Brighter Rope lights

C

ctmal

Supporting Member
Last year I switched my entire display to LEDs. I have a non pixel display and now the only elements I have that aren't LEDs are my rope light "exploding stars". They were always a little dimmer than the rest of the display but now with the LEDs...holy cow.

So, does anybody know if there is rope light, or something similar that can keep up with the brightness of LEDs? I've never actually seen LED rope lights so I don't know if they're typically brighter than regular rope light. I got all my strands from Holiday Light Express.

I'd prefer to stay with 120v plugs if possible so I don't need different controllers(Renard SS 16).

Thanks.
 
Chris, I made some wire frames last winter using LED ropelight and wow, they're a LOT brighter. I bought clear, cool white, wrapped each frame with one continuous length ropelight and later, painted the sections using Duplicolor MetalCast paint.

20220724_125235.jpg

They're 120vac and after dismantling the "pod" that was part of the special cord that came with them, I discovered that the pod contained only a bridge rectifier, so the ropelight itself actually runs on 120VDC! And yes, it's cutable, I think these could be cut every 36" (the ropelight's circuitry is similar to normal AC ropelight insofar as it uses parallel power lines through its length with multiple internal sections that match the power voltage). I made some extra "pods" so that each frame has its own pod, and I control them using a normal, Renard A/C controller. Works great.

The only issue I'm not completely happy about is that while the MetalCast paint certainly adheres and "melts into" the ropelight's covering, when it dries, it leaves the outside of the covering a bit sticky to the touch -- and it's still sticky after many, many months of hanging in my workshop. It doesn't wipe off -- it's just sticky to the touch. Weird.
 
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The thing with LED rope light is that each separate prop will need a rectifier unless you can find a way to daisy chain them.
 
rstehle said:
The thing with LED rope light is that each separate prop will need a rectifier unless you can find a way to daisy chain them.
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Funny you should say that. I was just looking into where I can get more connectors/cords. They come with 2 but I'll need 12.
 
I made my own pods. I bought some of the same rectifiers, used my 3D printer to make the pod cases and spt wire with a pirate plug. I'll dig out the STL file for the case and find the rectifier part# tomorrow and post it here.

To plug the wire into the ropelight, I simply tinned the wire after twisting it into a point and used a pliers to insert it into the ropelight. Then I sealed the end with shrinktube and filled it with E6000 glue before hitting the shrinktube with a heat gun.
 
dirknerkle said:
I made my own pods. I bought some of the same rectifiers, used my 3D printer to make the pod cases and spt wire with a pirate plug. I'll dig out the STL file for the case and find the rectifier part# tomorrow and post it here.

To plug the wire into the ropelight, I simply tinned the wire after twisting it into a point and used a pliers to insert it into the ropelight. Then I sealed the end with shrinktube and filled it with E6000 glue before hitting the shrinktube with a heat gun.
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Another excuse to use the printer! Ha
 
Got hung up yesterday so I didn't follow-through with the goods....

The rectifier is part # KBP206G

Here's the STL file I made for it -- it's a half cover, so you need two for a complete cover. The forum won't allow STL files so I put it inside a zip file with a couple pictures... Notice that in the picture below, one of the center AC legs of the rectifier has been bent up so it lays on the rectifier's top body. The other leg is the same, just bent underneath the body. I soldered the two incoming AC wires to those legs, using the rectifier body as the insulator so they'd never touch. The remaining outside two legs are the output +/- terminals that go to the ropelight. (The ropelight comes with either one or two of the big, horky power connectors: I dismantled one to find out what was inside -- it was just just the single rectifier with the center pins bent up as I've described, so I duplicated it with a much smaller case.)

To finish assembly, I filled both halves of the case with silicone glue (E6000 actually) to provide waterproofing, then I laid the rectifier and wire inside and clamped the top and bottom together, letting it set overnight. Some glue may come out the edges -- just trim it off after the glue is fully set.

Note also that LED ropelight is polarized with +/- connections, so before making anything permanent, be sure you have it right or it won't light up.

A few years ago I made a power connector for AC ropelight, and here's a link to that:
https://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=3D_printed_ropelight_power_connector

And here's a link to another wiki page on extending rope light:
https://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=How_to_cut_and/or_extend_rope_light
 

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ctmal said:
Dave, are the ropelights you got dimmable? They are marked as being not dimmable.
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Yes, I find them to be. They come with a rather large "pod" which converts the AC current into DC, but the chip inside the pod is a KBP206G bridge rectifier, and while 115vac goes in, 115vdc comes out the polarized side of the rectifier.

So yes, they're dimmable and I just use a standard AC SSR. I've tested them and they work fine. Bear in mind that since they're LEDs, they don't have the same wide dimming range that AC lights do because of the LEDs' forward voltage threshold, so the dimming curve isn't the same. I've tested them with standard AC SSRs without tweaking the settings in the Renard PIC firmware, but I imagine the CTR_LOCKOUT could be set lower that whatever it is in the SSRs I tested with (I think the default is 40) and that would likely extend the curve some.

A DC SSR that can handle 115vdc input could certainly be used on the DC side of the "pod" as well, but I think you'd run into a similar problem with the LEDs' forward voltage -- at some point, they will just turn on. But between the threshold and 100% they are certainly dimmable.
 
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dirknerkle said:
Yes, I find them to be. They come with a rather large "pod" which converts the AC current into DC, but the chip inside the pod is a KBP206G bridge rectifier, and while 115vac goes in, 115vdc comes out the polarized side of the rectifier.

So yes, they're dimmable and I just use a standard AC SSR. I've tested them and they work fine. Bear in mind that since they're LEDs, they don't have the same wide dimming range that AC lights do because of the LEDs' forward voltage threshold, so the dimming curve isn't the same. I've tested them with standard AC SSRs without tweaking the settings in the Renard PIC firmware, but I imagine the CTR_LOCKOUT could be set lower that whatever it is in the SSRs I tested with (I think the default is 40) and that would likely extend the curve some.

A DC SSR that can handle 115vdc input could certainly be used on the DC side of the "pod" as well, but I think you'd run into a similar problem with the LEDs' forward voltage -- at some point, they will just turn on. But between the threshold and 100% they are certainly dimmable.
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Perfect, thanks.
 
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