Chaser Lights
To View A Video Of The Finished Product Click HereWe start off with a standard set of Chaser lights
First we lay the Chaser light out flat and then cut off the controller, then from the other end we zip-tie (tie-wrap) all the bulbs down in the same direction so that they are semi even and not pointing in every direction.
Then we either measure the house or go ahead and put them on the house so that we can figure out where to put in the splices so that it a perfect fit. With these lights you can actually add a couple bulbs per channel or remove a couple bulb with very little impact in operation.
I made a map of the whole house and labeled each light strand with A thru N and each feeder cable with a number and each end of with multiple connections a number and letter so that every year I know exactly where each light strand and feeder goes and how it is routed so that I do not have to reinvent the wheel.
Then time to make the feeder cables, I used 16 ga zip cord for the main feeders and 20 ga for the wires to each chaser light strand.
I hope this pic can help explain it, the thicker wires are the 16 ga, the thinner wires are the 20 ga. Keep in mind that this is only a block diagram and does not depict all 5 wires in each line.
On the LOR controller instead of using normal plugs I used the female 5 pin Molex connectors on unit 1, channels 1 thru 4 (I will also use the same controller for halloween since I have some deep orange chasers that I also modified with the Molex connectors that makes a really cool effect.)
When it comes time to test my modified chaser's I built this test box that allows me to turn on any one channel at a time. I have actually built 3 of these, 1 for me of course, 1 for my brother in law and 1 for my Mom and her husband, both of whom once saw how cool my chaser lights are, are doing the same thing to their house this Christmas. Also once the light's are up if a channel goes out it is a piece of cake to disconnect the Molex connector, plug this in and use the ole Light Keeper Pro which work's very well with this tester.
To View A Video Of The Finished Product Click Here
Parts For This Project
I got the Molex connectors from Mouser, here is a link to their data sheet http://www.mouser.com/catalog/625/1064.pdfHere is what I purchased
538-0309-1054 5 contact Receptacle
538-03-09-2057 5 contact plug
538-02-09-1104 female contacts (contacts are not included in the purchase of the plugs or receptacles)
538-02-09-2103 male contacts
538-11-03-0006 extraction tool (The Molex extraction tool was $18.17, but later I found a .093 extraction tool at Radio shack PN 274-223 that works almost as well for $7.79 http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062447&cp , The reason I said almost is I have used them both, the Molex extracted every time with very little effort, a couple times the Radio Shack required a little more effort wiggling.
538-63811-1000 Universal crimp tool (this tool is different then normal terminal lug crimper's, the dies are such that it takes the tangs of the contact and bends them 180 degrees back into the wire and insulation. Also after crimping the contacts I soldered them just for good measure (being exposed to the elements I did not want corrosion to become an issue)
This project was submitted by Bill Gremler.