NTJP Posted July 16, 2018 Posted July 16, 2018 This is my first year working with pixels. Working on building a Mega Tree. Made a star for the top and after finishing it occurred I made have done it wrong. Used black tape to hold the pixels in place. Came out great, do not think they will move. However, did not occur to me until done this will hold in the heat and may lead to failure. Let me know if that is right or will it work like it is. Here is a picture of it while making it. Do I need to pull off all of the tape and start over????
NTJP Posted July 17, 2018 Author Posted July 17, 2018 Great I'll give it a shot. Really was not looking forward to unwinding all of that tape. Took 2 1/2 rolls. But those pixels will hold up to any wind or storm.
k6ccc Posted July 17, 2018 Posted July 17, 2018 My only comment about using tape is that is tends to make a mess if or when you need to unwind it to replace a failed pixel. Particularly true if it gets hot where you live (note that includes off-season storage). I think most of us use ty-wraps rather than tape.
NTJP Posted July 17, 2018 Author Posted July 17, 2018 Had not thought of the tape getting hot, and yes it gets real sticky and a black residue mess. Have watched a ton of videos and one of them showed using black tape to attach pixels for the tree. Had 1000 UV ties come in a couple of weeks ago, was going to use in other locations. How well will they hold up to staying in place on a round surface, such as PVC pipe. Would think they would slide around after heating up in the sun. This would cause the pixels not to line up correctly on a tree. Best I remember none of the videos watched used ties on a round pipe. Any thoughts or experience with ties and round pipe?
k6ccc Posted July 17, 2018 Posted July 17, 2018 As long as you get them tight, Ty-wraps will hold just fine. This was the first year of my pixel tree: Using a steel cable like that was a stopgap because I could not do what I originally planned. I did change that after two years for as couple of reasons. One was that in storage and handling between years, the pixels did tend to move a tiny little bit, but the more significant issue was to get the look that I wanted. I ended up doing something similar to what I originally planned: Then covered the strip with split loom molding as seen on the right strip: I am rebuilding the pixel tree again this year and will do something similar to what I have now - except the tree will be 24 strings of 100 pixels instead of 12 strings of 50 pixels as it is now. More details on my existing tree and star at: http://newburghlights.org/pixel_tree.html
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