Hey, new and need some help

[blondesrock]

Hi i13 - thanks for your message. My apologies if I gave incorrect info - I will leave advice up to the experts on this site I'm always interested in peoples perception with the cost of lights. I thought $100 for such a long length of icicles was a steal... haha. Well compared to the $50 I pay for ONE commercial set of connectable string lights, they were But they have thick green wires and seem to last forever! I did buy some $39 sets of icicles from Bunnings and some conduit this weekend and made arches across my driveway. At that price I am prepared for them to only last one season.


I have just forked out $2.5K for some giant wire baubles covered in string leds from a factory in China and didn't even think about whether they will run using my LOR160MP3 and LOR160xWg3. I have been very lucky over the years and everything has always worked perfectly with my LOR units without me having to know much. I have never modified light sets so don't know about 2 or 3 wire designs or different voltages. I may have to learn as I'm sure I could achieve so much more with my displays.


This week I received my first CMB16D DC controller to run some singing xmas trees I had made in QLD. It didn't come with a power supply so now I'm stuck. I was advised to buy a 242V DC switch mode PSU 350VA on eBay but honestly I don't know what I'm looking for so I guess I'll have to put this idea aside for this year. One of the other members in ACL was kind enough to give me some Oz electrical sites but I got confused with all the units as I don't understand the lingo and specs (amps/watts/volts). Can you shed some light? (no pun intended). I also don't know whether I can include the new LOR DC unit in the chain of LOR240V AC units!


Thanks again for the contact :-* [SIZE=78%] [/SIZE]

 

[i13]

I just checked K-Mart (see my post above). They seem to have pretty much the same icicles as Target except that they're $17. Target has pure white and K-Mart has warm white. Both places have multi-coloured sets. Coles (I think) has 3.9 metre icicle sets for $20 but they usually have left-overs selling out for $10 after Christmas.
All of the above have three wires.

Please do keep giving info. I'm sure it is correct but I wanted to point out the changes since. I was actually very pleased to see someone else answering questions in detail in the new members' section of the forum as I'm pretty much the only person who does that . If you're prepared to spend that much money then you'll get a fantastic display running with a bit more technical knowledge that you'll pick up around here in time for next year. Buying hardware directly from LOR is a relatively expensive option. Yes their AC and DC units can run in the same chain and they can also run with DMX input if you have a crossover cable.

24V DC supplies are probably not enough. I run everything at 31V but that's relatively high. An adjustable 27V supply should have enough range to cover what you need but don't invest in too many until you know. Careful where you buy power supplies from. They can be dodgy so don't go there unless someone else has tried them alongside other hardware that might be affected by the 'noise' they give off. The voltage for each particular light set is slightly different so you'll need to use diodes or (worst case scenario) cut out a few of the LEDs or replace the resistors in the light sets.

Electricity is a flow of electrons. The voltage is the difference in electric potential between any two points of the circuit. Increasing this potential increases the current. The current flow is what actually makes circuit components like LEDs work. If there is too much current they'll get damaged and if there isn't enough current they'll be too dim or not turn on. Therefore you need to get the voltage right so the current is correct.

And sorry Nate if this is taking over your thread.

 

[gerry]

hello I3,

Am curious as to how do you manage to determine whether they are 3 wire or 2 wire ? The stores seem to have 'clips/seals' on each 'container' to prevent people from opening the item (I think I saw this in two stores).

 

[i13]

Many of the stores have the string sets on display on their Christmas trees. Some of the lights were packaged in clear boxes. For the K-Mart icicles I just asked if I could check.

 

[Nate]

Thanks to everyone

I hadn't replied again yet because it was looking like I wasn't going to be able to put any up because there wasn't a safe way to get on the second storey. But just found out a family member has an extendable ladder.

I just realised that on one side of the house there's no gutter because of the shape, it's just wood on the side. Would I just staple the lights to the wood where the gutter would usually be or is there another way?

Also, I want to put lights along the corners where the roof of the first storey meets the second storey wall (pic below), but there's rubber type stuff or something. What would I use to attach the lights?

Sorry about all the questions.

 

[i13]

I have seen stapling but haven't done it myself. I'm really fussy about poking anything through the wood and breaking its weatherproofing paint. If you're ok with that then it is no problem. I use string with a corrugated iron roof. See my reply #7 here http://auschristmaslighting.com/forums/index.php/topic,7954.0.html

I would just buy a box of paperclips to mount lights where you posted the picture. Paperclips easily bend into an S shape so you could hook them over the edge where the leaves are getting caught.
https://popgoesthepage.princeton.edu/files/2015/03/bent-paper-clip.jpg

 

[gerry]

Many of the stores have the string sets on display on their Christmas trees. Some of the lights were packaged in clear boxes. For the K-Mart icicles I just asked if I could check.

Ahh.. thanks