DiyLightAnimation
Hardware => Lynx Smart String => Topic started by: FireMedic4Christ on December 08, 2011,
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I see where Ray Wu has some C9 faceted covers for the SS nodes. Did anyone order any of these to try? I am interested in any feedback and some day / night pictures would be great if you have any. Better yet would be a smooth cover that better mimics the ceramic C9s if someone knows of such a thing and can point me in the right direction.
Brian
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They didn't look good. I am thinking of using c7 covers from the walmart lights. They don't slide down very far but the cover looked brighter than the c9.
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Would you happen to have any pictures, especially at night from a distance. Also, which wal-mart c7 are you referring to.
Thanks,
Brian
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No I didn't take any pictures. The cover that looked best is the blue box 25 count LED C7 Light Set, warm white, green wire. it is a smooth cover that pops right off. The smooth c9 looked like there is no cover on it at all. The faceted c9 from Ray made the led look dimmer especially from certain angles. I am thinking of using them next Halloween If I can still find some in the after Christmas sales.
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I have to disagree. I have all C9 covers with my strings and I think they look great. Also my yard stakes and roof clips keep all the lights vertical so I shouldn't have any problems with the rain. Adds further protection. One negative i can say is the covers are inconsistently tight on the pixel. Most are hard to move which is good but then some can fall right off if flipped upside down lol
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I have all C9 covers with my strings and I think they look great
PICTURES PLEASE I am thinkin of going smart strings next year but My family loves the C9,s on the roof
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Walmart also has c9 led lights that the covers pop off. You can try one of each and see what looks better. Rays were similar to the c9's but much thinner material. To me I could not even tell it from a node with no cover. It didn't diffuse it at all. The faceted one dimmed it too much for my taste at a straint on direction. but it was similar to retrofit c9's. My preference with the smooth c7 was that the thicker glass diffused it better at more angles. But I would just try it. I think you had to buy a large quantity from Ray.
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I have to disagree. I have all C9 covers with my strings and I think they look great. Also my yard stakes and roof clips keep all the lights vertical so I shouldn't have any problems with the rain. Adds further protection. One negative i can say is the covers are inconsistently tight on the pixel. Most are hard to move which is good but then some can fall right off if flipped upside down lol
Would love to see some pictures, if you can take any.
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Walmart also has c9 led lights that the covers pop off. You can try one of each and see what looks better. Rays were similar to the c9's but much thinner material. To me I could not even tell it from a node with no cover. It didn't diffuse it at all. The faceted one dimmed it too much for my taste at a straint on direction. but it was similar to retrofit c9's. My preference with the smooth c7 was that the thicker glass diffused it better at more angles. But I would just try it. I think you had to buy a large quantity from Ray.
The quantity was one of the reasons I was asking and purchasing just covers doesn't make any sense with the cost of shipping being 2 to 3 times that. I am also hesitant to buy walmart LEDs just to remove the covers and not use the lights.
From the pictures on Rays site, I also thought the nodes didn't even look like they had covers on them. I would ike to find a smooth cover to try, so a box of walmart lights might be my best bet to try before spending too much.
Any chance you would sell or loan me a small quantity to try for myself if I cover shipping?
Thanks for the input so far,
Brian
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The Walmart covers just pop right off and can be reattached with a little effort and you can return them. Just use pliers to hold onto the base to pop them off. On both Rays and Walmarts c9's the entire node will slide into the cover. The c7 will only slide into the cover to about where the notch is but will fit snuggly. My cell phone camera doesn't show the difference I saw. And my high dollar camera died with a bad ccd last year. The faceted c9 from Ray pretty much looked like the retrofit led which isn't bad but the smooth c7 pretty much kept the original brightness but made it bigger. Rays smooth cover couldn't even tell there was a cover at all like it was invisible. The c9 Walmard made it a little less bright for my tastes.
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I used several of rays covers. Some come off easy, some are STUCK. And seeing the chipset on the lights is 0% accomplished. So when I was told make sure the big chip faces power well... That was a true loss. And I reversed them blew the fuse, reversed them and it was dead. I finally after 12 fuses got them straightened out and got them working.
And shipping was a little higher, but I wanted that look on the roofline and gutter. I used an old c7 base and spliced them into that base with a little distance between the nodes(1200 splices later)and wrapped the whole enclosure and used liquid tape. So far 100% waterproofed, (oh a couple of bottles of superglue to hold the cover on to a few). These strands 1 102 pixel on top roof, one 50 pixel on bottom roof and 78 pixels over the garage roof. Looks like the old c7 configuration but I have a pipe dangling and a cat 5 and I used liquid tape to seal the pipes and so far with all the rain and high winds not an issue. I don't use their white, I used color finder to match warm white in LSP so My one strand that looked blueish white became not an issue. But Ray will adjust me for the next order because of it.
But it was a little pricey to get them and I was worried and wife woke up to the spacing a week after halloween and went they need 8" spacing or we are not using them. So I spent two straight weeks sleeping, walking and living with wire cutters and a soldering iron.
But overall now that they are done and working. I like them, just a lot of work to get them right where I wanted them. And each night those are the one item of the show that runs like a champ. And so now, the wife wants MORE!
Kevin
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Kevin & Sean:
Merry Christmas!
I would hope one or both of you could make pictures or video of your use of the C9 covers ... I held back on Smart Strings this year but want to go with them next year and want that C9 look if at all possible.
BTW, to confirm, this is the item you purchased?
http://www.aliexpress.com/fm-store/701799/209889132-491190957/100-node-LED-pixel-string-with-C9-cover-DC12V-input.html
Thanks.
\dmc
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<np..
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I would make sure you get the ip68 nodes. The link is for the ip66.
Kevin & Sean:
Merry Christmas!
I would hope one or both of you could make pictures or video of your use of the C9 covers ... I held back on Smart Strings this year but want to go with them next year and want that C9 look if at all possible.
BTW, to confirm, this is the item you purchased?
http://www.aliexpress.com/fm-store/701799/209889132-491190957/100-node-LED-pixel-string-with-C9-cover-DC12V-input.html
Thanks.
\dmc
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OK OK OK lol I through a couple hidef vids online(quick ones):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KKQHyWdO7c (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KKQHyWdO7c)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr58f8nWh1E (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr58f8nWh1E)
One thing I learned this year is that those C9 covers fill up with water. I had a couple lights become unhooked from the roof and were hanging with the bulb facing down. After a couple days, found them filled with water. Now i try to check them daily to make sure they are all facing up. Also had few strings on a mega tree as a test with covers left on. All were filled with water. these were never connected so not sure if they will work once dried out. Other than that, covers are great on the house only.
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All were filled with water.
Thanks for the vids.
A couple of years back there was a model of strobe that some users found filled with water during rainstorms. They solved the problem by drilling a small hole so the water could drain out. Either you make them 100% water tight or you provide a way for them to drain.
Again, thanks for your info.
\dmc
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It almost seems like this is a slippery slope ... making LEDs look more like incand. bulbs. You certainly can go a certain ways in the direction, but seems like it won't be perfect. I think that Coroplast does about as good a job as anything at diffusing these bright lights and taking the harsh edge off them. Of course, then your talking about putting the nodes or modules into an enclosure of some type and thats a lot of work. Another option might be to just turn down the max intensity on the nodes? I've found that the fading characteristics are definitely different then incand. lights and definitely not as good overall. The fade range and curve is a light different.