Looking for Mounting Ideas for CCB bulbs and CCP Bullet nodes

[Orville]

Okay I have 6 strands of LOR 50 RGB Bullet Nodes{Cosmic Color Pixels?} and 4 strands of LOR 50 RGB Cosmic Color Bulbs.

I'll be mounting the CCB's on the roof line, but need to know how or what to mount them with.  I'll be mounting the RGB Bullet nodes along my handicap ramp {made of wood} and would like to know how to mount these things.

Standard L.E.D. strands I could let sag or whatever, but these need to be a bit tighter and more wind resistant, so any ideas on type of item I need to mount each.

Looking for something to make the task easier, but also screws down into place and holds the bullet nodes or bulbs in place and keeps them from being blown around.

I looked at a type of strip Holiday Coro sells, but since it only comes in a strip of 48, not sure they will work, plus they say they're made specific for Holiday Coro nodes, so not even sure if they'd fit the bullet nodes from LOR.

Any suggestions, ideas and links would be appreciated that would work for these things.  Like said, want something simple, but sturdy and hopefully not too expensive, since I need to mount 300 bullet nodes and 200 bulbs in total.

Thanks for all/any ideas and links.

 

[Mr. P]

The Cannysystem clips are great for ridgelines.

https://www.cannysystems.com/

Edited September 8, 2018 by Mr. P

[robigd]

Cool system. Those guys are really proud of their clips. $2 a piece? Holy cow!

[Orville]

Ridgeline isn't worth doing in my case.  Thanks though.  Only have one line and that's the peak along the roof of the house.  It just wouldn't be that visible from how my house sits {manufactured home, i.e. glorified mobile home}.

I'm needing something that will work along the sides of my house, there are no eaves except the front and back ends of the house, and I don't do those as I don't have a ladder tall enough to get to them.  I also don't do anything on the roof at all.   It's a wonder I even get the sides of the house done since I really don't like heights and standing on a ladder makes me quite nervous, but got to get the lights up.

I need something that'll go along the metal trim along each side of my house.

I used to use plastic cable "C" clamps to hold the electrical wire between each set of 5 - 7 bulbs on a standard L.E.D. set, but they won't work well for the type wire used on Pixel type bullet nodes and pixel bulbs.  So I've got to find something easy, inexpensive and quick to set up to use for these LOR RGB light strands I'll be using this year.

 

Edited September 8, 2018 by Orville

[ItsMeBobO]

If you want fast and cheap...it won't be that good. 

If you want fast and good... it won't be that cheap

If you want good and cheap... it won't be that fast 

If you want fast, cheap and good...     it will be hard to find...meaning it won't be fast or easy. 

 

Edited September 8, 2018 by ItsMeBobO

[Orville]

Have to disagree with that pie chart. 

There has to be something out there that won't put you in the poor house just to mount these things properly, or have to take out a 2nd mortgage on your house {if you can even get one} just to mount lights on your house.

If I can't find something that'll work and that's not so expensive it's going to break the bank with what little I have to spend this year, and that isn't much now, just to mount these things, then there isn't going to be any show at my house this year. 

If I can't mount these RGB lights, no point in creating a show.

Kind of makes me wish I had just replaced and bought standard multi-colored  store brand L.E.D. strands.

Didn't know it was going to so hard, or so expensive just to get these RGB strings mounted properly.

 

Edited September 8, 2018 by Orville

[GriswoldStyle]

Will this help? 20 pack of pixel mounting strips. Less that 30 bucks. Not sure If that is what you meant or not.

https://www.environmentalled.com/Pixel-Mounting-Strips---20-pack-p2470.html

If not pixel mounting strips, Your other option is the universal shingle clips from home depot.that will be out in a couple weeks. They have 2 size holders on the. It's a 50 pack for like $4. Might be able to mount the pixels in the pinch clamp on the shingle clips. They always have them in the Christmas section of Home Depot every year.

Edited September 8, 2018 by GriswoldStyle

[T-Horn]

4 hours ago, robigd said:

Cool system. Those guys are really proud of their clips. $2 a piece? Holy cow!

$2 a piece?  May have misread, actually as low as $0.46 a piece.  I have used the same ridge clips for the last 3 years and they're still in good shape.  They can also be used as anchor points for snow flakes and other decorations.

