Opinion of the IP68 rgb nodes?

[Steve Gase]

What you would save on shipping from china to the US, you would more than loose on shipping within the US.

I'm not debating any of the other items.  The shipping in the US can be addressed by having large enough populations of lighting enthusiasts.  The LSH group has a "pony express" where they move things between San Antonio, Austin, Houston and Dallas areas by taking advantage of the occassional trips we might all make between the cities.  It works when you are not in a rush.

[rm357]

The LOR recommendation was a little out of character for RJ. I've got a feeling that there are some folks bugging him about this expecting him to take on something that he has already said did not make sense and he was not going to do. Go back and read the forums, it's all there...

The typical node buy is probably in the $1000+ range. If you had 100 people make orders a there was a small error, it could easily run into thousands of dollars... You also run into the IRS buying and selling... If it looks like a sale, Uncle Sam wants his cut, and $100,000 in not going to fly as hobby dollars.

The pony express thing sounds interesting, but many of the coops already take a long time due to parts issues. This sounds like a setup for a never ending coop and a lot of angry and frustrated people.

So the bottom line is, if it's not offered in a coop, you have to Do It Yourself. Preferably without a lot of moaning and complaining. If you want to buy off the shelf products or kits, this is not the place... There is no storefront - but you can buy LOR stuff that way. If you want to run a coop and it is not approved, well you'll just have to start your own forum for that or do it offline.

Our way or the highway, that's not the general attitude here. However, we are not the best place to discuss stuff that we don't support. Complaints against other people's equipment are best voiced on their website.

RM

[Steve Gase]

Understood and accepted.

[RJ]

While what RM says is true, try look at it from my point of view.

A lot of people do an insane amount of work and give up their free time on DLA for what? To save people money and help them. How many of the people running coops normally even need whats in the coop? How many times do they end up in the hole when all is said and done? How many of the members wifes and kids and fathers work hours and hours sorting and packing stuff for others?

To have a member who has been the receiptant of the free work and cost saving make a comment that sounds alot like

"hey your not doing enough work to save me money to them" does not sit well. I am sorry this upsets you but believe me your comment upset me.

Now to cut direct to why, we are prepping for our first of the year where we do a bunch of normally large coops. This takes a number of coop manager to agree to give up a lot of their free time and do large amounts of work so the members can get what they need for a good price.

In the next weeks I have to go out and with hat in hand ask a number of them to do this for the forum and our members.  It gets harder when members say things like that, they feel just what I said and since most have all of their equipment already it really holds no benifit to them.

I am sorry for my LOR comment but I do not think members should be making comments that we are not doing enough for them.

So if I have not been clear enough. There are no coops for the lights going on here. If people decide to do it on their own that is their business, but it will not have a single posting here even mentioning it nor will DLA be mentioned in it. I have my very good reasons for this. Sorry to have to be so blunt but the soft touch was not getting the job done.

RJ

[mykroft]

And my final comment on the subject - where did I say you guys need to do more?  Said nothing of that fact, if there is a legal or logistical reason for no doing it then maybe that should be listed in the FAQ somewhere so it can be easily found.

I made the assumption (and bad on my part) from the video last fall at the academy on the ETD about a commercial US vendor being setup - gave me the impression that something like this is/was ok.  I see now that I was incorrect and will let the matter go.

Myk

[TheBanker]

I didn't find the shipping cost on 1500 nodes to be that bad from China.  I messaged Ray and he lowered it even more.  I received the product in less than a week.  I'm not sure that you have investigated it fully.  I think some just assume the shipping is high.  I have paid more shipping overnight envelopes two states over.


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[keitha43]

Can we get back on topic please? I was trying to determine if the new nodes are as waterproof as the hype. Mine seemed to be but was such a small fraction of my tree I wanted other members experiences with them.

[jnealand]

I have all ip68 nodes and have not had one failure, but all my nodes are hanging under my gutters or around the window recesses and not in the yard.  I have one string that gets miscolored about halfway thru it to the end in just one sequence.  I thought it might be the sequence, but I can not find it.  It may be a failing node that I am hitting with the right combination of color changes because when in all one color the string works great, in random mode it works great but when I make every other bulb alternate between green and blue I get the issue.

[rdebolt]

We had our first rain of the season on Tuesday. It has rained for 3 days now and so far no failures. I have a 1920 node Megatree. I sure hope that I did not just jinx myself!   

BTW Mine are the IP68 nodes with no treatment.

[TheBanker]

I have had no problems with my nodes.  It looks like I have one bad one since it is miscolored on my sidewalk.  My nodes are on the ground and up the trees.  They are being stepped on, pulled on, rained on, sitting in puddles of water, kicked, tripped over and whatever else.........One node bad out of 1500.  Some have not been used yet.  Here is a video of them.

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[ra7h35m20s]

So folks that my question created such an uproar ... I assure you that was not my intention. I am new here so asking the wrong question may be a forgivable offense this time ... I hope.

[JoeFromOzarks]

Earlier today, I cut open a failed "IP68" node to find the crusty yucky stuff one would find on a resistor that sat unused in a parts bin for twenty-some years.   You might know that appearance.   

I know my Plasti-Dip'd "IP67" nodes aren't long for this world but I was hoping for a little better weatherproofing on the "IP68's." 

The IP68's were not Plasti-Dip'd and were directly exposed to weather.  There are no mechanical stresses on the wiring.

Any questions, just ask!!

joe

[RJ]

so you cut the Epoxy open? The ones I have are a solid block of epoxy I am not sure how I could get to the parts on the pcb even if I wanted to.

RJ

[TheBanker]

so you cut the Epoxy open? The ones I have are a solid block of epoxy I am not sure how I could get to the parts on the pcb even if I wanted to.

RJ

Same here.  They are a solid clear hard epoxy.

[JoeFromOzarks]

I used a Dremel diamond cutting wheel and sliced sorta down the sides.  Once cut, the body plopped off the PCB fairly easily.   The “seal” around the LED is poor and the LED leads are not coated in epoxy, at least on this one. 

I'll cut another and see if it's 'bout the same way.   

joe