More flex strip questions

[zwiller]

Since I still don't have my strips from Ray I am researching everything flex strip related so that I can build quickly once they arrive.  I plan to make 3" wood strips from 1/2" ply primed and painted and affix all flex strips to these along with ssc attached with plumbing straps. 

I think I have the cutting and splicing down but still have some questions. 

Does the strip inside sleeve move at all? 

Are the sleeves adhesive backed?  If so, is the adhesive reliable?  If not, how would you mount?  RTV or special stuff?

I know RJ recommended sealing the cuts with RTV but what is best way to do that?  Solder wires and just get some RTV in sleeve and let dry?  (extra points for pictures)  I am contemplating some shrink wrap with the RTV.  Overkill?

Any other thoughts appreciated. 

[peteandvanessa]

See comments below

Does the strip inside sleeve move at all? 
Yes it does, it's tight and you have to manipulate the strip in the flexible sleeve, but you can actually pull the whole strip out of the sleeve if you need to

Are the sleeves adhesive backed?
No they aren't

If so, is the adhesive reliable?
Haven't tried adhesive, but FrankR hot glued the strip to PVC pipe, I just zip tied mine to PVC pipe.


If not, how would you mount?  RTV or special stuff?

I know RJ recommended sealing the cuts with RTV but what is best way to do that?  Solder wires and just get some RTV in sleeve and let dry?  (extra points for pictures)  I am contemplating some shrink wrap with the RTV.  Overkill?
Not overkill when it pours down and it shorts out you SSC on the peak of the house and you have to climb up to fix it.

What I did was slid heat shrink over the end of the strip, and then filled it with RTV. Then when I shrank it with heat, it squeezed the RTV out of both ends of the heatshrink. I'm confident that water will not get in the ends of my flexstrips.

[jnealand]

Since I still don't have my strips from Ray I am researching everything flex strip related so that I can build quickly once they arrive.  I plan to make 3" wood strips from 1/2" ply primed and painted and affix all flex strips to these along with ssc attached with plumbing straps.

Since I cut my strips in half and did not need long length I used 1/2" EMT that I spray painted green with some rustoleum.  Then I put one end in a vice and squeezed it flat.  Drilled a hole in the flat part and am putting them over some cup hooks screwed into the bottom of my old mega tree top.  I wanted the flat side and not a hook since I was concerned about the EMT twisting and then the lights not facing in the direction I wanted.  I only have a half tree.

Does the strip inside sleeve move at all? 
yes, I stroked the strip back until I had about 3/4 inch to cut and solder in.  When cutting the sleeve I recommend cutting all the way around at a solder joint, then either pull the sleeve back to give you some room for new connections or slice the sleeve on the side of the strip so you can fold the top and bottom have back.

Are the sleeves adhesive backed?  If so, is the adhesive reliable?  If not, how would you mount?  RTV or special stuff?

No adhesive, I am using clear/white zip ties.  So far I just have one zip tie pulled kind of tight over each solder point.  Before I put them outside (I have the tree setup in my screen room for now) I will be adding more zip ties and using my cable tie gun to pull them tighter and clip the ends off.  I don't want to pull them to tight and stress the circuits.  For starting out I did not want to do anything too permanent until I tried it out for awhile.

I know RJ recommended sealing the cuts with RTV but what is best way to do that?  Solder wires and just get some RTV in sleeve and let dry?  (extra points for pictures)  I am contemplating some shrink wrap with the RTV.  Overkill?

I just filled the ends with RTV, however I did get additional ends from Ray and slipped those over my connector wires before I resealed the ends.  After the RTV dried and went back and inspected each end.  For some of them I added more RTV and just smeared it all over.  Does not necessarily look neat up close, but does not effect any lights and no one but me should be seeing them up close.  Well maybe you if you if you were to fly down for a visit.  LOL

Any other thoughts appreciated. 
Holding the strips while cutting, desoldering and resoldering was tricky so I finally made a little jig from a wood stake and some velcro.  Really helped a lot.  See pictures.

Wish I had all this information before I started.  Pete was helpful.

[JonB256]

Jim, seeing your wooden stake jig was good. I'm going to have to replace (i.e., cut out and resolder) a few Metal Rectangle SS modules. Making a jig like that will definitely help.

Since it will be "wire to wire" rather than "wire to flat strip" I think I'll put grooves/channels in the wood to help position and hold the wires. Hopefully won't set the wood on fire. 

The pixel problem is that a few of them that won't turn on green. If I "massage" the pixel with strong finger pressure, they will come on so I know its a connection problem, but they've got to go! These are the newer "4 5050 chip" modules.

[SteveMaris]

Soldering jig = Brilliant!
Fine job!

[zwiller]

Thanks guys.  Great ideas and info. 

Pete, your lines are really tight and I was surprised to see you achieve that look the way you did.  Maybe this business of outlining the house is more forgiving than I expect. 

I think I will try a dew dabs of rtv and hot glue and see how it sticks.  I will add a few zip ties for added measure.  Most importantly will not go ape with it in case I want to change things up in future.   

Jim, I agree the soldering jig is slick.  I have some square modules I need to space further and will have to try something like yours. 

What you guys doing with the SSC?  Are they zip tied to pvc/etc or just dangle?

[peteandvanessa]

Thanks guys.  Great ideas and info. 

Pete, your lines are really tight and I was surprised to see you achieve that look the way you did.  Maybe this business of outlining the house is more forgiving than I expect. 

