Question..
Hello, I am working on a large scale model of One World Trade Center in New York City, and I just placed an order for some starter kits to light my model. I will be using about 16-18 pico lights at the base to light the base of the tower and streetlights, light strips to light the interior of the tower, and another 5-6 pico lights to light the spire. The model will be about 7 feet tall, I was wondering if there was a way to connect all of these lights to one power source, ideally to be powered by electricity and not battery? Any help or tips on how to wire this and power it would be much appreciated. I have attached an image of the project thus far. The tower is just over half way done.
Best, Greg DiNapoli
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Greg DiNapoli I'm sorry to hear this, Greg! I know how hard it must be to get the lights installed all the way into the top of your building. Are these the 18" lights I sent you recently? Most often when something like this happens, it is caused by a pinched wire. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's no fun. Are you able to test the black cable that feeds the upper lights? If just that one feeder cable is bad, maybe it could be replaced without taking everything apart? Without being able to see your model in person, I can't tall which parts would need to be disassembled to access the cable. You could also try plugging the bottom of the cable that runs into the top assembly directly into a power source-- if that works, it might be something in the chain below the connecting cable that's gone wrong. Again, I can't tell how much of the building needs to be disassembled to access any of these cables. I wish I had better news or had an easy fix! I'm happy to help troubleshoot anything you need me to, and I can send you replacement cables/lights to fix any broken ones-- just let me know.
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Hi Rob Klingberg , of the 12 lights I added, only 2 are the 18" that you specially made for me, and they go all the way to very very top. I don't think those are the problem. While I was putting everything together last night, I do recall accidentally pressing on one of the trans-blue lego plates that cover the pico light. I'm hoping that is the problem.
My setup basically is the power source feeds into the base where I have 2 1:9 micro adaptors that supply all of the streetlights and other lights at the base. I then run a black cable to 3 high powered LEDs spaced evenly throughout the building, connecting them with 3 1:2 adaptors. From the 3rd adaptor that is connected to the 3rd high powered LED (this light went out with the spire chain, but when I unplugged the spire chain from it, it came back on) near the top of the actual building, I run a black cable to another 1:2 adaptor that sits on the roof. From there I run another black cable up to just above the base of the spire. The spire is thicker there, so thats where I hid 4 1:4 micro adaptors (You can see one in the image, and in that image there are 2 below the visible one, you can see if you look closely). Those are chained together with the black cables, and the pico lights plug directly in them. Thats why I needed the 2 18" picos, the 2 lights at the very top wouldn't reach the highest 1:4 adaptor.
I was thinking about plugging the spire chain directly into the power source, but like you said, thats easier said than done. I'm hoping that I can easily identify a crimp in a pico light and swap it out (I have 2 picos left that aren't being used). My question is, when I was building the base a long time ago, I accidentally crimped a street light but it didnt cause them all to go out. I'm hoping this isnt a more serious problem.
Thanks for your help, any more advice would be appreciated.
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Rob Klingberg I should also mention that to help hide the labyrinth of wires, I bound some extra slack tightly with floral wire. I'm hoping that the floral wire didnt pierce the sheath of a pico light, causing a short?
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I managed to isolate the pinched light and swap it out last night. Took a few hours to take apart and rebuild everything but major crisis averted. Thanks so much.
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Greg DiNapoli So happy to hear you were able to fix it! Was it one of the black connecting cables?
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Rob Klingberg , no it was one of the pico lights. It actually looked like it was in good shape, not sure if it I severed it very slightly, or it just went bad. But once I unplugged that particular light the whole thing lit up, so I just swapped it out. Thanks so much!
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Rob Klingberg Final Build! All done!! Thanks so much for all of your help!!
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Greg DiNapoli wow, just a fantastic and beautiful model! Would you be ok with us sharing those photos on Facebook and/or our website? Is there a link (Flickr, etc) that I could point to?
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Rob Klingberg Thanks! I wouldn't mind at all. Could you point to my instagram or facebook pages? @gregdinapoliart
PS here are closeups of the base lighting
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Greg DiNapoli Thanks so much for the additional photos. I'll be sure to point people your way. I just can't stop looking at the finished result of your great building efforts. So amazing!
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Rob Klingberg hi again! Ok last question, I promise. I've been toying with the idea of adding lighting effects to the top of my spire. Remember those 2 long pico boards you made me? One goes to the beacon at the top of the spire, and one goes to the red light at the tip. Would it be possible to get a 2 channel lighting effect controller, one being a slow brightening followed by a slow dimming (mimicking a beacon similar to a lighthouse) and the other being a slow blinking light like a red light on top of a buildings antenna? The effects controllers are a bit of a mystery to me, and it would have to be small (like the $17.99 in your store) to squeeze into the spire. Please let me know! Thanks!!
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Greg DiNapoli Hi Greg, yes, absolutely. Just order the flickering effect controller from our site (the small 2-port one I think you're referencing above) and remind us in the comments of the order what effect you'd like us to add, and we'll do a custom program for you. We're out of the office until the 15th, but can work on it after returning.
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Hi Rob Klingberg , hope you had a nice vacation. I just placed the order, with notes referencing the sequencing I would like. Please let me know if there will be a problem with the programs. Its impossible to get 2 different programs on 1 small board right?
Thanks,
Greg
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Greg DiNapoli Thank you for your order! I'm going to try to get time to work on the program for your board later this week. It's not impossible to have two different programs on one board, with a custom job. Each output connector can run its own program. Is there something about your initial spec you'd like to change? If so, just let us know.
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Rob Klingberg Thanks so much.. I didnt think it was possible to have 2 different effects from one board. That would be really awesome as it would save so much space for me, if you could do the 2 effects that I had outlined in my order on one board. Can you adjust my order accordingly? I would still want the package of 4 1.5" connectors. I also wanted to share this image with you guys, I was invited to bring my lego model to the top of the real One World Trade Center for an interview yesterday. Unfortunately it was so bright and clear that you couldn't appreciate the lights, but they were on!
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Rob Klingberg Hi just wanted to follow up about my order for the effects controller. Are you able to do both effects programs on the 1 board? Any idea when this will ship? Thanks so much for your help.
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Greg DiNapoli Hi Greg, thanks for the great photos-- how cool that you had the opportunity to have your model displayed at the real thing!
I'm working on the coding today-- I'll e-mail you a video to make sure it's what you're looking for. I'll also refund the charge for the 2nd controller. I should be able to get everything out in the next several days. Thanks for your patience!
