question about protecting controller

[mnmike3]

I am hopefully going to be running renard ss24 this year, i was planning on making a control panel type area in my basement with the computer, fm transmitter, renard and anything else i will need. there is a window right next to where i am going to put it that already has a broken pain of glass so i can break it out and run my cords through it then seal it up again somehow (been playing around with some ideas on this). keep in mind i Have a fairly small house and really small yard.

So my question is the renard and the male end of my cords won't have any chances of the weather effecting them but what about protecting the controler from shorting out on a channel? like if for some reason a wire becomes bare and gets wet. Are the fuses on the light strings good enough? or is anybody doing something else between the controler and the lighs? I guess my main concern is probably with the extension cords insulation becoming comprimised.

I thought about using gfi outlets in my control panel area for each channel but that migh get a little spendy.

[deplanche]

GFI's are a good idea and highly recommended for anything you do with the lights and controllers. As many have said, they are pretty much a must for this hobby.

[ctmal]

I agree gfi's are a must but you don't need a gfi for each channel, just each controller.

[mnmike3]

i planned on running gfis for the main power to the controller just wasn't sure about the outputs for each channel. i have plenty of power to run the small display for this year and intended on running new wires and breakers from my breaker box to the control panel area an then putting gfis in for the entire panel.