Guest guest Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 This year is going to be a first for LOR and have a few questions. After reading about the circuit boards I understand that you should not run more than 8 amps per channel. I am going to run 3 different colors of C5s on my house and I want each color to be one channel and it works out to be 10 amps per color which is a little to much for the board. I could split it up so each color is on 2 channels so the channel will only draw 5 amps but then I will loose 3 channels (Right now I have everything figured out for 32 Channels so I would have to buy another controller which I really don't want to do).Are there any cheap AC relay products out there so I could have one channel plugged into half the lights from LOR and it will also trip another relay that would power the other half so the load on the LOR channel will only be 5 amps? Is there any better way to do this or should just I just go ahead and buy another controller? Can I install a bigger hink seat and internal fan and get away running 10amps?Another question is can you go over the 20amp rating for a very short burst and be ok? I plan on not having all the lights on during a song but then at the very end all the lights will come on and fade out. It would only use more than 20amps for about two seconds.Below are pictures of my projects I am working on. The first one is my house that will have 32 channels (If I can get away with that many, might have to go to 48). The 10 trees shown below will be pre-lit wire frame Christmas trees I bought for 75% off after christmas last year. They are 7 Feet High and each one has 1,000 lights.I am also going to be working on my Dad's house which will be quite a project. I am planning on 64 Channels and see if I can get away with that few. Here is a picture of the static display last christmas. We will be adding more lights this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 Are there any cheap AC relay products out there so I could have one channel plugged into half the lights from LOR and it will also trip another relay that would power the other half so the load on the LOR channel will only be 5 amps? The use of a 120 volt triggered solid state relay would solve this problem, but you will loose the ability to fade and shimmer. These "addon SSRs" would need to draw from a separate house breaker.Another question is can you go over the 20amp rating for a very short burst and be ok?See above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 I didn't think about the fading issue with the relays. I guess I will just have to buy another controller then.Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 I am also going to be working on my Dad's house which will be quite a project. I am planning on 64 Channels and see if I can get away with that few. Here is a picture of the static display last christmas. We will be adding more lights this yearahh you must be a holdman then! are you tod? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 Yes I am a holdman. I have a brother named Tom (not tod).-Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 24, 2006 Share Posted July 24, 2006 I have been experimenting with SSR's in an attempt to control the static portion of my display via Animated Lightings controllers. I'm pretty confident that I can not only turn the static lights on and off via the controllers but will be able to control the entire static display - 120,000 lights with one AL channel.You would need to talk with Dan as to the exact configuration and hook up for LOR but with AL there is a 10 pin box header, channels 0-7 on the right of the controller board and 8-15 on the left. These are the 15 amp controllers. these box headers are there specifically for connecting SSR's (But DC NOT AC imput control) Each pin corresponds to a channel with a ground and +3 to 8 VDC imput.I have connected DC imput random cross 90 amp. SSR's to the contoller and the light functions on command are identical. All of the light options are now available for the static display! Ramp on, fade, flicker, intensity..... its unbelievable. So one could, through the use of SSR's dictate any amperage per channel, 15 amps 30 amps, or in my case 250 Amps. Remember DC imput......AC imput will only allow off and on function. I'm using Crydom HD4890-10 Random cross VDC imput control- About $56.00 ea.Good Luck,Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 24, 2006 Share Posted July 24, 2006 I forgot to mention that the contoller is basicly only supplying the DC command current so the 15 or 30 amps. depending on the controller is available in addition to the increased SSR amperage whatever it might be.Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 24, 2006 Share Posted July 24, 2006 neworder wrote: This year is going to be a first for LOR and have a few questions. After reading about the circuit boards I understand that you should not run more than 8 amps per channel. I am going to run 3 different colors of C5s on my house and I want each color to be one channel and it works out to be 10 amps per color which is a little to much for the board. I could split it up so each color is on 2 channels so the channel will only draw 5 amps but then I will loose 3 channels (Right now I have everything figured out for 32 Channels so I would have to buy another controller which I really don't want to do).Are there any cheap AC relay products out there so I could have one channel plugged into half the lights from LOR and it will also trip another relay that would power the other half so the load on the LOR channel will only be 5 amps? Is there any better way to do this or should just I just go ahead and buy another controller? Can I install a bigger hink seat and internal fan and get away running 10amps?Another question is can you go over the 20amp rating for a very short burst and be ok? I plan on not having all the lights on during a song but then at the very end all the lights will come on and fade out. It would only use more than 20amps for about two seconds.There are a couple of issues here, the max rating for a bank of 8 channels (20A) and the max rating per channel (8A). If you separate out your C5 channels so that each is on a separate group of 8 channels then you shouldn't have a problem with the max current per bank, assuming that your other channels don't draw much.As far as the 8A limit, you probably wouldn't have any problem pulling 10 amps from a channel for a few seconds at a time. The triacs are rated to handle more current, it's really just a heat dissipation issue, and only hitting them at full power for short periods should be OK, especially since there would be only one channel on that heat sink that would be pulling a lot of current.Another thought is to limit your maximum brightness to something less than 100% on those channels to keep the current draw down just a bit.-jim- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 24, 2006 Share Posted July 24, 2006 Thanks Jim. Those are some good ideas. That is a good idea to only have it at 80% brightness to so I don't draw to many amps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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