[Orville]

Thanks folks, haven't really found what I "think" I'm looking for yet, still searching, but I'm going to ride in the taxi they send for my wife when she goes to her medical research study on Tuesday, and then  just hike down to SkyCraft Surplus {it's only about a very short walk from the research facility}.

I can usually find things there I may be able to adapt for what I need to mount these lights.

Will let you know if I find anything worthwhile or mentioning. 

Well I hope I can get there if my wife is at the study long enough, since I'll have to wait for SkyCraft to open around 9-9:30am and the wife goes in at 8am and is sometimes done in an hour, sometimes she's there all day, she never knows until she gets there on the day of her appointment.  And I need a few hours to rummage through all the goodies to try and find something at SkyCraft.

 

[ItsMeBobO]

Never heard of SkyCraft.   We dont have them around here.

[lkcubsrule]

You can use a standard C9 clip for the Cosmic Color Bulbs.

[Orville]

56 minutes ago, lkcubsrule said:

You can use a standard C9 clip for the Cosmic Color Bulbs.

That's what I was thinking too.  But wasn't sure since the bulbs have such  a very short base.  So I wasn't too sure if they'd fit, but I need to find some that could be screwed down and mounted to the metal roof line siding strip along each side of my house.  If I had rain gutters or eves, I could probably figure out something, but mounting these seems a bit different than what I'm accustomed to doing. 

I had used plastic "C" clamps on my standard light strands about every 5-6 bulbs apart and that worked well for them, but I could stress the basic strands a little tight by having the clamp next to the bulb on the electrical wire in the strand to keep it tight and somewhat, but not perfectly uniform. 

From what I  read, it's not a good idea to stress the RGB nodes/strands,  and they need to be somewhat better tied down for wind resistance, at least that's my understanding of them.    Plus I want them to be perfectly uniform if I can get them mounted in such a way.   I'm just at a loss on mounting these RGB bullet Nodes and RGB Bulbs where I need them to be mounted, no other options available.

So I'm not sure if my "C" clamp or Zip Tie tie down method would work with some of the type screw down clamps I've used on basic standard store bought strands or not for the RGB strands I have.   Just a bit concerned I may damage them using my usual method of holding my strands in place.

.

[Orville]

3 hours ago, ItsMeBobO said:

Never heard of SkyCraft.   We dont have them around here.

They do have an online presence.  They are a surplus store for IC's Resistors, Capacitors, transistors, most anything electronic, as well as a lot of electrical stuff, wire, L.E.D.'s, last time I was there they were carrying RGB L.E.D.'s as well as RGB strips, power supplies, kits, all kinds of stuff.  A lot of the stuff they buy and then sell is Military grade surplus, but they also have brand new stuff in there too and they're usually quite reasonable on pricing most times.

There is only ONE SkyCraft in existence that I know of, and it's located on W. Fairbanks Ave. in Winter Park, FL.  There trademark symbol is a UFO that's lighted, flying above their store.

They are a very large store and once you get in there, you can, and usually will spend hours and hours just browsing through all the stuff they have in there. 

It's where I bought my wire for making my own extension cords, as well as soldering station and replaced a few assorted hand tools I'd worn out over the years.

It's a DIY'er's dream shop I'd say, but it'd be their wife's worst nightmare! ???

 

Edited September 10, 2018 by Orville
used wrong version of sell, had sale instead of sell.

[lkcubsrule]

On 9/9/2018 at 9:46 PM, Orville said:

From what I  read, it's not a good idea to stress the RGB nodes/strands,  and they need to be somewhat better tied down for wind resistance, at least that's my understanding of them.   

I've mounted my CCBs just like my old C9s; strung along ridges and individually clipped.  They're pretty rugged components; I'm not sure you need to treat them differently than traditional C9s. If anything; they've got no glass and won't break if dropped!  Mine have held up just fine.  

I love Menards' light clips (Midwest home improvement store) and I've used them for a decade.  The bulbs fit just fine; no problemos.

[Richard Hamilton]

Just a quick thought here.  On the eve's I remember seeing someone on this forum say they zip tied their CCRs to a small PVC pipe and that made it easy to just put the pipe up on hooks or nail and then take down easy.  I thought that was a good idea.
For me, I installed my CCR strips permanently under the eve to stay there year-round, yet not able to see them unless they are on.  Much less work for me to not put them up and take them down every year.   The only other things to install is my tree and lower landscaping CCRs.

