New to this. First light show in 2016!

[dgrant]

I use them for my two megatrees...although multis instead of white. If I was to order again for the megatrees, I'd order all blue. Lights are working great and not a single failure.

[PhilMassey]

The point of LED's is that they almost never burn out. I bought most of mine in 2009, 2010 and have not had a single bulb "burn" out. The replacable bulb becomes more of a point of failure due to corrosion or mechanical failure than the small chance of a bulb failing. Hence the sealed bulbs.

I don't miss the tedious hours of finding and replacing bulbs at all.

[Grinch]

The point of LED's is that they almost never burn out. I bought most of mine in 2009, 2010 and have not had a single bulb "burn" out. The replacable bulb becomes more of a point of failure due to corrosion or mechanical failure than the small chance of a bulb failing. Hence the sealed bulbs.

I don't miss the tedious hours of finding and replacing bulbs at all.

 

Perfectly said    Sealed LED's are worth the money.  You don't have to handle them with extra care when taking them down and worry if the filament will break in one of the bulbs.  Or rain getting in to pop the bulb or string or your controller or the GFCI

[Orville]

Boy is this statement false, L.E.D.'s almost never burn out.    Oh yes they do burn out, they may have a long life rating, but many hours are also spent on them being "tested".   And some fail more than others, just been my experience with sealed L.E.D. bulbs {NOT REPLACEABLE} have failed my expectations of what their life expectancy should have been.   As in my post above expalaining those failures, so after that, I prefer and it is MY preference, to use unsealed, cheap L.E.D. strands that have L.E.D.'s that can be removed and replaced easier than sealed strands which require far too much, especially with my vision issues, replaceables are a much better option for me.   I prefer not to have to cut, splice and solder L.E.D.'s into a strand when I can just pull the L.E.D. out of the socket and insert a new one.   L.E.D.'s fail, L.E.D.'s burn out depending on how much use is put on them, I have some original white L.E.D.'s that are really bright, but have the bluish tint that I installed in many of my locomotives back in 1997 that are still working in those same locomotives today, and these have been run for eons of hours on end, however, in some passenger cars I have had to replace a couple now and then.  And that's probably because there is no motor in the passenger cars to bleed off any excessive voltage that may get to the L.E.D.'s in them, unlike the locomotives where the L.E.D. is also usually wired across the motor pick-up points and other electronics that may be in a locomotive.    Passenger cars I have always had to add a full wave diode bridge and most often a 5 VDC regulator to maintain a constant 5V to the L.E.D.'s.   Ones where I just used a 1K dropping resistor are the ones that usually failed in those lighted cars, one I removed the resistor and put in the 5VDC regulator those cars have never blown or burned out any of their L.E.D.'s.

 

Same holds true with L.E.D. light strands, depends whether they have a full wave rectifier or just resistors and/or capacitors in their sockets with no rectifier of any kind.   Even so, I've had rectifiers go bad and half a strand go permanently dark, also have had L.E.D.'s burn out in same, as well as those not rectified using just resistors and/or capacitors, which those also may go bad and cause L.E.D. burnouts.

 

If some have never had any L.E.D.'s burn out in a strand, consider yourself fortunate, but sooner or later, it will happen, it's inevitable.

[DisneyMatt10]

So, I have been working on my lightshow (as you all know) and I have finally decided that I will be using "Firesticks" (or whatever they are called) in my light show!! I will have 5 in the show and they will each be about 10 foot tall! But here is a small version I made to see how it would look. I'm liking how it turned out! 

 

Edited January 18, 2016 by DisneyMatt10

[Old Sarge]

Just remember to be careful Matt.. Really think about what your show is going to be and what you want in it. RESEARCH the lights at many different places as you will find that many times what you find on sites posted here and pushed by some are cheaper by as much as 1/2 price at other places..

 

Check different searches for your lights and also research for example for wireless transmitter for your show... The ones in the PACKAGE DEALS arent very good and I have read more complaints about it them I have good things.

