[Joven76]

Hello my fellow haunters. I have a question regarding the RCA power hub. If you don't know what I'm talking about, look at Dminorsound's YouTube video:

I'm planning on making one for some PVC candles, but I'm concerned with the elements. Has anyone used this before where it got rained on? I would hate to invest time and money for it to crap out on me because of the rain.

Please let me know about your experiences.

 

[StrandedPatrick]

Hmm, tricky to answer. Anything with power and rain is an at your own risk activity, so be careful not to electrocute anyone or set any fires. Having said that, low DC voltage and amperage is fairly safe. If you build it with some form of cover so that rain doesn't pour onto the contacts, it would *probably* be ok. I would make sure the power supply you are feeding it with has appropriate short protection on the DC side so it will shut off if it shorts out. That sounds like a given, but I have had some cheaper small 5v supplies that shorted and just made a bunch of heat and melted plastic. Luckily no fire.

 

[Abunai]

I implemented the RCA power hub last season for my LED lighting.

It did rain, and I didn't have any moisture related problems.

The problem I did have was with cost.

You have the cost of the jack, the cost of the plug, and any extensions you need to get enough length.

I probably could have just bought a bunch of connectors and wire and soldered together the long lengths I needed, but I went with pre-made RCA cables and it was a bit of a pain (including financially).

I think that I will use some of these this year:



I can mount several of these on a backboard that also has a power-supply attached to it, hang it on a wall in my walkthrough, and run cheap speaker wire from my LED spots to these jacks without having to buy and/or solder a bunch of RCA plugs. I can use any number of different weather-proofing strategies for the jacks and the power supply if it's hanging on the wall. (Hat tip to Steve O'Connor from the Garage of Evil who gave me the idea).

 

[Bruzilla]

With RCA connectors, the only part of the connector that's exposed to the elements is the ground. The hot side, which should be the center pin, isn't exposed and that's what you don't want to get wet.

In reality, most connectors are pretty water tight once connected, and with DC voltage-powered systems, most will fail if they become wet but the amperage is so low that no circuit damage occurs. Basically what happens is the current doesn't know where to go and just goes everywhere and the system can't work. Once the system dries and the current knows where to go, everything works again.