Does this look right?

[Verb75]

Hi everyone,

After a lot of reading and watching heaps of videos (walkthroughs, last years mini's and such) I've decided that I would do a house outline. I've been getting my measurements and making some small purchases to get things ready for 2018.

I'd appreciate if anyone sees something thats off or if I missed something. I'll be building my enclosure soon as I've got most of the bits and pieces (power supplies, Falcon controller, pigtails etc.)

I'm planning on using 12v 2811 nodes from Ray, (I've already got one set that I've been testing with) drilling 3 in spacing into pvc and mounting them to the house. (some clips and maybe some magnets???)

Let me know what you think.

Thanks
Vic

 

[AAH]

Everything looks pretty good. 12V pixels are easier to work with than 5V but nodes use twice the amount of power to give you the same amount of light. If you look after power injection then the 911 pixels will only be 5V and 50A (250W). With 12V it's still 50A but 600W and at least 2 power supplies unless you grab a 600 or 800W monster 1.

 

[Boof63]

I have same guttering as you, i used pvc electrical 20mm to hang icicles from from, i did wrap the pvc in bubble wrap at 3 or 4 points just to keep it off the gutter (mine are colourbond). I use strip and the suntuff protective end strips (bunnings) allow for WS2811 strip to slide inside and then zipptie to gutter. Option for you, otherwise the plastic mount stickon thingys (someone will have a link).
Cheers Boof63
PS looks good your layout
PPS runway lights up sides of drives/ small mini trees?

 

[djgra79]

Looks good so far!
Don’t forget to buy extra nodes in case of repairs or failures. A nice round 1000 should suffice.

 

[scamper]

Looks good so far!
Don’t forget to buy extra nodes in case of repairs or failures. A nice round 1000 should suffice.

Yeah, I tend to shop in 1000 lots. Works out cheaper (email Ray for a price) and you always use them.
If you are using pvc, look into electrical conduit from Bunnings (it is cheaper than any water pipe) and you can get clips to suit. Attach the clips to the house and you then clip the conduit into them and remove after xmas. I paint my clips to the colour of whatever they are attached to and they stay there permanently.

 

[Verb75]

Everything looks pretty good. 12V pixels are easier to work with than 5V but nodes use twice the amount of power to give you the same amount of light. If you look after power injection then the 911 pixels will only be 5V and 50A (250W). With 12V it's still 50A but 600W and at least 2 power supplies unless you grab a 600 or 800W monster 1.

I'll be using the F4V3 that I picked up earlier this year. I still haven't decided if it'll be better to use just the controller and inject power. Or if it would be better to use the controller and the 4-string receiver boards to spread it all out with the need to inject any power. I like the idea of just using one box that I can keep in the garage, but that will be a lot of leads and voltage drop that I'll need to worry about.

 

[scamper]

I'll be using the F4V3 that I picked up earlier this year. I still haven't decided if it'll be better to use just the controller and inject power. Or if it would be better to use the controller and the 4-string receiver boards to spread it all out with the need to inject any power. I like the idea of just using one box that I can keep in the garage, but that will be a lot of leads and voltage drop that I'll need to worry about.

As long as you don't have too many pixels running off each output it is fine to run from the controller.
The way I look at it though, if you have to power inject, then run only data from the controller because if you have a power supply failure on the injection, then you will overload and or blow the fuse on the board. So it defeats the purpose.
Also, I can chop and change which outputs I run things off if I choose when I have 5v and 12v props because I am not limited to what that particular output is supplying.

 

[Verb75]

So this afternoon I spent some time drilling 12mm holes into some 20mm electrical conduit. What I didn't know is that I need to make 13-14 mm holes on one side so the nodes will fit in. In all the videos I've seen, in everything I've read...not once has this been mentioned. Unfortunately, I don't have a 14mm step drill bit. Will make a trip to the hardware store tomorrow. And thats why this is called testing it out.

 

[ElSalZi]

The way I figure it, if you don’t make mistakes, you don’t learn...

Here is a video that I really liked, you may like to watch it as well - it is somewhat applicable to your situation
View: https://youtu.be/cL9Dy0RlEEw

 

[Goliath]

Do people normally drill 20mm pvc to put nodes in? I cable-tied mine to the pvc (25mm). I'd think a 14mm hole one side, and a 12mm hole the other wouldn't leave a lot of "meat" to hold it together?

 

[Verb75]

Do people normally drill 20mm pvc to put nodes in? I cable-tied mine to the pvc (25mm). I'd think a 14mm hole one side, and a 12mm hole the other wouldn't leave a lot of "meat" to hold it together?

 

[Verb75]

Attach the clips to the house and you then clip the conduit into them and remove after xmas. I paint my clips to the colour of whatever they are attached to and they stay there permanently.

How do you attach your clips. I’ve got a colourbond roof and really don’t feel like adding more holes to it. I’ve read that some ppl silicon them on. I’m not sure how well that’ll work under the hot Cairns sun.

 

[ezellner]

Do people normally drill 20mm pvc to put nodes in? I cable-tied mine to the pvc (25mm). I'd think a 14mm hole one side, and a 12mm hole the other wouldn't leave a lot of "meat" to hold it together?

I use 25 mm PVC to drill holes for nodes. Leaves enough material and the body of the node tucks inside the PVC with only the lighted bullet end sticking out.

 

[djgra79]

Do people normally drill 20mm pvc to put nodes in? I cable-tied mine to the pvc (25mm). I'd think a 14mm hole one side, and a 12mm hole the other wouldn't leave a lot of "meat" to hold it together?

With drilling and pushing the nodes through (regardless of 20 or 25mm conduit) it makes the bulbs face forward and looks a bit cleaner. You don't get the shadows of the wires and other bullets behind when cable tied in a row. It is a fair amount of work to drill all the roles however, but entirely up to you how you want them to look (and amount of work/time you want to put into it!)

 

[videoman3857]

Drilling holes in conduit is fun. The fun part is lining them up and keeping them straight. You need to make a Jig, or if you have the $$, take it to a cnc router and get them to do it.
I am looking at 26 x 6 mtr arches with 100 holes per arch. Thinking cnc may be the way to go for this project. maybe....until I get a price I wont know.