Dipping and tying pixels - is there a better way?

[rm357]

Most of you seem to be well ahead of me this year. I'm so far behind that I'm currently planning to drop back to just the pixelnet megatree. I have finally finished the dipping process and was wondering if anyone has figured out a good way to do this. I'm using a paint can and basically dump a string in at a time and then drape it over my drying rack as I pull them out of the can. It makes a bit of a mess though and the mixture makes the nitrile gloves that I am using very slick...

Also, I'm planning to zip-tie my strings to paracord and was wondering what others have done. I'm thinking make a knot in the paracord roughly every foot (I haven't figured out the exact spacing yet) and zip tie a node to the cord as shown. It seems like a lot of work, but by adding a few strings inside the tree I can garuantee that the nodes will be facing out. It seemed to me that tying the node directly to the string would either have it pointing almost strait up or down, which seems like the wrong direction... Of course, these are probably bright enough that it doesn't matter.

So what have you done and/or what do you think?
RM

[LtKadeo]

I will not get to dipping my strings this year But I was thinking that the strings will be on the cord before I dip them not to "pull" on the nodes. Was also going to try and tie the ends of the par cord to a metal loop on each end (small chain loop). Not sure how any of this will work out but will hope to find out before next year when I use the strings on a mega tree...
Ted

[Steve Gase]

I have the plastidip can with thinner still unopened. 
The strings arrived at the doorstep looking like they might have been dipped, but I can't say  how well.

The paracord is working ok, I zip-tied every 1-2 feet.

Only think I wish I might have done different is to get the pixels facing the same direction before fastening to the paracord.  I ended up with many pixels appearing to circle the cord and not having a uniform direction.

But I am sure that its only one of many things that annoy me that no one ever would notice.

[TheBanker]

The newer lights seem to be sealed better.  Mine have run wet with no problem.  The ssc is another story.  I need to seal where the wires exit the cap.



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[jnealand]

I debated about sealing the caps, but you have to be able to open them up in order to do any programming or repair (or mod for testing).  Therefore I have mounted all mine up under the eaves to minimize the possibility of moisture entering in the "case".  I did drill my holes for the wires for a fairly tight fit, but I am using the pigtails and the 3 pin connectors and not soldering the flat 3 wire cable direct to the board so nice round holes work great for me.

[rm357]

For the SSCs I am also using the pigtails and three pin connectors. I actually use different size holes for the different connectors to get a really snug fit. I hadn't considered sealing them as I plan to mount them horizontally by zip-tying them to the ring at the bottom of the tree.

RM

[injury]

For the caps I was just considering some kind of grease or jelly. Sealing through displacement.

[dowdybrown]

For the strings, I used 2 zip-ties per light, as close to the light as possible. Then I hot-glued between the two zip-ties onto the paracord. Only problem is the one Steve mentioned - the lights tend to circle the paracord.

For the SSC's, I ran both cords out the same end cap, so I was able to seal the hole. Makes it really easy to disassemble. Highly recommended.

Matt

[RJ]

The newer lights seem to be sealed better.  Mine have run wet with no problem.  The ssc is another story.  I need to seal where the wires exit the cap.



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Let me try to explain something that everyone is not aware of I believe. The "newer" improved pixel nodes that look like they had some epoxy on the end to keep the water out. I saw a post some where that the person said it does not keep the water out of the led end.

If you take on of you newer nodes that are like this and tun a razor blade down the side of the silcone so you cut it you can now easily peal it away unlike the older ones. When you do you will fins it is just a thin shell and it is the whole pcb that is encased in epoxy not just the end. So there is not really anyway to get water to the pcb.  the wires are also glued inside the epoxy so they get some strian relief for pulling loose like we had with the earlier ones. I wish all mine where the new style but they are not. This is the reason the difference in stories from one member to the next. It depends heavy on when they received the nodes.

I do not see dipping the new ones as i do not believe it will gain us anything. I just wish I would have been to do a show this year because I bought enough to double my megatree and outline the house with them this year. But you know sometimes family stuff has to come first.

With the new style nodes avaliable and the stuff we have coming out this year like the conductor and slaves it will be possible if you want to spend the money to do some amazing stuff. We will still have to seqence it all though and that to me is the hard part.

RJ

[lboucher]

My biggest suggestion would be to take the time and straighten out all the wires as your zip tying to the paracord. If you let the wire twist at the node all the force is applied to one wire and can cause it to seperate and short, and possibly burn the node. I have seen the smoke and have pictures. Also, don't go cheap on the zip ties, mine are now zipped ever 4 or 5 nodes.

[Khaler]

The newer lights seem to be sealed better.  Mine have run wet with no problem.  The ssc is another story.  I need to seal where the wires exit the cap.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Let me try to explain something that everyone is not aware of I believe. The "newer" improved pixel nodes that look like they had some epoxy on the end to keep the water out. I saw a post some where that the person said it does not keep the water out of the led end.

If you take on of you newer nodes that are like this and tun a razor blade down the side of the silcone so you cut it you can now easily peal it away unlike the older ones. When you do you will fins it is just a thin shell and it is the whole pcb that is encased in epoxy not just the end. So there is not really anyway to get water to the pcb.  the wires are also glued inside the epoxy so they get some strian relief for pulling loose like we had with the earlier ones. I wish all mine where the new style but they are not. This is the reason the difference in stories from one member to the next. It depends heavy on when they received the nodes.

I do not see dipping the new ones as i do not believe it will gain us anything. I just wish I would have been to do a show this year because I bought enough to double my megatree and outline the house with them this year. But you know sometimes family stuff has to come first.

With the new style nodes avaliable and the stuff we have coming out this year like the conductor and slaves it will be possible if you want to spend the money to do some amazing stuff. We will still have to seqence it all though and that to me is the hard part.

RJ

Yes!  The fairly recent batch I used to build my digital megatree were specified as IP68.   They're epoxied and have been out on the tree in heavy rains with zero failures.    I straightened my wires while zip tieing every 2nd pixel on paracord.   There is a small amount of twist but with the paracord attached tight to the tree base ring, it looks really good.

This FB photo album has some closeups of the paracord tied off at the ring base, you can also see the minimal amount of twist in the strings:

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[keitha43]

Unfortunately Ray won't trade the newer style for the older. He said he considers the old ones waterproof also. Even though I have had to replace about 50-60 nodes already. Next year I am really going to soak these in plasti-dip as it appears it just made a paper thin coating that easily rubs off the wires. I think I will also tie wrap each node at its base as I think the wires were not spread apart during dipping as far as they are now on the tree. Ray claims he made no money on these and would "die" if he had to replace all the old strings on my tree with the ip68. Even though it is only around 1008 nodes. I wish our drought would come back. I told everybody to come by and see the lights before the next rainstorm.