Bad-Magic Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Hi, I'm from Perth, Western Australia. I am very interested in purchasing a http://store.lightorama.com/ba16chpa.html (16 channel starter pack) When i added it to cart it said that you don't ship it to Australia?? I will need to change all the plugs over to Australian ones and under stand that i will have to make a change to a "jumper" board and change the settings to 240V - is this correct? Are there any instructions on how to change the setting over? Will i need to replace any of the cords that come with this or will just changing the ends of the plugs work fine?Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LightORamaDan Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Hi,You can cut the ends of the cords and put on your own ends. Because of your location you will be contacted at the time of sale to verify that you really want the unit. When you explain that you are going to replace the ends you can also request that the unit be pre-set to 240v.Shipping to Australia is expensive. A 16 channel starter package is heavy (about 22 pounds) and the shipping cost is about $110USD... Most people in Australia opt for the CTB16DWHS and a generic starter package which has a shipping cost of about $45. They then supply the cords and enclosure locally.Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Harvey Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Hi Bad-MagicThere are quite a few LOR users in Australia and you should have a look at the Aussie Light-O-Rama Users Group on Google http://groups.google.com/group/Aussie-LOR-UsersThere have been discussions on most of the aspects of using LOR in Australia.This (2007) has been my 3rd year with LOR. I have typically used power boards to connect to the LOR outlets. This gives 4 outlet points/channel (240V) for about $2.50AU and was the most economical approach I have found.Regards Geoff-Brisbane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad-Magic Posted December 31, 2007 Author Share Posted December 31, 2007 Thanks for the replys guys!Dan, I would get them during the sale when you apparently get free shipping i would say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad-Magic Posted December 31, 2007 Author Share Posted December 31, 2007 I had a look at the it might be a better option for me since it weighs less and i can put the cords i need in myself. I read the guide and it is very good the pictures help alot (now i know where you plug in the channels) my only question is Where does the the power source for the board go? i know that you use 2 for the lights but i'm not sure about the board. Could i use any old extension cords and cut the ends off and attach them to the Unit or do you require special ones(i'm talking about the cords that go out of the controller and the lights plug into them) ? ok one more question i promise For the cords that plug into the controller do they need to be special or can i use extension cords for them aswell? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad-Magic Posted January 1, 2008 Author Share Posted January 1, 2008 I downloaded and installed the sequence editor but get the following error message:@http://img162.imageshack.us/my.php?image=errorqn6.pngi'm trying this on a laptop that is a little less than a year old, i tried rebooting but still get that error message. Does that mean it can't finda com port on my computer? because i don't have one. i will have to buy the usb connecter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denny Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 That's normal since you don't have an adapter hooked up yet. You can still sequence and when you receive and connect your hardware, that message will go away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad-Magic Posted January 1, 2008 Author Share Posted January 1, 2008 Bad-Magic wrote: I had a look at the it might be a better option for me since it weighs less and i can put the cords i need in myself. I read the guide and it is very good the pictures help alot (now i know where you plug in the channels) my only question is Where does the the power source for the board go? i know that you use 2 for the lights but i'm not sure about the board. Could i use any old extension cords and cut the ends off and attach them to the Unit or do you require special ones(i'm talking about the cords that go out of the controller and the lights plug into them) ? ok one more question i promise For the cords that plug into the controller do they need to be special or can i use extension cords for them aswell? Thanks.Thanks danny, is anyone able to answer this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denny Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 If you look in the very center of the terminal block where you connect your cords for the individual channels, you will see terminals where the incoming power cords also connect. Yes, you can cut off the male plugs from extension cords and use them for the output lines for each channel. Likewise, you can cut off the female end of an extension cord and use it for the power input. A word of caution though, make sure the extension cords that you modify are the proper wire gauge to carry the amperage you will be working with. 20 amp and 15 amp inputs require different gauges of wire. I believe in overkill and use 10 gauge wire for my inputs (mainly because my son-in-law is an electrician and he provides me "scraps" from jobs he has worked on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad-Magic Posted January 1, 2008 Author Share Posted January 1, 2008 Wow thanks for the help denny! So you are saying make sure you get proper extension cords that can carry 15-20 amps? but for the extension cords that go to the lights that won't matter very much? so i also will get sent an email asking wether i want to get the board changed over to 240V for Australia? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad-Magic Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 Geoff Harvey wrote: Hi Bad-MagicThere are quite a few LOR users in Australia and you should have a look at the Aussie Light-O-Rama Users Group on Google http://groups.google.com/group/Aussie-LOR-UsersThere have been discussions on most of the aspects of using LOR in Australia.This (2007) has been my 3rd year with LOR. I have typically used power boards to connect to the LOR outlets. This gives 4 outlet points/channel (240V) for about $2.50AU and was the most economical approach I have found.Regards Geoff-BrisbaneHi, so you do use the transformers that come with the lights? don't they get hot after switching lots, that is what i'm getting worried about. How do you get around this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad-Magic Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 Geoff, read your post in the Aussie light o rama users place "Hi Andrew & SalliI too had this concern last year and had been warned by Dan (LOR) thatthere had been transformer failures from switching and dimming."you said that 10 mins of on/off were fine then a break was good. do you mean a break as in turning everything off or just on or what and for how long?Thankyou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad-Magic Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 Bump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Harvey Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 Bad-Magic wrote: Geoff, read your post in the Aussie light o rama users place "Hi Andrew & SalliI too had this concern last year and had been warned by Dan (LOR) thatthere had been transformer failures from switching and dimming."you said that 10 mins of on/off were fine then a break was good. do you mean a break as in turning everything off or just on or what and for how long?ThankyouHiWhen I first started using LOR with Aussie lights with 24V transformers, I did quite a bit of testing to check temperature rises on the transformers under a range of switching and dimming operations. I found that for most situations where the transformers were switched as in a display, there was no significant temperature rises above the normal steady on condition. I did get a noticeable rise when switching on/off at 0.1 sec intervals and at 0.2 sec intervals. Dimming did not give any rise on the transformers I tested (20, 30 & 60VA).This year I ran chasing icicles and strings throughout most of the show without problems - chase pattern was0.1s ramp up 0-100%0.1s ON0.1s ramp down 100-0%0.1s OFFI did have a problem with one channel on a LOR board which resulted in the 2 connected transformers going open-circuit, and then while testing this channel, I lost 2 more transformers in rapid succession. I presume this resulted from some type of triac malfunction on this board and transferred the connected lights to a spare channel with no further problems. Initial testing seemed to show the suspect channel working but I wasn't prepared to risk further transformers and will look further after I put the lights away.One thing to watch - some transformer types run much hotter than others. The hotter ones I suspect are more heavily loaded relative to their rated capacity. Wherever possible, I ensure the transformers are ventilated and a fan to assist air circulation helps heep temperatures down.Next year I may get a couple of DC boards for LED strings, but intend continuing to run all my minis and most of the existing LEDs by switching the 240V supply to the transformers.Regards Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad-Magic Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 Brilliant Geoff i was hoping for you to reply So i shouldn't worry about overheating if i don't switch on and off at 0.3+?Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denny Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 Bad-Magic wrote: Wow thanks for the help denny! So you are saying make sure you get proper extension cords that can carry 15-20 amps? but for the extension cords that go to the lights that won't matter very much? so i also will get sent an email asking wether i want to get the board changed over to 240V for Australia?I meant to make sure that the power supply cords to the LOR controller can carry the amperage (15-20 amps). The pigtails that go to the lights only need to carry 8 amps (the maximum rated for each channel). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad-Magic Posted January 4, 2008 Author Share Posted January 4, 2008 Thanks Geoff, so if i have a 3 minute song and then 5 minutes to cool down is this fine?Denny, thanks for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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