[Orville]

6 hours ago, lkcubsrule said:

I've mounted my CCBs just like my old C9s; strung along ridges and individually clipped.  They're pretty rugged components; I'm not sure you need to treat them differently than traditional C9s. If anything; they've got no glass and won't break if dropped!  Mine have held up just fine.  

I love Menards' light clips (Midwest home improvement store) and I've used them for a decade.  The bulbs fit just fine; no problemos.

I wonder if I can make a small screw hole in the area that's rounded and all plastic, then mount the clip to my metal siding?  If I can do that, these should work great.

But I suppose whether this idea will work or not is how they extend out to hold the bulb in place.  

Also need to find a clip to mount bullet pixel nodes, since they are much smaller than the Cosmic Color Bulbs.  I have some clips that slide under a shingle, but due to how my home sits, it would make them impossible to see properly, if at all as they'd be pointing in to each other, one behind the other.  Not only that, they don't have enough space to drill a screw hole and mount them where I need them.  And I'm not sure that will work very well, if at all.  Plus I'm trying NOT to slide anything under a shingle if I can keep from doing it.

Don't have a Menard's in my area, so may have to try and find them online, as I've never seen any light clips that look like the ones in your photo in my area.  So will have to get some of the C9 Clips, and then see how they'll work out by drilling a hole and mounting on a test board before making the major investment in how many I'll actually need.

Edited September 13, 2018 by Orville

[Orville]

7 hours ago, lkcubsrule said:

I've mounted my CCBs just like my old C9s; strung along ridges and individually clipped.  They're pretty rugged components; I'm not sure you need to treat them differently than traditional C9s. If anything; they've got no glass and won't break if dropped!  Mine have held up just fine.  

I love Menards' light clips (Midwest home improvement store) and I've used them for a decade.  The bulbs fit just fine; no problemos.

Okay, just found these at Home Depot and ordered 2 Boxes of them.  So will see how these work out when I get them around Sept. 19.

Thanks for the suggestion and the photo.  That helped a lot!

[GriswoldStyle]

Yep those are the same ones I use from home Depot. You get about 2-3 years out of them and they are only $4 a box.. Depending on where they're at in the Sun they are great. I have a whole tote full but be prepared every year you end up breaking a couple of them it's just part of things being made from plastic. But those are some of the best Clips I found for roof lights.

[Orville]

5 hours ago, GriswoldStyle said:

Yep those are the same ones I use from home Depot. You get about 2-3 years out of them and they are only $4 a box.. Depending on where they're at in the Sun they are great. I have a whole tote full but be prepared every year you end up breaking a couple of them it's just part of things being made from plastic. But those are some of the best Clips I found for roof lights.

Gone up in price to $9.99 per 100 clips now.  Just spent $21.26 for 200 of them including tax, got free shipping on them.   Although I do plan on ordering some more for the bullet nodes when I can.

And being plastic, I figured I'd end up breaking a few during installation, so bought 2 boxes to have enough to cover 100 Cosmic Color Bulbs, as they are what will be lining the roof line.  Not exactly sure where or how I'm going to use the bullet pixel nodes just yet.  Still formulating idea's for those.  Thinking maybe a couple strands of them on my handicap ramp, maybe 2 controllers and 4 strands of bullet nodes.  Still deciding on their placement.

[GriswoldStyle]

Oh you must have bought a different brand then. the ones I buy from Home Depot when they put up their Christmas stuff, come in a 75 pack and they're only like $3.97. they have the same package on Amazon but that's not where I buy them. I normally wait until the end of September when home depot starts putting out their Christmas stuff. Then they sell these boxes for 4 bucks at Home Depot. yep you will definitely break a few I do every year but I only end up having to buy a box maybe two every year I have a tote bin full of those for the roof lights. We have four different color C9 we use up on the Roof. but if you're going to order more just hold off until the first week of October and I'm sure you'll be able to find them online or in the store. They have them every year.

Home Accents Holiday 80195 Universal Shingle/Gutter Clip https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006V1RJFG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_ly.MBbQGJCNX0

Right now all the scalpers are reselling them. But if you wait until the first week of October you will be able to find them on Home Depot's website.

Edited September 14, 2018 by GriswoldStyle