I think I will try a dew dabs of rtv and hot glue and see how it sticks.  I will add a few zip ties for added measure.  Most importantly will not go ape with it in case I want to change things up in future.   

Jim, I agree the soldering jig is slick.  I have some square modules I need to space further and will have to try something like yours. 

What you guys doing with the SSC?  Are they zip tied to pvc/etc or just dangle?

The flexstrips are quite forgiving when outlining the house, but you do need to try and keep the Flexstrips in a straight line. They move about on the PVC pipe quite a bit when you put them onto the house, but if you straighten them out, they will look fine.

I don't let the wire going to the SSC to dangle. I double back the cable onto the back of the PVC pipe and put two zip ties on them to keep them in place (sort of stress relief for the cable). Also, don't zip tie the outer cover of the Flexstrip too tightly, the outer cover can tear if you do it too tight. Just snug it up with the zip tie and no more.
I've also found that the hot and cold cycles of the weather (we are getting highs of mid 80's here and lows of 50's) don't bode well for Hot glue. The glue tends to pull away as a seal. So if you are using hot glue for seals, make sure you put on a really thick layer, or use RTV instead.

[tbone321]

There are two types of hot glue and it sunds like you used the low temp stuff.  I had issues with that as well.  When I started using the high temp stuff, those problems went away bu it's real easy to burn yourself with the high temp stuff

[peteandvanessa]

There are two types of hot glue and it sunds like you used the low temp stuff.  I had issues with that as well.  When I started using the high temp stuff, those problems went away bu it's real easy to burn yourself with the high temp stuff

I didn't know that, that's good to know. I just stole my wife's hot glue gun from her craft box and didn't realized there's low and high temp glues.

[tbone321]

You also need to remember that the high temp stuff uses a different gun as well.  If you put the high temp glue in a low temp craft gun, it won't melt and if you put the low temp glue in a high temp gun, it pours out of the tip (don't ask me how I know that).   

[zwiller]

My gun is high temp but even then I am not sure until I try it.  I guess I am lucky I have extra freezer space from homebrewing so I can test.  "Honey, you need to move the frozen veggies so I can test the glue joint on my flex strip".  Hopefully the high temp stuff works.  The sticks I have are dual heat. 

Original plan was to use the low temp glue to hold the strip is place as the RTV vulcanizes (there, I can say I used THAT word before)    

[smeighan]

I just received 20 of my flex strips 2 weeks ago.

Since I still don't have my strips from Ray I am researching everything flex strip related so that I can build quickly once they arrive.  I plan to make 3" wood strips from 1/2" ply primed and painted and affix all flex strips to these along with ssc attached with plumbing straps. 
Instead of wood, i made 14' long 1/2" emt. I drove a 5/8" oak dowel, 3" long into each end.

5/8" dowel cut to 3" long pieces



drill guide hole in end of each dowel


use belt sander to make camfer on one end of dowel


drive dowels in flush



(20) 1/2" emt. hook one one end, eye bolt on the other. hook on top, eye bolt on bottom. 10' plus 4' makes 14' long emt. since flex strips are 4m (13') i have one foot left to mount the ssc.
I have now painted the emt with Kilz primer and the exterior house paint. The emt is now completely sealed up.
I will hang them from the top and use bungee cords at the bottom to attach to the 3/4" emt on the bottom. I bent my 3/4" emt into a half circle and will use 1/2" rebar driver into the ground to attach the circular emt to.




I am also building a "gun rack" to hold the 20 pipes on the ceiling of my basement for off season storage.



I think I have the cutting and splicing down but still have some questions. 

Does the strip inside sleeve move at all? 
Well sort of. each end has been sealed with 2" of something like RTV.
With both ends sealed, the strip in the middle doesn't seem to move at all

about 2" of RTV in each end


and the ends completely seal the wires.


flex strip also comes with a tube of rtv and some end pieces



Are the sleeves adhesive backed?  If so, is the adhesive reliable?  If not, how would you mount?  RTV or special stuff?
No
I know RJ recommended sealing the cuts with RTV but what is best way to do that?  Solder wires and just get some RTV in sleeve and let dry?  (extra points for pictures)  I am contemplating some shrink wrap with the RTV.  Overkill?
each one of my strips came with a tube of RTV and some plastic fittings.

Any other thoughts appreciated.

I will attach strips using UF resistant cable ties.

[zwiller]

Thanks!

As fate would have it I received my first shipment yesterday!  'Twas a loooong 7 weeks.  Starting to test them.  So far so good.  Real excited to find some ends and sealant with them. 

Now I have the task of measuring and making 4 window frames that have the led's equally spaced (ocd).  Kinda painful since I want an led at each corner but I think I have it mostly worked out.  Key being the led's are on 1.25" centers.  Luckily the 3 led cut points aren't far off to what I was expecting.  After that the rest of the outline should go rather straight forward. (knocks wood)  At least I don't have to drill.  That was the main reason I went with the flex strips since I am doing close to 150'. 

Thanks again for all your help.  I guess I can't give up having a show this year yet. 

[chrisatpsu]

You also need to remember that the high temp stuff uses a different gun as well.  If you put the high temp glue in a low temp craft gun, it won't melt and if you put the low temp glue in a high temp gun, it pours out of the tip (don't ask me how I know that).   

we all know you're a Martha stewart junkie....

[mokeefe]

flex strip also comes with a tube of rtv and some end pieces

I guess Ray stepped up his game this year.  Last year's flex strips just came with the little silicone straps for mounting -- no end caps or RTV.

-Mike