[Terra]

I had two different problems with my blue incandescent flood lights in the graveyard. The first set I got from Home Depot were blue-greenish and looked like a space alien coloring. Not good for the graveyard. The second set I bought from Lowe's and were the perfect blue color but the blue paint flaked off the front and I ended up with spots of white light shining through.

So, this year I'm going with blue LEDS. I looked at Minion's Web at the show and they looked good and will probably be what I get this year.

 

[eanderso13]

Funny Terra, I've had the same issues! Years ago I bought the Lowes GE floods. Paint flaked off all of them. Then, for one brief, shining moment, I found a type of Phillips light at Home Depot that appeared to be deep blue colored glass. I bought something in the ballpark of two of them and then after that all they had at Home depot were the Phillips lights with the very thin blue-green glass that look horrible and way too bright.

Then last year I found these little LED strips encased in silicone at Harbor Freight tools. they run off of 12v (or less) and put out light like this:


They run about $8 each, though, but do go on sale occasionally...if they still carry them.

Currently I use the 12V landscape lighting with colored bulbs and it works pretty well for keeping the lighting apparatus hidden and softly lighting key pieces.

-EEric

 

[Scatterbrains]

I don't know what it is with Blue Lights, but those seem to be the first to have the paint flake off...

 

[Skeletor]

That was my biggest proble. I like to let the neighborhood enjoy my props and graveyard. But after 5 days of lighting the yard with the blue lights, it started flaking off. Last year it was so bad that I had to use red lights. I just want to solve this problem because I love my blue lighting.

 

[Terra]

Then last year I found these little LED strips encased in silicone at Harbor Freight tools. they run off of 12v (or less) and put out light like this:
http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c166/NCchicka00/Halloween2008/?action=view&current=P8310623.jpg
-EEric

Were they waterproof?

 

[eanderso13]

Were they waterproof?

Yup! I mean, obviously you need to keep the connection from the wires out of the water somehow, but the actual bus bar for the power and all the LEDs mounted on it are totally encased in silicone. This is the same idea, but the ones I bought were longer than these, I think:

-EEric

 

[Terra]

Ooooh....cool. Thanks

 

[Scatterbrains]

I searched harbor Freight and found these...

blue....
- Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices


red...
- Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

Are these the ones your talking about eanderso13?

 

[eanderso13]

Are these the ones your talking about eanderso13?

Yup! As you can see, they are $7.99 each... not bad considering the price of those flakey floodlights...and they'll last longer and can be mounted inconspicuously almost anywhere! I just found a guy on ebay selling smaller ones (9 LEDs instead of 24) for $3.00 plus shipping in an array of colors. he mentions wholesale pricing over 50 pieces...maybe I could organize a group-buy if enough people would be interested.

Otherwise I'll just get a bunch for myself in Blue, Green and Amber.
I plan on wiring them all to 12V landscape lighting taps so I can just run them off the low voltage line that already runs all over my yard for Halloween!

-EEric

 

[Mr Unpleasant]

I'm going echo the sentiment about the blue floods paint coming off after a day or two outside.

Looking at eBay I thought these may add some subtle blue lighting, they're fairly cheap.

LED Pods

 

[Frankie's Girl]

LOVE the lighting effect with the Harbor Freight LED strip, but how do you power them? It looks like they are for car usage, so are they wired up for a car adapter or can you plug them into a wall?

If they are able to be plugged into a typical extention cord outlet, I'm so getting a ton of these!

 

[eanderso13]

They have two wires coming out of the silicone assembly. They are made to be wired into the fuse block of a car, which is just 12V DC. In my tests I just ran them off a 9V battery. I plan on using landscape lighting splice connectors to run them off my 12V lights this year.

Also, I found the bigger ones at Best Hong Kong for $3.98, or $3.51 if you buy 10 or more. And shipping isn't bad. If I buy 10, my total cost each after shipping is only about $4.30, which is half of the Harbor freight cost!

Once again, I smell a possible group buy coming on...

-EEric

 

[Frankie's Girl]

They have two wires coming out of the silicone assembly. They are made to be wired into the fuse block of a car, which is just 12V DC. In my tests I just ran them off a 9V battery. I plan on using landscape lighting splice connectors to run them off my 12V lights this year.

Also, I found the bigger ones at Best Hong Kong for $3.98, or $3.51 if you buy 10 or more. And shipping isn't bad. If I buy 10, my total cost each after shipping is only about $4.30, which is half of the Harbor freight cost!

Once again, I smell a possible group buy coming on...

-EEric

Oh, I get it! I think I can handle that sort of wiring project.

Thanks!

 

[mark_mco]

Yup! As you can see, they are $7.99 each... not bad considering the price of those flakey floodlights...and they'll last longer and can be mounted inconspicuously almost anywhere! I just found a guy on ebay selling smaller ones (9 LEDs instead of 24) for $3.00 plus shipping in an array of colors. he mentions wholesale pricing over 50 pieces...maybe I could organize a group-buy if enough people would be interested.

Otherwise I'll just get a bunch for myself in Blue, Green and Amber.
I plan on wiring them all to 12V landscape lighting taps so I can just run them off the low voltage line that already runs all over my yard for Halloween!

-EEric

I'm sure you realize this, but I'll mention it anyway. Most landscape lighting transformers are 12 volts AC. So you'll need a separate supply for these since they require 12 VDC.

Mark

 

[bradbaum]

I'm sure you realize this, but I'll mention it anyway. Most landscape lighting transformers are 12 volts AC. So you'll need a separate supply for these since they require 12 VDC.

you can always just put a diode in series and convert the AC to DC:

6A, 50V Rectifier Diodes (4-Pack) - RadioShack.com

 

[Scatterbrains]

or connect it to a wall wort

 

[eanderso13]

I'm sure you realize this, but I'll mention it anyway. Most landscape lighting transformers are 12 volts AC. So you'll need a separate supply for these since they require 12 VDC.

Mark

That's right... Inline rectification shall happen, since I am building splices into the cord of the lights anyway. Although I have a few hand-me-down landscape transformers...maybe one of the others is DC...

-EERic

 

[DaveintheGrave]

I had the same problem with the blue floods from Lowe's. It seems the color only chips off the blue ones for some strange reason. It seemed to always happen shortly after they were rained on. Maybe something in the rain? Acid rain???

 

[Terra]

I had the same problem with the blue floods from Lowe's. It seems the color only chips off the blue ones for some strange reason. It seemed to always happen shortly after they were rained on. Maybe something in the rain? Acid rain???

I was thinking rain plus grass as well. If blades of grass was on the lens and then it rained, the grass got cooked on the lens. That's what I was thinking was messing up the paint.

Here a possible solution if you want to use them still. I found a red spray paint for engine blocks and painted it on some red floods. I did too many coats but it still held great. Next time I think I'll do just one maybe two coats (I did about four last time - blocked out too much light). The drag is I'd have to special order the blue engine paint and I'm still leaning towards the LEDS.