 

you have time... dont let them start trying to scare you into thinking you have to hurry and buy things while they are on sale right now... there will be more sales before Christmas..

 

No Names mentioned but there are some here who work for the companies they will tend to push you toward.. DO YOUR RESEARCH... 

 

as for as ligyts burning out... I have many strands of the regular mini lights from WALLY WORLD that I have been using for 6 + years and very seldom have them burn out. A good thing about them is they are easy to replace with NO SOLDERING ETC, get you one of those mini light testers for like 19 bucks or so... they are worth the price.. 

 

check out videos/ you tubes on how to shorten lights strings, etc. if you need to and dont listen to all the many many many different ways many people here will be tellinb you how you need to do something .. such as soldiering wire... you will find almost as many different ways as the best way to soldier wire and there are people on the forums..

Edited January 18, 2016 by Old Sarge

[Santas Helper]

you have time...  there will be more sales before Christmas..

 

Well, just a few more days on some sales.

Sometimes sales at the beginning of the year is better to make room for new stock for the year.

Then some more sales later in the year but for some it might be too late for that current year as displays are being built and/or going up.

I do not work with, work for or benefit in any vendors except their sales and customer service.

 

But no pressure here.

[DisneyMatt10]

Old Sarge, thanks for the advice. I am looking at getting LED's somewhat soon. I want to get them so I don't have to worry about them later on this year. I am looking at buying about 100 new strands of LED lights, and I have no idea where to find them. The only place I have found is holiday-light-express.com. I don't know anything about the company, or the quality of their lights. It's just one of the only places I have found. If you know of any other places that are selling LED lights currently I'm all ears!  

~Matt

Edited January 19, 2016 by DisneyMatt10

[Grinch]

Old Sarge, thanks for the advice. I am looking at getting LED's somewhat soon. I want to get them so I don't have to worry about them later on this year. I am looking at buying about 100 new strands of LED lights, and I have no idea where to find them. The only place I have found is holiday-light-express.com. I don't know anything about the company, or the quality of their lights. It's just one of the only places I have found. If you know of any other places that are selling LED lights currently I'm all ears!  

~Matt

 

I have bought from several different suppliers over the years.  Some have great prices, some have better customer service.... this is ONE of the places that I have purchased and was satisfied enough to have purchased lights more than once.  But there are others that have great product as well and good prices.  Just check the names that you see come up over and over by the members and go for your best price and Delivery.   One vender I preordered from in January and didn't get the product until the first week of October.  Made it hard to get the Halloween show setup.  They were suppose to be in July-August when I ordered.

[Santas Helper]

The only place I have found is holiday-light-express.com. I don't know anything about the company, or the quality of their lights. It's just one of the only places I have found. If you know of any other places that are selling LED lights currently I'm all ears!  

~Matt

 

Matt, are you not reading the posts? Like post #8?

 

CDI IS CURRENTLY HAVING A SALE!!!

 

http://www.creativedisplays.com/

Edited January 19, 2016 by Santas Helper

[DisneyMatt10]

Santa's helper,

I do read the post. Each and every one of them. Obviously if I'm still asking about there being other places to buy lights maybe it is because I am not 100% sold on lights from Creative Displays!! Never hurts to ask others if they know of any other places to buy lights... you know, maybe other than creative displays or holiday-light-express.com.

[Santas Helper]

Just checking Matt. When you said "the only place I found" and "it's just one of the only places" after my post, that made me think you might have glanced past the info.

 

Folks here are giving good advice on two places so far. And having 10 years experience here on the forum and purchasing LED lights, I would think that advice might be of use. But Obviously I was wrong.

 

Good luck in your search for whatever it is you are looking for.

[dgrant]

He's jumping into the unknowns and trying to make the best choices he feels are for him, whatever they are. I've personally bought from lots of different companies and learned a few lessons and make some good choices along the way along with the bad choices...lol. He's jumping in with both AC channels and Intelligent RGB the first year so he's got a lot to learn. Don't take offense as he must make his own choices based on variables that we don't know.

