Pixel/node construction

[lonewolf41]

I ordered 16 100 count strings and 16 75 count strings back in October.  The 100 count strings came a couple of weeks ago.  A couple of notes regarding them.  They looked to be sealed really well.  I only had about 6 nodes that were bad and a couple of spots where the wires were chaffed enough to see the wire.  The wire was aluminum which I guess is no big deal.  The biggest thing was the node spacing of 3.125" which means I have to add more nodes to reach my desired height or I have to shrink my tree...which is not much of an option since I am using steel cable to support the lights and they are already cut and crimped.

By the way, Ray also sent a string of 50 and a string of 20 something as extras on my first shipment and he included a string of 24 extra nodes with yesterdays.  So I have more than I ordered and enough for replacing the bad nodes...assuming the strings i just got don't have a bunch of bad ones.

Anyway, on to the 75 count strings that arrived yesterday.  I have not had a chance to test them yet, but did notice that all but 2 strings have splices already in them.  There are splices to add a leader to the string...which is really not that big of a deal I guess since i have to solder anyway, but there are splices in the middle.  In fact, it looks like they took 50 count strings and added on 25 more nodes to that string to make 75.  Again, this may not be a big deal, I am just uneasy about starting with spliced strings.  Admittedly, I have 4 or so other strings that I have spliced to get rid of the bad nodes, but it seems like from the factory, they ought to not be spliced.  Down to the wire for this year and have them planned into the show.  Do you think I should be concerned about the extra joints, etc.?

Thanks,
-Keith

[Steve Gase]

I ordered 16 100 count strings and 16 75 count strings back in October.  The 100 count strings came a couple of weeks ago.  A couple of notes regarding them.  They looked to be sealed really well.  I only had about 6 nodes that were bad and a couple of spots where the wires were chaffed enough to see the wire.  The wire was aluminum which I guess is no big deal.  The biggest thing was the node spacing of 3.125" which means I have to add more nodes to reach my desired height or I have to shrink my tree...which is not much of an option since I am using steel cable to support the lights and they are already cut and crimped.

By the way, Ray also sent a string of 50 and a string of 20 something as extras on my first shipment and he included a string of 24 extra nodes with yesterdays.  So I have more than I ordered and enough for replacing the bad nodes...assuming the strings i just got don't have a bunch of bad ones.

Anyway, on to the 75 count strings that arrived yesterday.  I have not had a chance to test them yet, but did notice that all but 2 strings have splices already in them.  There are splices to add a leader to the string...which is really not that big of a deal I guess since i have to solder anyway, but there are splices in the middle.  In fact, it looks like they took 50 count strings and added on 25 more nodes to that string to make 75.  Again, this may not be a big deal, I am just uneasy about starting with spliced strings.  Admittedly, I have 4 or so other strings that I have spliced to get rid of the bad nodes, but it seems like from the factory, they ought to not be spliced.  Down to the wire for this year and have them planned into the show.  Do you think I should be concerned about the extra joints, etc.?

Thanks,
-Keith

I got my 22 strings of 128 in a couple weeks ago and did not have my SSCs ready in time to test them.  Also, I did not get the escrow service in play because of the credit company fraud protections blocked me.  But I am hopeful that all will turn out well with Ray.

I also received spares... maybe 30 or so.

They were water-proofed with plastic -- not over ALL of the wire, but instead they look dipped so that about 1/2" of wire is covered along with the back of the pixel.

I also had a lot of splices.  I believe that each 128-count string is made up splices composed of 28, 50, and 50-count strings.  I also have leaders spliced into the string.
28-count strings were spliced to (2) 50-count strings in each final 128-count string.  Leads were also spliced.

It irks me too.  But I know that I don't have a choice.

Steve

[jnealand]

Mine came with splices as well.  I'm not to concerned about it.  I have found two nodes where one wire was either not soldered well or broke off at the solder spot, but like everyone else I got extra nodes to put back in.  Also found one wire between two nodes that was completely backward (not RGB, but BGR), but the continuity between the nodes was still correct so everything worked ok.

One nice thing about nodes is that you can cut a string between any two lights so now it is easy to have a string be exactly the right length for whatever you are trying to outline.  The lengths in the wiki are noted as approximate, but are not even close to what the actual lighted length are so any planning done off the wiki data is worthless.

[rimist]

Are the lengths of same count strings roughly the same?

Could one ( or more ) of those that have the strings take some measurements so the wiki can be updated to allow for accurate planning?

- Rimist

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[jnealand]

Use 3.1" between nodes and you will come as close as you can.  Part of the problem in the wiki is that it is an approximate length from beginning of string to end of string when what we really need to know is the lighted length.  And even those approximate lengths in the wiki are way off.  There are several threads discussing this problem.  My 50 node strings came in at about 14 ft versus the wikis 19 ft.  I ordered 75 node strings to replace them and it takes 64 nodes to cover my approx 19 ft window frame.  So I have several short strings that I cut off the 75 node strings and some other strings, so will now have enough to outline my front door which I was not planning on doing.

[rimist]

I went to look at the wiki and found that Rrowan updated it already. Kudos to him for keeping on top of things.

- Rimist

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[Steve Gase]

I think the numbers in the wiki adjusted yet more.

If you use 3.1" between lights, for a 128-pixel string you have 127 gaps between the 128 pixels.

3.1" x 127 x  1'/12" = 32.8'

[rimist]

I believe the adjustment was made on the 50 count strand measuring 14 feet and extrapolating from there.

- Rimist

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