sewagner13 Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 All: I am thinking about moving into the next level with my LOR setup. I live on a boulevard and have gained the consent from the neighbors to sync lighting on the trees. However, I am going to need a lot of cord. I am thinking easily 2000 ft just for the first "Island". The best cost I have found is a little over a 150 dollar for 1000ft at 1000bulbs.com. I am having a hard time accepting that this is the best i can get. Does anyone know where I can get a better deal? Thank you for any help you can give. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lkcubsrule Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 At this point in the season, you're not going to get much better. I've found several vendors, but they're all somewhat in that price range. ChristmasLightShow - $132.95 Holiday Light Express - $140 Christmas-LEDs.com - $144 Light-O-Rama - $152 Action Lighting - $160 (2 x 79.99) Creative Displays - $185 All Things Christmas - $187.02 Most of these stores have pre-sales, and it's not unheard of to have a roll of 1000' feet go for less than $100 during a sale. Also, 2000 feet is a lot for "one" island. You might consider moving your controllers to cut down on wire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dcroc Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 Out of everything I have had to buy for this hobby, extension cords/wire has been one of the biggest expenses. I found that I really wasn't saving a lot by making my own. Usually find good deals on bulk on ebay. Flea markets are a great place, also. Making your own also includes the cost of plugs, which really are cheap. $150 for 1000' of SP1 sounds about right. With a little effort, I can find 20' SP1 extension cords for $1.00 each. That is $0.05 a foot. Not sure you can get SP1 cord for even $0.10 a foot. Custom length you can cut from a roll of 1000' feet does make for a cleaner set up, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santas Helper Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 Creative Displays is having their 12 weeks of Christmas sale. Each week they have certain items for sale. Week #6 is when they are having 20% off their rolls of cord and plugs. Week #6 Oct. 17 - 21 20% off all Zip Cord and Plugs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. P Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 55 minutes ago, Santas Helper said: Creative Displays is having their 12 weeks of Christmas sale. Each week they have certain items for sale. Week #6 is when they are having 20% off their rolls of cord and plugs. Week #6 Oct. 17 - 21 20% off all Zip Cord and Plugs Yes but CD is more expensive at their regular prices. So if their regular price is 1,000 feet for $185, with the 20% off for the sale that brings it to $148 which is normal price for others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santas Helper Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 So with their fast shipping (two days for me), at least you get your products at the normal cost but faster. And their products and customer service is excellent!!! Just like LOR, they are more expensive but people buy LOR products because of those two things. Outstanding products and customer service. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sax Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 Best extension cords price wise I could find for 50' lengths are at Walmart. $7.20 https://www.walmart.com/ip/Generic-23001-WorkChoice-50-SJTW-16-3-Green-Outdoor-Extension-Cord/44739952 That is $144 per 1000'. 20 cables in this case limited to 20 channels..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 13 hours ago, sewagner13 said: I live on a boulevard and have gained the consent from the neighbors to sync lighting on the trees. However, I am going to need a lot of cord. I am thinking easily 2000 ft just for the first "Island". I'm with Ikcubsrule on this one - move the controllers onto the island. I assume what you mean is a center divider in the middle of the street. If there is power in the "island", my suggestion would be to put the controller on the island and use ELLs to control it. That way there are no cords crossing the street. If there is no power on the island, then I would put the controller on the island and run one heavier power cord to the controller via whatever method you had planned on for the multitude of cords. Since in this case you would be running power to the island, you could also run a Cat-5 instead of ELLs which would save some cost. Note however, assuming for example that you can run the cables overhead (for example from high in a tree or streetlight), don't bundle the power cord and Cat-5 cable together. Too great of a chance of interference from the power line affecting the LOR data transmission. Also, and not trying to be a killjoy here, but who's property is the island? Unless it's a private community, the island presumably belongs to the city or county, and they may well have a say so in you lighting their trees. Trust me on this one - I work for a city government - they can make your life ugly if they don't want you doing something! If it's a private community with private roads, then the private community (or homeowners association, or something like that) likely owns the road and islands in the middle and they have a say so. If you have this part all resolved, that's great. I just don't what to see you put a lot of effort and expense into something and then find out that you can't do it. If you're worried about security of controllers, there are ways to deal with that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BryanZ Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 Try checking around on Craigslist, thrift stores and yard sales. You never know what people are trying to get rid of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary N Posted October 19, 2016 Share Posted October 19, 2016 (edited) On 9/28/2016 at 10:21 AM, sax said: Best extension cords price wise I could find for 50' lengths are at Walmart. $7.20 https://www.walmart.com/ip/Generic-23001-WorkChoice-50-SJTW-16-3-Green-Outdoor-Extension-Cord/44739952 That is $144 per 1000'. 