[Santas Helper]

I'm not taking offense. I gave my two cents and pretty much done here.

Besides, the sale is over tomorrow.

[Dennis Laff]

Ditto

[McAllister]

Matt,

 

Welcome aboard.  I just did my first show this year, so I'm learning too.  I started, much like you, with 2x 16 channel LOR controllers, then added on a CMB24D to line my eaves.  At last minute (October) my wife decided to tackle a megawreath and we added on a set of LOR Cosmic Color Bulbs, but didn't have time to program them by the time it was built :-(.  It seems LOR products are the "gateway drug" and will actually carry most people many years into their display projects.  As I was setting up and taking down, I found myself making plans for the next show!

 

For this year, I'm tackling a Pixel Wall, some mini RGB trees to line my walk way, and a spiral mega tree (probably 12 feet).  From what I've found - LOR products are good quality and most of the "leg work" is done for you, so they work out-of-the-box and play nicely with one another.  The products seem to be slightly more expensive than do-it-yourself products, but again, you're paying for all the tough work to be done for you.

 

It's a steep learning curve, but I've decided to do it myself on a pixel wall and RGB mini trees.  I've found that RGB (and even pixels) have a slightly more expensive cost compared to traditional light strands, but offer much more flexibility that may be worth the small to moderate cost delta.

 

[rather than placing links for each store I mention, there is one link at the bottom which lists current presales and has links out to the stores]

 

For my pixel wall, I ordered the Falcon F16v2, currently on presale and got the pixel nodes from Seasonal Entertainment (on presale through 1/31).

 

I'll be using wire tomato cages turned upside down and wrapping dumb RGB nodes around them, making 8 mini RGB trees.  Nodes from Seasonal Entertainment and controller is the 27channel (9 RGB banks) from Holiday Coro.

 

For my spiral megatree, I'll be getting another LOR 16 channel controller when they do their presale (last year it was early April - around the 10th).  I'll need LED stings for the mega tree and have been watching prices.

 

Everyone talks about CDI as their source for LED strings and I [incorrectly] assumed that was Christmas Designers Inc.  In the past I've gotten good LEDs from Christmas Designers.  They're currently having a sale, but they haven't had what I need at good prices.  In April I got strings of 70 G12s for $8.70-9.87 (depending on color) and strings of 5mm Wide Angle Conicals for anywhere from 18.5-21.4 cents per light (depending on color, spacing, and bulbs/string (50,70,100, 4 inch or 6 inch spacing) equaling 9.25/string to 14.95/string; This past November they had another sale and I got strings of 100 blues for 11.58 each (11.6 cents/light).  Their sales seem to be on overstock or some other random (that I haven't figured out yet) system.

 

When I was reading through this thread, I realized that the CDI everyone talks about is acturally Creative Displays Inc.   Initially I was not impressed, as you have to call to order and prices for the presale are in a spreadsheet, but they look like good prices so I'm ordering today (last day of the sale).  My plan was to keep tabs on Christmas Designers until they had a sale on the LEDs I want for the mega tree, but with the Creative Displays presale prices in line with what I expect, I'm ordering plain LED strings today from [the actual] CDI. :-)

 

Finally, I found what seems to be a great price on Xenon U Strobes at $3.85/bulb from DIY LED Express.  Initially I was wanting to keep all LED, but as I researched, I came to the conclusion that many have posted above - Xenon U is the way to go for strobes!

 

Here's a list of current pre-sales etc.  Hopefully that helps

 

http://www.highcountrylights.com/christmas-resources/pre-sale-info.html

[McAllister]

Oh - and the bouncing bars are probably VU meters or EQ meters (though I haven't looked at the videos yet).  There's a tool to make those using pixels

 

http://itsmebob.com/SD.html

 

SpEx (spectrum extractor).

