Hi everyone Newbie from Newcastle

DoubleD

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Joined
Oct 29, 2013
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Hi Guys & Girls


I have only just found this site and I'm stoked I did!


I'm not yet into a computer controlled setup but will look into that
in the future years. I have little idea of all the terminology so I've been reading
the manual!!


I have been putting up Xmas lights for 5 yrs now since having kids.


It began with icicle lights around the carport & gutters & has grow slowly
every year. I have a few motif lights, rope lights & icicle sets.


I have a Santa on motorbike which needs repairing as the wheels didn't work
When they arrived, so I've been using the search button on here,


Repair, fix, broken......ect. Anybody point me in the right direction?


Regards
Dan
 

fasteddy

I have C.L.A.P
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Re: Hi everyone from Newcastle

Welcome to ACL Dan. your where I was at a few years ago, had a lot of cheap motifs that the wife bought that didnt last long. Because these are rope lights then generally a led or bulb will fail and stop a section from working. Once this happens its real hard work to fix as youwould have to cut out the section that isnt working and replace with a new section (very difficult)
The other potential issue you may have is that its the actual controller that is stopping the the wheel section from working as it may not be outputting for the wheels
Anyway now that you have found this place be ready to get infected with the CLAP (Christmas Lighting Addiction Problem) Its an all year hobby for most of us and you will find the guys here are very helpful. the chat room also is a great place to meeet and chat with other like minded CLAPers
 

DoubleD

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Oct 29, 2013
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Thankyou, I'm sure I'll end up getting the CLAP lol


Yeah we have a fair few Motif lights, all still working
ATM except Santa on Motorbikes wheels. All of Santa & the bike works
Just the wheels which are a seperate
rope with controller.......
 

Habbosrus

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Dec 5, 2012
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Swansea, NSW
Gday Dan, Welcome to ACL. I'm glad there is another Newcastle person to spread CLAP (there aren't too many of us). I'm just down the road at Caves Beach. This will be my first year with a very small show. I'm only new at this but prepared to help any way I can. Everybody on ACL is unbelievably helpful and supportive.
 

AAH

I love blinky lights :)
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Welcome to ACL Dan.
Do you have photos of the motorbike problem?
If the motorbike happens to be a Harley you can't actually expect it to work as they're not that reliable ;)
 

Charl Marais

For my twins was the excuse I started with.
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Welcome to ACL mate. Down the rabbit hole we go with no return in sight.

I don't think you will find a repair section for the wheels here (I assume it is rope lights?). There are some sites on the net for rope light maintenance and you could buy connectors for cutting and joining section where you have dead bulbs but in general I would rather replace the section with a different rope light and just string it up the same way.

The reason I am saying this is that most of these work of 240V mains and should you get any water into them you will have years of problems which are sometimes very hard to find. I had my display fail on me twice last year due to a rope light with condensation inside and tripping the mains.

Regards
 

DoubleD

New elf
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Oct 29, 2013
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20
Thanks guys,

AHH that's tops! Yeah I think it is a Harley & they're not that
reliable lol



Thanks Habbo, I'll be sure to call down and have a look at
Your display!!

Charl Mar the lights out on the Motorbike Santa are the whole separate string
of lights which are the wheels and are supposed to flash. They did for 3 nights
and then the whole string ( with 8 controller) went out.

I am thinking of removing that string and getting from somewhere another replacement
rope light with controller.

Anyway another weekend ahead of putting up lights!!!

Question:

* Rope lights guys, what's the general setup to hang around
Windows and also how to attach along the roofline?

DD
 

kel

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welcome57.gif
 

fasteddy

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DoubleD said:
Question:

* Rope lights guys, what's the general setup to hang around
Windows and also how to attach along the roofline?

DD

You will find that there are not too many rope light guys around here because most have gone to RGB strips and pixels and im sure thats where you will head once the CLAP set in.

But if the whole wheel rope doesnt work then there are 2 things to check

1: check the area where the cable connects to the rope and see if it looks a bit burnt or damaged

2: If thats Ok then it may be a case of your controller being the issue, if this is the case then its really a matter of just replacing the controller and Im sure there are plenty of members that have these lying around after cutting them off to control their own lights. So it may be worth cutting off the controller and puuting a plug on to see if it will light up without the controller. Is it 24v or 240v rope.
 

Bird

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Welcome.gif

to ACL DD


AAH said:
Welcome to ACL Dan.
Do you have photos of the motorbike problem?
If the motorbike happens to be a Harley you can't actually expect it to work as they're not that reliable ;)
But they are so pretty.....
97%20harley%20(small).jpg
 

DoubleD

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Oct 29, 2013
Messages
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Thanks again guys,


I'll have a closer look at the section of rope light that controls the wheels & see what
I can find out.


24v or 240v I just had to check that, it's 240v.


Also, I'm looking to get lights made up in certain lengths for around my windows & garage,
I was about to get them made by Literover.com. Is there somewhere where can
buy all the gear and do them myself? As I said I was looking at 6 different lengths of rope light
but if there is a better alternative I'd prefer to use that now to save me having to replace the rope
lights in a couple of years!!


See the C.L.A.P is getting me already!!


Yes Bird that is one nice looking bike you have there!!
 

DoubleD

New elf
Joined
Oct 29, 2013
Messages
20
Thanks I'll look at that link tonight!!

I'll also be looking at what Neon rope light is...... :-[
 

DoubleD

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Oct 29, 2013
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Now my head is spinning after looking at Ray Wu's site!

I'm not up to (this year) using any type of controlled programming but
would like to possibly next year!

After searching Ray Wu site, all the LED light strips began to look
the same to me lol. What is the best LED lights to run around windows
if I make up conduit frames?

I'd like to be able to buy a roll & cut it up to correct lengths & learn (quickly)
how to wire them up myself so they are "steady on". I have 6 windows/doors (approx 40m)
I want to surround. Am I able to also buy the 6 or 10 plugs & all the wiring I'd require from his site
to do the job?

Sorry for all these Q's!!
 

DoubleD

New elf
Joined
Oct 29, 2013
Messages
20
Hi Guys

Here's a couple more pics to my Motorbike Santa controller
Problem.

It's 240v & the main "Steady on "rope is wired into a
controller wired into 2 x flashing ropes. (I'm sure u guys already know all this!)


From the controller on there's nothing working. Could anybody suggest
how I could fix this Moyif light as it's my sons FAVOURITE!!
 
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