Author Topic: Is this a good idea?  (Read 808 times)

Offline IndianaChristmas

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Is this a good idea?
« on: August 10, 2014, »
My last few years I have simply put up a display without much consideration for, setup, take down and storage.  With that in mind...

In an effort to make set up and take down easier (as well as storage).  I was considering making 1,2, and 4 ft sections of PVC with SS attached.  Probably using the 4' sections, one end would have the controller attached.  At the other end I would place a 3 wire waterproof connector.  The other sections would have one male and one female 3 wire connector at each end.  I could then connect sections to make bigger lengths.  Granted, once I have a setup I certainly don't need to make different lengths next year.  But what if, I don't like my set up this year and want to tweak it some?  This seems like a nice idea.  Storage would be nice as well. 

I know there is a limit of the number of nodes (depends on the type of node) so the total length per controller is obviously limited.

My only thought is that each connection is a bit of a voltage drop and at the end of my run I could see some degradation in performance with several such connections.  Any idea how many?  Would this behave much differently than a splice in the string?

The same kinda of question but for the Cat5.  Are couplers good ideas with Cat5 and SS (with or without pigtail on the controller)?

Thanks.

Offline duane.mosley

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Re: Is this a good idea?
« Reply #1 on: August 10, 2014, »
THE PVC IS GREAT!!!! I myself used 10' sections but instead of using ray's connectors. I just used regular 12v butt spice connectors. male on one section female on the other. the advantage of the regular butt splice is they are aluminum for auto and marine use and when water or moisture gets in the connection, it's not sealed so it dries quickly. I have had no issues what so ever. between window frames, door frames, garage door frames, siding outline and the outline of my rooftop(once for nodes and once for icicles) I have 416' of pvc frames. I can install my entire house in one day! with no screws into any part of my house! that of course is just putting up the pvc. takes several weeks to do everything. not too mention 384' of pvc for my mega tree. good thing about the pvc is the set up time and storage. well, if you have wall space of course! all of my 10' sections come apart and mount on the wall of my garage. for the house frames, I wrapped my nodes onto the pvc using red tape so it resembles candy cane. I was able to get 128 nodes for 40' of pvc with rays normal spacing which was around 3 and 3/4''. I have 2 connections on some of my frames and have no issues with voltage or signal issues. I attached some pics of my storage and the window frames.
Florence, KY


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Offline duane.mosley

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Re: Is this a good idea?
« Reply #2 on: August 10, 2014, »
window frames which just hang on my j-channel around the window. I attached my window elements to the frames for stage and ease of installation.
Florence, KY


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Offline jnealand

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Re: Is this a good idea?
« Reply #3 on: August 11, 2014, »
I have PVC window frames that almost fit the windows in my sun porch, so I store them there and no one pays any attention to them.  This is my second set of pvc frames.  The first ones I glued together for these I just put a small screw in each corner L connector to keep them from coming apart.  I have a 3  pin water proof connector on the end of the string.  My SSCs are in tubes that I mount under the eaves so they are protected from the weather.  I put them up before Halloween and leave them up til January.  For my eaves, years ago I put up cup hooks about every foot on the fascia board behind the gutters and I put up most of my nodes using a painters pole with a hook on the end.  Works great.  I started to make 10ft sections of pvc to use on my roof peak, but I don't go up the roof much anymore so have not put lights up there for a couple of years.  My big issues are storage and power, so those are the things that drive what I build and where I can put them.  Got to all LEDs last year, finally, and that has helped the power issue greatly.
Jim Nealand
Kennesaw, GA