Cheapest place to buy cables and plugs?

[brodie4416]

In your experience, where is the cheapest place to buy extension cords, cables, and plugs (female plugs for the Christmas lights to plug in to)?

I've checked my local hardware stores and a whole spool of cable(grounded) is about $150 and the plugs (female, grounded) are $2.50 each. So with a 96 channel system that comes to $240... Quite expensive for the part of the project that I overlooked...


Thanks,
Brodie4416

[phenagan]

A lot of us use standard indoor extension cords and just cut off the male end. You can get 6 footers for $1.00 @ Lowes and 15 footers for around $2.95.

Keep the male ends - they're handy for when you go to LEDs and need to add a little extra load for the SSRs.

[brodie4416]

Ok. That was my other thought.

BTW, is a three prong cord necessary? Or will something like this work:
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=70290-57775-8600&lpage=none

[fathead45]

ive been using power cords that i get free from work. i just cut off the end that goes into the projector. wire i got for free from leftover of installs. they are 15ft power cords that i cut the ends off and add my own ends. you can always try to find computer power cords off of ebay.

[ErnieHorning]

... is a three prong cord necessary?http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=70290-57775-8600&lpage=noneChristmas lights don’t typically use a ground connection so three terminals is unnecessary. If you need the power though, this type cord may be your only option.


... will something like this work:http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=70290-57775-8600&lpage=noneI use the bigger three wire cords to bring the power out and Y out from there with the cheap indoor extension cords like these. All of my remote SSR’s use this type of cord.

[smartcontrols]

I have found our local 99 cent store usually has the 12 or 15 foot indoor cords for just 99 cents. When the do, I buy all they have. They will also sometimes have male and female plugs for 99 cents. Most of my ground stakes come from there also. With our local store it is a hit or miss what they have each week, so I check every time I go by.

[brodie4416]

Thanks, I am definitely going to check the 99 cent stores.

I had planned on using large extension cords to carry the power to my controllers and then use the cheap cords to attach the lights to my controller.
(all of my controllers are outside)

[phenagan]

The cheap ones from Lowes I use are rated @ 13 amps, which is way more than you'll put on a standard SSR.

[ccmmxx]

for all of my male cord caps, I buy them at walmart. They are $1.97 for a 2 pack (plus i work there so i get a discount =])
hardware stores are about $2 for each of these.
As for 6 ft extension cords, i agree with others.... The dollar store is your best bet.

I use my walmart male connectors for everything, and they are very handy.

[ctmal]

I found the cheapest for vampire plugs is http://www.noveltylights.com/. They seem to have the cheapest shipping.

[kostyun]

I've been using the vampire plugs myself - goign that route for consistancy. I have have used them for extension cords, ends for the controllers, etc.

When using them for extension cords - I've been keeping the length consistant - 6' 12' 18' and 24' lengths.

All of my Ren24's have 18" pigtails on them.

[ocb_dave_ocb]

Here is an idea for ya.. I I bought a 250' Spool of SPT2 From Lowes, Think it was around $60 bux.. This year I only had 16 Channels.. So I bought 16 of the 6 foot ext cords for aroun $20 bux tax and all...

So for $80 bux I ended up with all the plugs I needed plus 346 feet of cord..

I cut the Female ends off, soldered & heat shrunk it to SPT2 measured the correct distance to the Light and soldered and heat shrunk the Female end back on at that end..

Was very nice that way, I had 3 ends to choose from instead of one with the vampire plugs..

When I build my arches for 2009, Im going to cut the male end off of the lights and run it under the lights, and have the plugs at the ends..

[NogginBoink]

Plugs are a dollar apiece in 100qty here: http://www.aachristmas.com/vpasp/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=90

[Trepidati0n]

Hopefully it happens again. I saw them there this weekend, but not on sale yet. Home depot has 3 cord packs (6', 9', 15') for about 5 bucks. However, if they do the 75% off again...you can guess the price. I picked up around 200 packs last year.

[rstehle]

I got about 100 packs of them last year for $1.24, and didn't have to buy one extension cord this year :D

[deplanche]

I got about 100 packs of them last year for $1.24, and didn't have to buy one extension cord this year :D

I didn't have to buy one entension cord this year either. It was closer to 50. :)

If someone find this cheap again, please let us know. I know I already need more for next year.

[djulien]

In your experience, where is the cheapest place to buy extension cords, cables, and plugs (female plugs for the Christmas lights to plug in to)?

The cheapest source for female plugs that I have found is at the end of my minilight strings. I use only a single 100 ct minilight string on many of my channels, so I just cut off the trailing female plug at the end to cut down on "clutter" (as long as I am sure I will never need to connect end-to-end). I now have a pile of female plugs that I could use for other stuff like SSRs. They are light duty and have short wires, but they are usuable.

don

[rstehle]

The cheapest source for female plugs that I have found is at the end of my minilight strings. I use only a single 100 ct minilight string on many of my channels, so I just cut off the trailing female plug at the end to cut down on "clutter" (as long as I am sure I will never need to connect end-to-end). I now have a pile of female plugs that I could use for other stuff like SSRs. They are light duty and have short wires, but they are usuable.

don

I also had a bunch of those left over from making Leaping Arches. They come apart quite easily once you learn where the release tab is. (I only ruined one) I took a bunch of them apart and soldered lengths of SPT-1 to the blades and had a bunch of controller output cables almost for free. :cool:

[Braveit1]

Don't forget Target has Christmas stuff on Clearance right now. there is a 3 pack of 6 ft cords that was $3.99. when it goes 75% I'll be all over it. Also in the household stuff the 6 ft Black cords are on clearance for $0.89. Black is great for Halloween. Home Depot and Lowes always sell 6 ft cords for $1.