Guest guest Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 I am getting ready to place my order (before the price goes up) and I am trying to decide if I want to go with the hobby board or just buy a finished product with the showtime controllers.It seems the Hobby board is rated for 40 amps where the showtime product is rated at 30 amps. Why the difference? Does the hobby board just have a bigger heatsink? I am going to have some pretty big loads and it would be nice to have more amps to work with so thinking about going with the hobby boards and putting them in my own cases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Both boards will do 20 amps per side; with either of them, you have to replace the fuses with 20 amp ceramic fuses. According to Dan, you can get them at Radio Shack. As shipped, both come with 15 amp fuses for each side.Denny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Ok thanks. It seems like it is just worth it to buy the showtime product since it already comes with a case and pigtails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Well I just bit the bullet and bought 3 16 channel controllers so I will have 48 channels to work with and need to start planning.Hey Marty, if you are reading this I want you to know this is your fault. Even though I have been wanting to do this for a few years, I saw your house last year in person and it pushed me to finally do it this year. (I live down in Utah Valley)Now I just need to get the WAF (Wife Approval Factor) higher to buy all the yard lights I am going to need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 You would also need to replace the power cords to handle 20 amps on the showtime product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 neworder wrote: Well I just bit the bullet and bought 3 16 channel controllers so I will have 48 channels to work with and need to start planning.Hey Marty, if you are reading this I want you to know this is your fault. Even though I have been wanting to do this for a few years, I saw your house last year in person and it pushed me to finally do it this year. (I live down in Utah Valley)Now I just need to get the WAF (Wife Approval Factor) higher to buy all the yard lights I am going to need.Sweet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 26, 2006 Share Posted July 26, 2006 you have to replace the fuses with 20 amp ceramic fusesYou would also need to replace the power cords to handle 20 ampAnd don't forget that upgrading the equipment to handle 20A is pointless unless you can plug it into a 20A receptacle on a 20A circuit. The 20A plugs have one blade turned sideways to keep them from being plugged into a 15A receptacle, while the 20A receptacles can accept both 15A and 20A plugs.Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 tsmith35 wrote:And don't forget that upgrading the equipment to handle 20A is pointless unless you can plug it into a 20A receptacle on a 20A circuit. The 20A plugs have one blade turned sideways to keep them from being plugged into a 15A receptacle, while the 20A receptacles can accept both 15A and 20A plugs.TomCan someone shed some light on this topic for me.ThanksRoman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 Roman A. Gurule Jr. wrote: Can someone shed some light on this topic for me.ThanksRomanWhat more would you like to know? You upgrade the fuses to 20amp fuses. Upgrade the wire to handle the additional load, (should be 12 gauge) and upgrade the plugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 So can I plug it into a 15 amp wall outlet?Roman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 Roman A. Gurule Jr. wrote: So can I plug it into a 15 amp wall outlet?RomanNope. Go look at Tom's post. The picture is of a 20amp plug, and 20amp outlet. You'll need both of these in order to upgrade your controller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 I would suggest making up a spreadsheet of the loads that you're going to plug into the controller...You may be surprised....In my case, I am able to use one 15A power cord for both sides with the power jumpers installed on the controller because the total load for both sides is several amps less than 15 total for each board.It really depends on what you're going to plug into each controller.It would be nice to avoid the 20A upgrade if you can, since you'll spend some money getting all those parts (20A extension cords aren't cheap unless you get the parts and build them yourself and even then there's the time involved that you could be sequencing music).Randy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 Denny,I have the delux 16 channel kits and replaced all the ceramic 15A fuses with the clear glass 20A kind. what's the difference glass or ceramic. will the glass work?.thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 Glass can sometimes crack or explode when the fuse blows. Ceramic fuses are more rugged and also have sand inside to slow down the flash. They are typically used where the potential of an electrical flash would not be desired. This is just like a light bulb can occasionally explode when it burns out. It doesn’t happen very often, but it can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Wow! Thanks Denny,Hardware, software, music, sparkling lights and animation, too much traffic, angry neighbors, transmitters, computers, circuit- breakers, confusion, aggrevation, additional debt, falling off roofs & ladders, electrocution, now maybe explosions, flying glass and possibly a fire! This hobby has everything!Off to the Shack.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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