sequences in the order you wish them to be played then set up your Schedule Editor for what time(s) you want your show to run. I have a static display start at 4:00 pm as that is when it starts to get dark here, show then starts at 5, ends at 10 and the static display runs from 10pm until 7:30am the next morning. I don't touch a thing.  Usually I am not even around when things start off.

 

and I leave my controllers on all the time, from Sept 25th ( testing for Halloween Show )  thru the first week in January, no problems and really in comparison to other costs, they don't run much as way of power consumption especially when all channels are off.

[WhitePlainsNY]

Sorry to side track the thread. But could you explain more on how you set up the projector on a remote scheduler. Only a few days in and I'm tired of turning it on/off by hand. Tia.

Premier - I think Tia was referring to the projector's power and not a video sequence.

Tia - I use an old Realistic/Tandy learning remote control that I found on eBay. There may be others but I was going for cheap! The remote allows me to teach it the commands from my projector's remote and then schedule when to send those signals. So I have it turn on and off the projector every day of the week while the show is on.

[Cdanna77]

Ah gotcha. I will look into thanks.

Btw my name is not Tia. Lol. It was placed at the end of my first question " thanks in advance".

Names Chris. Thanks all for the advice.

[RaZZlo]

I leave mine on for the season.  As with other electronics, turning on and off can actually shorten their lifespan. This is due to several factors. 1).  When powering off, and then on, there is alway a surge of current hitting the unit.  2).  As wbaker4 said, also keeps moisture from collecting.  3). As with most things, when they are cool they contract, and heat up they expand.  All of this can cause issues with components after some time.