[webgoof]

Oh - and the bouncing bars are probably VU meters or EQ meters (though I haven't looked at the videos yet).  There's a tool to make those using pixels

 

http://itsmebob.com/SD.html

 

SpEx (spectrum extractor).

Yes, but he's not using pixels.

Y'all are overwhelming the poor guy hehehehehe

First thing I would recommend doing is getting on YouTube for many many hours, and watch as many videos of shows and behind the scenes of peoples set ups as you can.

Also, many replies referring to the "cheap box store" lights seem to me to be referring to incandescent bulbs. Bear in mind that some users are not proactive about being clear whether or not they are talking about LED bulbs or not.

You can get LED strings with removable bulbs, just remind about whether or not LEDs burnout, is where those individual users live. Environmental factors such as sunshine, snow, ice, rain, and what they're using the lights for will have huge impact on the lifespan of the lights.

When I get home later tonight I'll post some links to vendors and such, and more discussion.

[dgrant]

Some of the cheap big box store LEDs are not bad at all. Other's, well, you get what you pay for. I've got good LEDs for two megatrees and I use a bunch of strings of LEDs from BigLots. The cheap ones aren't fully rectified but seem to work pretty well over all. Now I bought some strings of Sam'sClub LED's a few years ago and during the season, one of them failed. I replaced the whole string and kept on going but when I went to troubleshoot it with the LED Keeper Pro tool, I found that out of 100 LEDs in the string, 7 had failed. That's a bad number. Still wonder if it took a lightning strike or some other surge but there were leads that had rusted and other's that simply died. I had/have better luck with the ones from BigLots and certainly my good ones are working great as they are sealed.

[webgoof]

Ok, so here are my thoughts, and what not. May not total up quite to $0.02. ;-)

So, for starters, something that I've gathered as I've read around the Internet, is that for your mega tree and similar features, one of the best things to do to help prevent string failure is to use cable or rope or something to keep the wire from bearing the weight of the light strings. Especially if the mega tree is over 10 feet.

To be honest, for your first year, I wouldn't stress too much about preordering lights. You already have a stash...just make sure you get what you need to finish your show before the stores sell out. Once you're up and running, break out a note pad and jot down your expansion dreams, and start thinking about what you're willing to spend in early January for any growth. It can be challenging, especially if you've just dropped mega cash cleaning up in after-Christmas clearance, so a plan is good. :-)

I've placed orders this year with DIY LED Express and Creative Displays, INC. So far, I feel like they're good companies, but the proof is in the pudding, eh? We shall see...one piece of advice on that topic is that I would recommend finding shows online (Facebook/YouTube, I will link to some later) that you like (check their channel history, you can tell who the "pro's" are pretty fast) -- usually they have a website, and frequently these websites have blogs and/or a links page that link to their favorite vendors. Also the video guides I'm going to link to often discuss vendors somewhat.

Further, look through the "for sale" and similar sections of forums like this one, (there's also the official Light o Rama forum and do it yourself Christmas forums (DIYChristmas.com I think) for starters) - anyway, look through to this time last year. You'll see vendor posts announcing preorder sales, and such. from there you can search those vendor names and see what people have said about them in the forums. ;-)

So, let's go YouTube!

Here are some YouTube channels with helpful tutorials.

listentoourlights <--good guides for sequencing, and has some good examples of controller layout in your yard (if/when you grow past 2 controllers)

JMonkhouse <---- the Monkhouses are legends. They've been given lifetime achievement awards at the Christmas Expo, for their contributions to this hobby. Look for their website, Magic Christmas. Good stuff there.

Lighting Up Paxton < --- he is an incandescent guy, but he's got a GREAT show. Also, take the 3ish hours and watch this walkthrough. Take notes. It's SO worth it.

I've got a collection of favorites on my other computer that I can't get to right now. I'll post them in the coming days but this is definitely a start. ;-)

Edited January 23, 2016 by webgoof