SparkDr Posted May 26, 2015 Share Posted May 26, 2015 Sat down to put together some snubbers for a fellow forum member this weekend and couldn't believe just how wore out my fingers were by the time I had done just a couple of dozen pieces. Those confounded Leviton plugs fight a man every step of the way. Separating the guts of the plug from the rubber housing is an exercise in futility and I quickly relocated my project into direct sunlight just to warm them up enough to make it a little easier. Granted, the steps required to make them do fall under the easy category. Dare I say I may have gotten old and soft without knowing it? My fingertips are still tender as I type this today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryl Lambert Posted May 26, 2015 Share Posted May 26, 2015 They are a bit tough. I used 2 smallish flat screwdrivers. Slid 1 down each side where the locking tabs are located & popped them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted May 26, 2015 Share Posted May 26, 2015 (edited) I preheated mine to 140 in the oven and they got about as loose as Lindsey Lohan. Edited May 26, 2015 by George Simmons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparkDr Posted May 26, 2015 Author Share Posted May 26, 2015 I preheated mine to 140 in the oven and they got about as loose as Lindsey Lohan.I should not allow myself to like this, but damn...what an analogy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Sarge Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Whats a snubber???? I am still a newbie... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasmadrive Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 It is really a dummy load but these guys keep calling them snubbers.. It is just a resistor to load down the capacitive charge of the LED strings to allow the triacs to operate correctly when they dim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgiambruno Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 I would take a short piece of SPT wire, and do vampire plugs, with a C9 socket in-line. This seems to work great for me, and is easy and cheap. If you don't want anyone to see the bulb, cover it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasmadrive Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 a male plug, a 47k or 33k 1watt resistor works just fine for most. connect the resistor across the terminals, fill with silicon and plug it into the light string. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwertz Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 I mounted a piece of (3/8"?) dowel rod in a chunk of wood to hold the housing and push up on the insert while I pry the sides open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xmaskarl Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Whats a snubber???? I am still a newbie... Does anyone out there have picture on a snubber??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wbaker4 Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 (edited) It doesn't light up! Edited May 29, 2015 by wbaker4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TitusCarnathan Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 I use xtw (spt1) wire for all my light runs, so I just attach a c7 or c9 socket to the wire near the controller and throw an Incan bulb in works just as good its's cheap and can be added in a few seconds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 I like just having to stick a plug in and not having to deal with a light I don't want lit in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TitusCarnathan Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 I like just having to stick a plug in and not having to deal with a light I don't want lit in the first place.Throw a garbage bag over the controller and you can't even see the snubbers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Sarge Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 ohhh ok .. and I still hove no idea.... lol but wouldn't a dimmer switch be a lot easier to use... just put it in line and turn the knob down to what you want it at? I know I am a newbie and no electrician but seems to me that would be a easy thing to do.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Benedict Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 ohhh ok .. and I still hove no idea.... lol but wouldn't a dimmer switch be a lot easier to use... just put it in line and turn the knob down to what you want it at? I know I am a newbie and no electrician but seems to me that would be a easy thing to do.. Some people wire a resistor into this plug and use it to help control the LED dimming. Technically, it's a "dummy load" or "ghost load", but over the years LOR folks call them Snubbers. It's also available commercially: http://www.ebay.com/itm/American-DJ-LED-Dummy-/291477761579?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43dd6dae2b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparkDr Posted June 1, 2015 Author Share Posted June 1, 2015 Here you go, folks. Great step by step pictures on how to make snubbers. http://forums.planetchristmas.com/index.php?/topic/36988-easiest-terminatorssnubbers-to-make/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizywk Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Old Sarge, It's not as difficult as it seems. The current draw for LED strings is so small and efficient, that sometimes the triacs in the controller have trouble operating properly. Think of it as a gate with a very weak spring. Sometimes you just need a little more electrical load (Resistance) to get the gate (triacs) closed. The symptoms of this problem include a dim glow when the lights should be off or sometimes it cam be difficulties in some of the advance features like dimming, twinkle, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slowpoke Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 My first year so , I will need a snubber in each of the cords coming out of a controller ? I'm with old sarge here , first I've heard of needing this . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparkDr Posted June 2, 2015 Author Share Posted June 2, 2015 I have a set of elements that have a single string of 50ct C5 LED on each LOR channel. I ran my 1st year without snubbers and did not have any trouble. The lights I used were full-wave rectified from HLE, so that may be working in my favor. In the interest of being safe rather than sorry, I added the snubbers for year 2 and beyond for my own peace of mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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