If I ever do my xmas lights again, I'm doing them custom, and I'm doing them the right way. That means (I think):
Raw Wire
Male/Female Plugs
C7/C9 Zip Sockets
1) What are good sources for the above?
2) I can find plenty of C7/C9 Zip sockets in bulk. Where can I find either:
A) Zip Sockets with the metal wire clips already installed, or B) the metal wire clip separately?
Interested in other clip ideas also, but primarily indoor stuff at this time, so something I can secure properly to custom made stuff.
I admire your dedication, but I'm not sure that a DIY alternative to the cheap commercially available items would be cost/time effective.
That said, I do admit to struggling with strings of lights that half work every single year.
1988RedT2 said:
I admire your dedication, but I'm not sure that a DIY alternative to the cheap commercially available items would be cost/time effective.
That said, I do admit to struggling with strings of lights that half work every single year.
This x100. I was deep into the Xmas lights thing until recently. I had lights dancing to music I broadcast on FM radio, etc.. Just buy the commercial stuff. Trust me.
I have no intention of making an elaborate system, flashing lights, radio, etc. I want nothing to do with that. I just want light strands that A) aren't E36 M3 and more importantly B) are the correct length for the things I want them for.
the cost difference appears to be trivial if you are willing to put in a little effort.
There are guys in my neighborhood charging lots of money to do your Christmas Lights for you. They use big rolls of lights that they cut to size. You could find out where they get them.
I roll my own with lots of blow up huskies and dog related stuff along with flashing lights.
Interested in hearing any ideas here.
I have some inexpensive LED light strings that are great for the tree, but they came with a controller to make them twinkle that has a MTBF of about two weeks. You can run them without the controller but only half the lights illuminate - half of the LEDs are on one polarity, the other half are opposite.
After going through a couple of controllers, I threw it away and rolled my own using a bare-bones microcontroller and an H bridge. I got to design my own behaviors, from slow fade to seizure flash. It was 100% reliable all through last season and we even put the tree up before Dec 23 and everything.
This does not help Darwin at all, but there aren't a lot of opportunities to tell someone about your DIY christmas light controller without sounding like an absolute bore.
I have a Clark Griswaldish outdoor light display (drawing around 90A) mostly with c9 bulbs. I get my wares from www.noveltylights.com there are a couple other places but pricing is usually similar, they have the long strings of wire that you cut to length.
ProDarwin said:
I have no intention of making an elaborate system, flashing lights, radio, etc. I want nothing to do with that. I just want light strands that A) aren't E36 M3 and more importantly B) are the correct length for the things I want them for.
the cost difference appears to be trivial if you are willing to put in a little effort.
Yeah, copy that. Didn't mean to imply you should go nuts. What I was trying to say is the effort expended to make your own isn't worth it over buying commercial... IMO.
I like the idea of custom length lights, as long as you mark them where they go.
As for hanging them, I'm very happy with my method. I put up small hooks under my overhangs the first year I bought my current house ( I did this at my old house too.) So I can just hang the wire in the hooks, which makes setup and teardown easy. Since my house has really high roofs in places, I use an extending stick like you would use for a paint roller. I screwed a short length of heater hose on the end where the paint roller would go, and cut a notch/slit to hold the wire. Now I can hang and remove the lights without climbing 20+ feet.
