Mounting Controllers

[christmaslover012]

Hello. Next year in 2008, I am hopefully going to have my first animated season with Light-O-Rama. It will be my first season ever animated, so this coming year should be loads of fun. Anyway... We are going to place the controller underneath the house, because we have a crawl space enterance right behind our bushes, so it is the perfect location. It's dry under there, so it should be safe. However, is it OK to lay the controller on it's back (off the ground of course) or should it be mounted up right?



Thanks In Advance.

ChristmasLover

[-klb-]

I would think you should at minimum consider condensate drainage. It seems like no matter the conditions, temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure changes often result in condensate forming in nearly sealed containers. I would suggest that they should slope at least a little towards the bottom, and if you are using the PC versions in the plastic case, you may want to consider a small drain hole in the low corner..

- Kevin

[melwelch]

I was dead set on mounting my controllers on my house for security reasons... In the middle of setting everything up it dawned on me I should have built a box like on of our board members did, paint it to look like a gift. Then place it in a central location in the yard. You will have a 40' limitation (to keep extention cord costs down). At almost $8 per extention cord times 32 the cost can mount up in a hurry...

Next year I will be doing this and will be able to spread things out more....

[christmaslover012]

I would place the controllers out in the yard, to get more near the items instead of mounting them on the house, but all of my stuff will be near the house, making underneath the house the perfect spot. We have some bushes that run across the front of the house, then our 3D deer will be placed in front of the bushes, and then lights along the gutters.





edited to fix typo

[christmaslover012]

Thank you for your help!

[Brad Stevens]

The mounting orientation depends on the box used to mount the controller. The boxes from LOR (which are NEMA 3R) must be mounted upright otherwise the box will not protect the controllers from water or moisture.

~Jeff Brad Stevens

[joneslights]

I mounted my 16PC in a "gift" and placed them in the yard. One 16D is laying in a slope behind the bushes and covered with wood to keep the rain/snow out. My other 16d is laying on the roof (oddly/thankfully) this is the one I have the least trouble with. The 16PCs are in the boxes they were shipped with and the 16Ds are in the boxes that I purchased from a website that sells overstock communications supplies.



Greg

[christmaslover012]

Brad Stevens wrote:

The mounting orientation depends on the box used to mount the controller. The boxes from LOR (which are NEMA 3R) must be mounted upright otherwise the box will not protect the controllers from water or moisture.

~Jeff Brad Stevens

But these will be under my house too.

[Tim Dorr]

When all else failes, check the instructions. The Light-O-Rama Users Guide for the LOR 160xW Light Controller with the CTB16D Controlled Triac Card says for the NEMA 3R enclosure, "Mount the LOR160xW so that the pigtail outlets are at least 1ft off the ground. The unit must be mounted with the wires pointed down. Keep the unit out of areas with heavy splashing or water or direct contract with forced water flow such as irrigation sprinklers."

I would assume that those instructions apply to other LOR enclosures, but finding out from Tech Support would be a way to get another opinion.

I personally have all of my controllers outside, with four hanging on a mega tree with a box covering it so they are as close to the action as possible. A lot easier and cheaper than buying a mile of extension cords.

Whatever you decide to do, enjoy the hobby and spread the joy of Christmas in your area.

Tim