Leaping Arch Wireing

[EdNetman]

I am building leaping arches for next year that will be 8 segments. I will have them all sharing the same 8 channels on the controller, so I can't have them all separate.

I was thinking that setup and teardown would be easier if I wired each arch to a harness, then made a bundle of SPT go between each arch.

The harness I was looking at was something like this.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/232173775825

Has anyone done this that can give any advice or lessons learned?

[k6ccc]

I would be very cautious about those. They are not likely rated for 120 volts.
Your concept is fine, just be careful that you use connectors that will be safe.


Sent from my Droid Turbo via Tapatalk, so blame any typos or spelling errors on Android

[T34 Flyer]

I think it's and good idea and will save time.  Have you thought about using the multiconnector at the controller end as well? 

 

k6ccc is right.  Look at the voltage rating of the connector you purchase.  If the current capability of the connector is sufficient use ohms law to justify your conclusion on the connector selection.

Edited January 3, 2017 by T34 Flyer
added k6ccc concurrence

[Mega Arch]

IMO - bad idea.

I started in 2012 and have never had any controller issues. This year, blew 3 triacs in same controller - that was controlling 2 of my arches. I had to run some long runs of spt from some open channels. Quick copy/paste in SE & show continued on. 

All this to say, watch out for the dominoes effect. Trying to save time may cost you a tremendous amount of time later. 

Label your cords and plug them in. 

 

Edit - never had "partial" controller issues. I did blow a transformer, which took out an entire controller. 

Edited January 3, 2017 by Mega Arch

[Little_b]

I tried using some similar 12v rated ones a couple years ago for my Pixel Nodes and had nothing but issues. the wires kept breaking at the crimp joint.  For my arches I went with the SPT wire and made them to length to my controllers. I grouped them together and made "super extension strands" (taped the 8 cords together) and labeled them for each arch.  It makes putting them up much quicker.

[EdNetman]

That's kinda the idea I had.

Starting with 8 male AC plugs labeled Arch Segment-1 through 8.

Male AC plugs --> Female 16 pin connector, strands zip tied together. Length here would be about 5 feet.

Each arch when viewed from the back would have a Male 16 pin connector on the left and a Female connector on the right.

Then 18" M/F connection cords between them.

[EdNetman]

This connector shows the voltage as 250v/10amp.

Look what I found on AliExpress
http://s.aliexpress.com/InQbEVz2

Would this work? I don't want to blow anything up but a quicker and easier setup is always nice.

[scubado]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned this, for dealing with 8 channels, you only need 9 pins. Common ground.

[Mega Arch]

48 minutes ago, scubado said:

I'm surprised nobody mentioned this, for dealing with 8 channels, you only need 9 pins. Common ground.

don't know for sure as I haven't tried it - but sounds like a bad idea. back to the domino effects...

such things as bleeding through neutral causing the off channels to glow just sounds like trouble.

 

 

[TheDucks]

Just getting started (16 AC chan). Been lurking for a while You folk have been doing some amazing stuff

Sr Electronics Technician here.with 14Y of DC Power distribution experience

De-rate de-rate de-rate

The pin is rated 10A. In small housings (1-2 pins). When in a 3-12-pin housing heat builds up on the interior pins leading to thermal runaway failures if the pin is not de-rated

(I don't have the charts for these connectors, my experience is with .093 Molex. but the practice still applies)

Don't skimp on 'common' pins. They see More power / duty cycle that the individual R G B lines may see. 

I have seen these type of connectors, the plastic even heat darkens in prolong cases.

Obviously these de-rates can be fudged if the duty cycle  of ON is low and the connector is in a cool (ventilated) location.

 

[EdNetman]

I found one that is not a 90 degree connector on eBay. It has some specifics about the AC voltage and amperage.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/272486144779



The power would run to LED mini lights, 25 lights per segment X 8 arches (200 total lamps).


So, skipping a common ground and understanding that this would be used outside in blistering cold Texas winters (average 65 degrees F), what do you think?


It would make setup and teardown a lot quicker, but I don't want to start any fires, blow anything up, release any magic smoke, etc....

[TheDucks]

The connectors look nice but whomever wrote the chart ???

contact resistance  should be in milli-Ohms  (small m)  (at 5 or 12V, this is important to be small:. Voltage drops more with higher numbers at larger currents. I*R losses)

insulation in Meg Ohms  (Big M)  (at 12V this is moot)

the current shown might be TOTAL of all pins (and you can see the de-rate effect. more pins, lower total) or the char lost a decimal point

 

FWIW I recently built out a Server rack to be used in a data center. . The power plug was for 60A 208V 4 Wire.  Each pin was over 5/16". the plug was over 5" Dia and the cord was 2"  (#4/4 wire)  (The De-rate is 42A continuous per the NEC)

How are your Soldering skills? Soldering close spaced pins is an 'art'. cat whiskers of either wire or solder are easy to make inspect and correct after EVERY Joint

 

I am new to the Yard Lighting scene so I don't have the terminology down.

8 RGB channels +  32 WIRES per dumb arch?  I might consider a  building a 'snake' using 8 common RGB pig tails spliced into each 'breakout' boxes spaced for your Arch locations or put the controller in the middle with 2 branches

[a31ford]

FWIW...if you make multi cables. Treat them like GOLD having a wire or 2 go bad in the middle of the show or even worse, eratic is devistating.. big coils when handling ( more wires in cable means more distance for the outside wire than an inside wire you can strech a wire to the point of breaking if you coil too tight). No "tugging" to loosen. Don't pry connectors apart and wiggling back and forth is a total no no!!