Choice of the 4700uf capcitor on the LE power supply

[Steve Gase]

412 LEs??  6600 channels??

Where is this display?  I've got to see it!!

I know that Jeff T. has a big show in Frisco... where is yours?

Reading past postings I see you built your first LE on Dec. 2010...  you've been building these at 20/month??  WOW!

[jnealand]

I have plugged multiple LEs into one extension cord every season and never had a problem.  I have V4s and V5s.  Once they are powered up I never turn them off unless there is a problem or I am taking the show down.  Since I have mostly LEDs I could run almost my whole show off one outlet, and that includes a 32 string megatree, total for all LEDs is less than 3a.   On the other hand my incan mini trees pull 18a all by themselves and my arches run about another 18a.  I have 3 fully populated LEs running the mini trees and they run off one outlet, one 50' 12ga extension cord connected to one 25' 12ga 3 outlet cord,  I use only one outlet since I never turn all the lights on at the same time and I am outlet challenged from a physical location perspective.  Next year the mini trees will be all LED..

[Steve Gase]

I have plugged multiple LEs into one extension cord every season and never had a problem.  I have V4s and V5s.  Once they are powered up I never turn them off unless there is a problem or I am taking the show down.  Since I have mostly LEDs I could run almost my whole show off one outlet, and that includes a 32 string megatree, total for all LEDs is less than 3a.   On the other hand my incan mini trees pull 18a all by themselves and my arches run about another 18a.  I have 3 fully populated LEs running the mini trees and they run off one outlet, one 50' 12ga extension cord connected to one 25' 12ga 3 outlet cord,  I use only one outlet since I never turn all the lights on at the same time and I am outlet challenged from a physical location perspective.  Next year the mini trees will be all LED..

Never once have you been tempted to turn them all on at the same time???   

[jnealand]

  I use only one outlet since I never turn all the lights on at the same time and I am outlet challenged from a physical location perspective.  Next year the mini trees will be all LED..

Never once have you been tempted to turn them all on at the same time???   

I tried it once, that was enough.  I do use 20amp gfci breakers

[TexasStingray]

That was a fat finger on this small android.

[Jeffl]

I just had an issue tonight as I was testing my new batch of new LE's.  I powered two up and one stayed on about 20 seconds and then quit.  Unplugged it, plugged it in an it wouldn't start.  Plug it into the wall and it worked fine.  After messing around I found it was a bad outlet on the power strip I was using.  When I moved it just right it would make it quit or turn on.

There for a few minutes I thought I had the same issue.

[JoeFromOzarks]

...tried coiling cables to increase inductance

 

You're joking aren't you?  (Coiling power cables is not a good idea, at all.  How do you spell "fire?")

joe

[memphislights]

Coil was probably a poor choice of words.  It was like three or four 8in loops.  At the time, I was trying any suggestion to get around the problem.

Did some testing when I got home.  Of course, with the last 6 LEs I built this year, no problems at all now.  I am pretty sure that I did have the problem when I built them earlier this year.  Go figure.  Oddly enough, even though I am pretty sure that I reprogrammed and tested all 6 of the LEs, three of them had to be reprogrammed tonight.  Could be I just missed programming them, but I am usually pretty good about testing each one as I complete one.

I'll pull some of last year's LEs down out of the attic and try again.  If it works, good for me.  I am more than happy to say that I am hallucinating and go on about my year.

I did think about a couple of other differences between the 6 I built this year, and almost all of the others.  This batch does not have the hot and neutrals jumpered for a single input power cord yet.

[memphislights]

Well,  pulled 3 random samples down from the attic.  No issues.  I dunno.  I guess that I will have to wait till November to see if the issue pops up again.

For reference, I tried with and without a string of LEDs on every channel.  It worked fine.  I even tried cooling the regulators with canned air.  Still works.

I guess at this point I cannot prove sanity.