randy huber Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 Past experience has kept me from using rope lights. It never fails, i always have bulb or bulbs burn out on strand. I was wondering if anyone has had problems with 3-d star on top of mega tree Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LENNY RUEL Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 I hope not as I have a 24" one of these on order from Mike over at Gardner Christmas. I used rope light 10 years ago and noticed the problem with blacked out sections and haven't used it since. I guess as for the star I kind of hoped that they have improved the product by now.Lenny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 I used a 3d star last year with no problems, howeve I made some snoflakes out of buld rope light I purchased and had some sections fail, I see what your concern would be. this year I am going to add a set or two of led's to the star just for back up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beefer Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Last year I got 95% done wiring a 30m rope light around a very intricate tree design, only to find by turning the rope light round too-tight bends, I'd damaged the internals and had massive blackout sections. Not very happy I can tell you!The secret with rope light is to keep the corners fairly gentle, with bends no tighter than the lid of a coffee cup for example - which does tend to limit the imagination somewhat...The only ones I trust now are those that are already built into shapes, as that type of rope light seems to be designed for tight bends, whilst shop-bought rope light isn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Levelius Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 I've had several of the vendors I talk to suggest heating the rope light to make it more pliable while bending around corners. They say it will work with store bought rope light as well as it's made from the same material.-Gary- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M Gardner Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 I have been using my star for 3 seasons now on top of my mega tree and I have had no problems.I use the rope light from action lighting and Hugh stands behind his product very well. I did install some of his ropelighting in a high end home as step lighting and it is on 24/7/365 and has been going strong since approx Feb 08. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Herberger Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 How is this for a gentle bend A little heat does the trick very nicely Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beefer Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 yep, that's exactly the kind of thing I was trying to achieve when things went bad! Sounds like next time I'll have to also use the heat trick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M Gardner Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Jeff Millard wrote: All it took for me to make the really tight turns was to light the string for a little while. Ropelight has a tendency to get hot real quick. Once it's warmed up, it bends like a charm without breaking any fine wire.JeffThis is EXACTLY how I put rope light on my star topper and it works great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toymakr000 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 I was worried about discoloring the rope light by getting it too hot so I used hot water. This also worked very well and didn't discolor the plastic. If you do it this way make sure it's unplugged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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