20 cables in this case limited to 20 channels..... Great price for 50' cords, Thanks, just spent $ 59.03 for 8 cords. Budget for this year was $1200.00, I am around $2300.00. What was CLAP, I don't have it, I really don't. Gary Edited October 19, 2016 by Gary N Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Sarge Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=extension+cord http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=spt-1+wire&_pgn=2&_skc=50&rt=nc https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_5_3?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=spt-1+wire&sprefix=spt%2Caps%2C190&crid=2OY0YULGP61MI a few other places you can check out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinob Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 I see a lot of folks have provided info on places with prices. I can just add as FYI that I've recently bought the bulk wire and plugs from both Holiday Light Express (HLE) and directly from LOR. Both seem of similar, good quality and are working well for me. Also, the female in-line plugs from HLE proved super useful in a variety of scenarios for me.... so I would tell anyone doing a bunch of custom runs to add them even if you don't initially think there is a need.... - Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougP Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 Just my 2 cents worth. I would never run wires across the street for cars, busses and whatever to run over. Also, as stated before. If you do, get permission in writing from the city. They can make your life pure hell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msturtz Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 Not to re-hash an oldish thread, but only do my own house and yard... Even I place controllers out in the "field". Hugely minimizes the extension cords, and makes plugging things in simpler as well. I put one controller on the roof to control the front part of the house, one in the garage for that part, and several in the yard. They're plainly visible during the day, but at night you don't notice them. Several companies make frames/stands to get them up off the ground -- I use CTB16PC's in the LOR enclosure, and I just lay them flat on the ground, door up, never had any moisture ingress, even in the Colorado snow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santas Helper Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 Sometimes the cold air actually produces low humidity or dry air. Even with snow on the ground, the air can be very dry. But melting snow/ice can "sometimes" be a big cause in failure of outdoor electronics. So good coverage of electronics devices is good practice along with keeping out of areas that puddle with water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debtoews Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 (edited) Environmental LED- $145 plus 95 cents shipping( shipping cord is expensive!) .....might be a coupon for 15% off if you look on Planet Christmas website under LED's - I ordered Saturday because hubby miscalculated and the 12,000 feet we got earlier this year wasn't enough! (SMH!) Shipping notice said its going to be here Friday :-) Oh and they have plugs too.... Edited November 3, 2016 by debtoews Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Sarge Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 I had rather spend for extension cords then to spend for new controllers also doesn't take as long to replace them if someone (and we know it never happens) decides they want a controller or just wants to damage something. My controllers are all fastened to stands and those stands are fastened to my house of just inside my garage so they are nice and secure. I coat my plugs with a light coat of electrical grease plus of I think one plug may be a low place for puddles etc. I just raise it up to make sure it is out of standing water, again I have all my plugs coated with grease which also help keep them dry from water. Makes it easier to unplug them when taking down also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry72 Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 2 hours ago, Old Sarge said: I had rather spend for extension cords then to spend for new controllers also doesn't take as long to replace them if someone (and we know it never happens) decides they want a controller or just wants to damage something. My controllers are all fastened to stands and those stands are fastened to my house of just inside my garage so they are nice and secure. I coat my plugs with a light coat of electrical grease plus of I think one plug may be a low place for puddles etc. I just raise it up to make sure it is out of standing water, again I have all my plugs coated with grease which also help keep them dry from water. Makes it easier to unplug them when taking down also. Where i live, Dielectric grease is my best friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sax Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 Laying controllers on the ground? Not here...it is non stop rain. And I keep mine behind the fence. Thieves will show up eventually and no need to give any easy targets. But my yard is small so that makes things easier. Grease? Waste of time and money. Plug it in...let it be. Especially with vamp plugs. You gonna grease the entire plug? Keep the plug out of the puddle. That's it. Wettest October ever in Portland Oregon area and zero problems. Ran the show from October 1 to October 31 no issues on any of my 6 AC controllers or any other controller. BTW....Walmart cables listed above have gone up in price to just under $10 for 50'. That's a $2 increase per cable. But, Costco is having a good deal...four 25' plugs with dual output ends for $19.99. 2 white cables and 2 green cables in that package. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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