DIY Kit Questions

[hoby1]

Hey Everyone,

I am new to this addicting hobby and have some quesitons. I am looking to purchase the 16 Channel DIY Kit durring the sale and have some questions about the power pigtails comming out of the controler for each channel and how to set it up with my static lights. I have a small display but will want to expand.

1. My ultimate goal is have all my lights come on at the same time. So, those of you that do this, do you use a channel from your LOR to control your static lights or do you run those on a seperate timer and power outlet?

2. I've read that it is ok to use SPT2 wire as my output wire from the LOR controler using 16/2 wire and vampire plugs. But what if I want to run my static display off one of my channels? I usually run */3 extension cords and these have a 3 prong plug.

Thanks for the help,

Dan

[Denny]

brewer wrote:

Hey Everyone,

I am new to this addicting hobby and have some quesitons. I am looking to purchase the 16 Channel DIY Kit durring the sale and have some questions about the power pigtails comming out of the controler for each channel and how to set it up with my static lights. I have a small display but will want to expand.

1. My ultimate goal is have all my lights come on at the same time. So, those of you that do this, do you use a channel from your LOR to control your static lights or do you run those on a seperate timer and power outlet? I use a timer with a photo sensor to turn my static lights on and off, but if you have a free channel available and you don't exceed the amperage requirements for that channel, you could go that way also.

2. I've read that it is ok to use SPT2 wire as my output wire from the LOR controler using 16/2 wire and vampire plugs. But what if I want to run my static display off one of my channels? I usually run */3 extension cords and these have a 3 prong plug. Several ways to do it. You could use one of those 3 prong adapters (as long as you don't need the ground) and plug it into the end of your pigtail and then plug the three prong extension cord into it. You could also just use a 3 prong pigtail without the ground be attached to anything (again, if you don't need the ground for safety purposes).

Thanks for the help,

Dan

[Donald Puryear]

Dan:

I use several computers in my display, one for the static lights, one for my roof star, and one for LOR boards. But for Halloween displays I have used RIBS (relay in a box) on one channel to control large loads.(fog machines, blowers). This worked great.

[Dale W]

You could assign one channel to operate a relay. The relay would subsequently power your other lights (regardless of electrical load).

[Cajun Cheesehead]

2. I've read that it is ok to use SPT2 wire as my output wire from the LOR controler using 16/2 wire and vampire plugs. But what if I want to run my static display off one of my channels? I usually run */3 extension cords and these have a 3 prong plug.


I plan to do something similar. I just bought a batch of 6', 9' and 15' spt-2 extension cords for about 45 cents each (at Home Depot, 3 packs for 1.24 each). I was going to just cut off the male end and use them as long pig-tails.

I also plan to set up a few lines from each controller for the heavier three prong plugs. Mostly I have mini lights which don't need the ground, but I do have a few spots with the grounded plugs.

[John Pidliskey]

Home Depot, Lowes, etc. Sell a three prong adapter. You plug the three prong plug into the adapter and that can then be plugged into a two prong cord.

I use alot of them because when I built my controllers, I bought a a couple of cases of 6' extention cords at Walmart. I just cut the plugs off and used the socket end for the contrllers. The plugs I use to build my custom extenstion cords. So I actually killed two birds with one stone~