Out door controller boxes

videoman3857

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Apr 21, 2016
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445
Location
Glass House Mountains
What does everyone use to house their controllers in ?
Being a Newb I have read that the controller should ideally be mounted close to the lights.
This means control board and transformer outside and housed.
I have seen the [SIZE=small]CableGuard CG-1500 Coax Demarcation Enclosure on Amazon.
Is there anything like this in Oz ?
[/SIZE]
 

cjd

New elf
Joined
Nov 17, 2012
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Location
Gosford, Australia
Last year I just used a medium sized plastic tub.
Plenty of room for stuff, easy to fix things inside it, cheap etc.
Not as pretty as a proper CG-1500 enclosure (or similar) but did the job ;)
IMG_20151127_140104.jpg
 

richardd

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Jan 3, 2011
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Geraldton
I use the same as cjd and it works well.

CJD, I like the way you used the pvc pipe, what did you put on the outside to seal it?
 

gerry

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Dec 19, 2012
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855
Location
Surrey Hills,Melbourne
I used the $11 masters enclosures where they were in the porch.
For ones in the garden , I used similar plastic containers to the picture.
For one which had my mega tree controller , I then put a plastic tub upside down over it at the end of each night .. to be sure .. to be sure.
 

DavidJ247

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Dec 2, 2015
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Narre Warren
Hi Videoman3857 and welcome to acl.
Another popular choice of enclosure are the weatherproof boxes from Masters
https://www.masters.com.au/product/900030640/weatherproof-box-for-outdoor-power-connections
Plenty of folks using these, they are a good size for a power supply or a controller (or both, depending what you are using) and fairly cheap. If you search acl for masters box you'll find plenty of info on these.


(Just a tip, I have bought a few recently and they are now $20 on the shelf in the electrical section, however if you buy online and collect them they are just $12.50ea)
 

cjd

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Nov 17, 2012
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Location
Gosford, Australia
richardd said:
I use the same as cjd and it works well.

CJD, I like the way you used the pvc pipe, what did you put on the outside to seal it?
I used an elbow of pvc on the outside too (pointing down so now rain ingress)

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 

scamper

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Jan 5, 2014
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collie
I too have searched for different options and the 2 main ones I am using now are a couple of power/gas meter boxes I got real cheap from a steel supplier that had an order cancelled. (I then painted them to hide or camouflage them)
The next one I used was a cheap metal first aid box. This was not as good as the power boxes as far as water ingress goes, but I mounted it under the eves so it was all good.
 

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B_P_J

Full time elf
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Jan 6, 2014
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Location
Wadalba
Hey Videoman I have all my gear in a central location and have a few 12v power distribution points in the yard inside 2 x weather proof enclosures,
My longest Data run was around 10-12m and with the power distribution points I had no issues with my setup, here is my Central Control Centre, lol

SdZWFUgl.jpg


And the house... the control box is just inside the right hand side of the garage with the cables running through the roof and down the walls, a lot of linked universes but hey it all worked great (except maybe a few pixel strips, lol)
PyBip2Cl.jpg
 

djgra79

My name is Graham & I love flashing lights!
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Cranbourne West
cjd said:
Last year I just used a medium sized plastic tub.
Plenty of room for stuff, easy to fix things inside it, cheap etc.
Not as pretty as a proper CG-1500 enclosure (or similar) but did the job ;)


Do you just have the normal plastic lid on it? No extra water proofing required?
 

cjd

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Joined
Nov 17, 2012
Messages
42
Location
Gosford, Australia
djgra79 said:
cjd said:
Last year I just used a medium sized plastic tub.
Plenty of room for stuff, easy to fix things inside it, cheap etc.
Not as pretty as a proper CG-1500 enclosure (or similar) but did the job ;)


Do you just have the normal plastic lid on it? No extra water proofing required?

Last year it was just the normal lid - and it survived some rather large storms.
It was slightly protected because it was near a wall - but was still all out in the elements
 

djgra79

My name is Graham & I love flashing lights!
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cjd said:
Last year it was just the normal lid - and it survived some rather large storms.
It was slightly protected because it was near a wall - but was still all out in the elements


Thanks. Another question, are the psu and boards mounted somehow to the container or just sitting loose in there?
 

BundyRoy

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Apr 9, 2014
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One option is to mount everything to something like an old plastic cutting board and then just sit that in the tub. It means everything is mounted but there are no screws going through the external layer.
 

cjd

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Joined
Nov 17, 2012
Messages
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Location
Gosford, Australia
djgra79 said:
cjd said:
Last year it was just the normal lid - and it survived some rather large storms.
It was slightly protected because it was near a wall - but was still all out in the elements


Thanks. Another question, are the psu and boards mounted somehow to the container or just sitting loose in there?
The boards/PSUs are mounted to the box by drilling small holes, putting bolts through them, then a spacer, then the board/psu (and then a nut if needed)
Then I dabbed a bit of silicon/hot glue over the bolt (on the outside) just in case ;)

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 

videoman3857

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Apr 21, 2016
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Location
Glass House Mountains
Thanks Guys.
Great help to me.
I used plastic boxes with handles that clipped over the lid to house all my "light controllers and power points" last year. - no computer control - just the controllers connected to the lights.


@bpj1980 - that's one sweet set up. Wire all nice and neat - easy to fault find if things go wrong.


I have bitten off more than I can chew with my lights, so I am going to have to take my display in smaller steps.
My biggest problem being I am on acreage property and everything is spread out more that what would be on a suburban block and I have nearly 200 lights I need(want) to control.
Wires everywhere. Ethernet cable lengths may be a bit of a problem too.

Anyway. This is great, now I have several options to go with . Thanks again.


Looks like these boxes my be very popular or are seasonal supply in my area. Just visited their website and all of the stores in my area have nil stock. :-( Will just have to keep an eye out.
 
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