Using 'twinking' control box - what SSR

[RayRam]

Hello all,
I am new to this, and the first year, I thought I would go simple by taking one of my 140 light 'chasing/ twinkling' light sets, cut the 3 Chanel wires, and common wire - put a plug on each one, then hook up a surrounding set up on a mega tree.
I realize it is very simple, and not music coordinated, but it is a start.

But I realized that even with LED lights, I am going to pull too much amps through the box, and would burn up the controller. So I thought about finding an SSR that would be triggered by an AC current, and switch another AC current with a different extension cord (if I am understanding correctly). I purchased what I thought were some AC - AC SSR's on ebay but found the load voltage was not was described, but needs to have at least 240 volts for this to be powered.

Any links to some SSR's that would work for something like this? I am thinking of a 12 string mega tree, and would set up just a 'rotating' around.

Thanks in advance.
Ray

[macebobo]

Hello all,
I am new to this, and the first year, I thought I would go simple by taking one of my 140 light 'chasing/ twinkling' light sets, cut the 3 Chanel wires, and common wire - put a plug on each one, then hook up a surrounding set up on a mega tree.
I realize it is very simple, and not music coordinated, but it is a start.

But I realized that even with LED lights, I am going to pull too much amps through the box, and would burn up the controller. So I thought about finding an SSR that would be triggered by an AC current, and switch another AC current with a different extension cord (if I am understanding correctly). I purchased what I thought were some AC - AC SSR's on ebay but found the load voltage was not was described, but needs to have at least 240 volts for this to be powered.

Any links to some SSR's that would work for something like this? I am thinking of a 12 string mega tree, and would set up just a 'rotating' around.

Thanks in advance.
Ray

Welcome to DIYC Ray! What is the part number on the SSRs you bought on eBay? Also, how many LED strings were you thinking of running through the controller? If the controller currently powers incandescent lights, I think you might be hard pressed to overload it with LED strings. Also, for what you might pay for some decent SSRs you could probably build a Renard SS8 or 16 or even 24 board and thus become a victim of CLAP.

[RayRam]

Hello Macebobo,

Here is the ebay product I purchased: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390300012035&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT The problem I have had with it so far is that that I can not get it to work. The ebay description says 24-480, but the items arrived saying 240-480, and as I hooked these up to a 120 volt light they are not working.

I was looking at probably 8-16 strands of LED lights/ channel ( and maybe more).

I am new to some of this, and have not gone all the way through the FAQ's so I have not seen about the REnard 8 .
What is a 'victim of CLAP'?
Ray

[Materdaddy]

What is a 'victim of CLAP'?

CLAP = Christmas Light Addiction Problem

[macebobo]

Hello Macebobo,

Here is the ebay product I purchased: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390300012035&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT The problem I have had with it so far is that that I can not get it to work. The ebay description says 24-480, but the items arrived saying 240-480, and as I hooked these up to a 120 volt light they are not working.

I was looking at probably 8-16 strands of LED lights/ channel ( and maybe more).

I am new to some of this, and have not gone all the way through the FAQ's so I have not seen about the REnard 8 .
What is a 'victim of CLAP'?
Ray

If you plug in a control voltage of 120v, does the LED light?

Here is the Renard 8 (http://doityourselfchristmas.com/wiki/index.php?title=The_Renard_SS8_Controller_Board)

Generally 8 strands of most LEDs will draw less than 100watts, so you should be okay.

[RayRam]

Hello macebobo,

I thought I had this all typed out, and it dropped into glactical bit bucket. :-(
When I do set up the control on the 120 volt, the led's do light up. I have not yet picked up a voltmeter/ multimeter. My friend Dave had one, so I always went over there when I had something to do, but we moved, so now I need to purchase one. :-)

According to the 'box' that controls the wave, it is a 0.8 amp 120 volt. So if I use the equation of: The conversion of Amps to Watts at fixed voltage is governed by the equation Watts = Amps x Volts (from ask.com)

So for my little box example: 0.8 amp * 120 volts = 96 watts, but that is the total for all the strings.
So if I use the LED lights here: http://www.ledchristmaslightsets.com/mini_christmas_lights.html
which draws 4.8 watts, then I would be able to exactly use 20 strings.

But I wanted to use this same 'controller' to power 2 trees, but maybe that is too ambitious for this, and I need to learn the Vixen, and world of controller boards.