rgb arches

[duane.mosley]

I am sure it is just a preference thing, but what is better? inserting into pipe, or mounting on top? my show is up and running and I have extra nodes so I was going to start playing around with some rgb arches.

[jnealand]

These were really simple to make.
48 nodes each
lawn edging from lowes - $20 makes 2
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1/2 in pvc pushed thru the edging to stiffen it
two 1/2" pvc Ts, four 1/2" pvc caps. four 12 - 15" 1/2" pvc for legs
I used one SSC per arch, but you could use one for two arches.

[Steve Gase]

first year i mounted outside and i had issues with the zip tie holding the strips in place -- it seemed to cause a break in the pixels after the zip tie.
After the season and the zip ties were removed, strangely the strip worked well.


next year I placed old IP66 pixels inside of PEX and it worked nicely, had no water issues and allowed me to find value in what would have been useless pixels.

[lonewolf41]

I mounted mine on top of 1" PVC.  Can post a picture tomorrow if needed.

-Thanks,
-Keith

[duane.mosley]

These were really simple to make.
48 nodes each
lawn edging from lowes - $20 makes 2
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1/2 in pvc pushed thru the edging to stiffen it
two 1/2" pvc Ts, four 1/2" pvc caps. four 12 - 15" 1/2" pvc for legs
I used one SSC per arch, but you could use one for two arches.

How tall/wide are your arches Jim?

I mounted mine on top of 1" PVC.  Can post a picture tomorrow if needed.

-Thanks,
-Keith

I vaguely remember seeing what yours looked like Keith, I know that yours were taller than what I am wanting. I am wanting to something around 3' tall. I am planning on lining my sidewalk

[zwiller]

Tested a few things and went with 3m/30 sections of 2811 strips (THANKS JIM!) inside a 10' stick of 3/4" pex.  Very happy with the outcome.  PVC works but much less bright.  10' 1" pvc thinwall is $2, 3/4" pex is $5 at my Lowe's.  Another benefit to the pex is it is much lighter than pvc.  Arches can be "top heavy", mine are not at all. 

[jnealand]

I cut the landscape material at 48 nodes.  After pushing a 10ft 1/2" pvc thru I cut off around 9" of the pvc.  I put a screw in the pvc T and hook a loop of paracord over the T with the screw holding the cord from slipping.  I then pull the arch up until we think it looks good and tie off the parcord on the other end.  I would guess they are somewhere between 30 and 36" high.  We don't like high arches.  After Halloween I added two more arches since I had lots of extra nodes and put them along the curb in front of the house instead of the up in the yard.  The base seems to be around 8ft across.  You could make them higher or lower depending on how tight you pull the paracord.  I used 48 nodes only because if I grouped them it was divisible by 6 and 8, but using nutcracker I just leave them as 48 nodes with no grouping.

[mms]

I prefer the strip inside.  I like the diffused/neon look of the 200psi/thin wall PVC.  We used steam to make our arches, I know people that tie the ends to get the shape they want.  Just a matter of personal taste.

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[twooly]

I have TM1809 flex strip inside of pex tubing, 50 nodes per arch.  I was happy with the end result.

Video of them
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[twooly]

Tested a few things and went with 3m/30 sections of 2811 strips (THANKS JIM!) inside a 10' stick of 3/4" pex.  Very happy with the outcome.  PVC works but much less bright.  10' 1" pvc thinwall is $2, 3/4" pex is $5 at my Lowe's.  Another benefit to the pex is it is much lighter than pvc.  Arches can be "top heavy", mine are not at all.

Those are some bright mini-trees

Very nice looking setup Sam.

[zwiller]

Thanks Todd.  That means alot as I have a lot of work in them but I think they are worth it.  Contemplating a coro face to match the look of the other gear in the yard...

Just a heads up, the sleeve of my 1809 flex is a bit wider than the 2811 and I am not sure if it would make it into the 3/4" pex.  It is a few years old and maybe it's not that wide anymore tho...  Also, I forced a half of a 3" long piece of 1/2" pvc against the wire in the bottom of the pex to keep the strip from moving.  Also, if you're gung ho much wider pex can be found at pro plumbing places.  I guess like up to 2-3" but it is around $3/ft. 

[mitch09]

I cut the landscape material at 48 nodes.  After pushing a 10ft 1/2" pvc thru I cut off around 9" of the pvc.  I put a screw in the pvc T and hook a loop of paracord over the T with the screw holding the cord from slipping.  I then pull the arch up until we think it looks good and tie off the parcord on the other end.  I would guess they are somewhere between 30 and 36" high.  We don't like high arches.  After Halloween I added two more arches since I had lots of extra nodes and put them along the curb in front of the house instead of the up in the yard.  The base seems to be around 8ft across.  You could make them higher or lower depending on how tight you pull the paracord.  I used 48 nodes only because if I grouped them it was divisible by 6 and 8, but using nutcracker I just leave them as 48 nodes with no grouping.

Jim,

How wind resistant are your arches with that base? I currently have 5 arches being held down by rebar pounded in the ground at an angle and a pvc pipe slipped over. But, my neighbors wants me to continue the arches into his yard and he has an underground sprinkler system. I am a little reluctant to put rebar stakes into the ground not knowing how deep his pipes are.

I get a pretty heavy North East wind in the winter and want to try your method, but don't know with the wind.

[complacent_one]

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Here is something one of the local guys put together.  Uses HDPE tubing from McMasterCarr, which is a bit more translucent than Pex.  Looks like the cost may be a bit higher, but HDPE is some extremely tough stuff.

[t.jo13]

Duane,

Here are some pics of 3.5 ft arches for reference to your sidewalk. They were made with sharkbite pex from HD. Seems to be brighter than lowes pex. It is stock 3/4 x10ft cut down to 7.5 ft. If the arches were heated they would be aprox. 3ft. The flex is inside and these are bright. Had to turn down the intesity. I did not heat the pex so that I can strap it to a piece of metal elec conduit for easy storage. hope it helps some.

Joe

[duane.mosley]

thanks guys for all of your ideas. . strips are out for this year, I have over 300 extra nodes and I'd like to try and get a few built and inserted into this years show so waiting for strips from ray is out of the question. I guess the best thing for me to do is go to the depot and get some pipe and see what I like best.