Waterproof Cold White LED Rope Lights (?)

The enramadas are pole, branch and frond construction. In summer months the sea level rises around six feet and water actually enters under the eaves and undermines the poles. The section collapses. Out comes the shovels and more twine. Poles are re-sunk, branches and fronds and twined together yet again. This is "living on the edge" that few Americans can understand or fathom. There is no alternative to this. In the summer, when a hurricane, and huge waves threaten, appliances, boat, dishes and everything else gets removed up to the houses 200' above sea level. The back wall of the enramada sits flush against a 100' vertical cliff. Everyone laughs-off such adversity. It's income however harsh.
Like it or not petty theft is all too common down here. "If they're stupid enough to leave it around, then they must value it a lot less than I would". Separates the good folks from the slime in any society.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
The sad part about the enramada (open air palm frond restaurant) is the humidity is always around 60% or higher and laden with salt. Sometimes I grumble that it rusts the palm fronds.

Whatever it turns out to be, it has to be easy to hang and easy to un-hang and store.

Low voltage is critical. With salt laden humidity, getting shocks is not hypothetical. Plug into a receptacle, wait six hours, grab the plastic plug to disconnect from 127vac and whammo. I won't even bother with the electro-galvanic nightmare descriptions.

Food under the glare of standard light bulbs looks awful - especially lobster and huachinango, a bright red whole snapper the specialty of the house. CFLs last about a week and go boink even GE brand - the salt eats them.

The kids have a -gallon- can of silicone electrolytic grease (food grade). Every receptacle has 12 gauge wires soldered directly to the tabs, then spray undercoating over that, then they were submerged in my jungle juice anti corrosion mix. Eight Hubbell 20-amp receptacles and four Hubbell motor grade toggle switches were installed. The place ought to be an electrical corrosion proving ground (grumble-grumble). All the appliances have zincs screwed to bare steel. Wish I could find more silver-dollar size zinc discs...

Mex,

The way I would go about it is to use a weather proofed toggle switch to turn a outlet on/off.. Then you could plug vapor sealed light into the outlet.. Turn off the light, then unplug and remove fixture..

Although, perhaps the way to go is bolt the vapor proof fixture extremely well (perhaps hiding the fixture in to the concession stand building) to something sturdy then no need to remove..

Heck, if New York state (drove through NY state many times, the rest stops look like something out of a prison down to stainless toilets, sinks and even mirrors) can find ways to prevent things from disappearing via vandals then I think you could figure out a way to do so..

GordonThree wrote:
Gde, I really like those specs you've posted... i might look into those for my print shop, as my calibrated CFL lights are getting old.

I saw the surplus channel lettering and that was what made me think of poor quality light. They're probably great LEDs just not right for the application.

I could agree about the "surplus" LEDs perhaps may have a lower CRI, but I doubt it could be any worse than any of the cheap 100 ft "reels" of LEDs on a flexible strip..

However, if I remember correctly, the LEDs contained in those modules from that surplus store are actually a well known LED brand..

You can check out the specs yourself (although I don't have the exact PN for the white at that surplus outlet)..

THIS is specs for a 8,000K White LED module and has a 70 CRI which is no worse than any fluorescent including CFLs.

The Yellow PN I have is a LX-ECO3S Y so if you are curious you could try subbing a W for the Y and might be able to find the spec sheet..

The sad part about the enramada (open air palm frond restaurant) is the humidity is always around 60% or higher and laden with salt. Sometimes I grumble that it rusts the palm fronds.

Whatever it turns out to be, it has to be easy to hang and easy to un-hang and store.

Low voltage is critical. With salt laden humidity, getting shocks is not hypothetical. Plug into a receptacle, wait six hours, grab the plastic plug to disconnect from 127vac and whammo. I won't even bother with the electro-galvanic nightmare descriptions.

Food under the glare of standard light bulbs looks awful - especially lobster and huachinango, a bright red whole snapper the specialty of the house. CFLs last about a week and go boink even GE brand - the salt eats them.

The kids have a -gallon- can of silicone electrolytic grease (food grade). Every receptacle has 12 gauge wires soldered directly to the tabs, then spray undercoating over that, then they were submerged in my jungle juice anti corrosion mix. Eight Hubbell 20-amp receptacles and four Hubbell motor grade toggle switches were installed. The place ought to be an electrical corrosion proving ground (grumble-grumble). All the appliances have zincs screwed to bare steel. Wish I could find more silver-dollar size zinc discs...

Gde, I really like those specs you've posted... i might look into those for my print shop, as my calibrated CFL lights are getting old.

I saw the surplus channel lettering and that was what made me think of poor quality light. They're probably great LEDs just not right for the application.

Was interrupted last night by a severe thunderstorm :E that came through as I was writing a reply..

Wanted to further address Gorden Threes' CRI concern..

That Waterproof fixture I linked is technically not just for outdoors, it is meant for use INDOORS also in high explosive vapor environments..

One of the uses for such a light happens to be in a PAINT BOOTH..



The specs are:

Size:70 Watts - 1 Pack | Color:4000K (Daylight White)
Technical Details
Brand Hyperikon
Part Number 932701041
Item Weight 4.6 pounds
Product Dimensions 49.2 x 3.5 x 3.5 inches
Color 4000K (Daylight White)
Shape Linear
Voltage 120-277 volts
Power Source corded-electric
Certification UL
Type of Bulb LED
Luminous Flux 6500 lm
Wattage 70 watts
Incandescent equivalent 150 watts
Bulb Features Instant On
Color Temperature 4000 Kelvin
Color Rendering Index (CRI) 84.00
Bulb Length 48 inches
Start Up Time INSTANT-ON

The manufacturer IS based in the USA..

They also have lots of other indoor and outdoor rated products and fixtures..

GordonThree wrote:
I'd never use industrial outdoor LEDs for lighting at a restaurant, they have terrible color rendering. Like lighting food with a mercury vapor lamp.

I'm away from my PC right now, I will post a link for some nice very bright rope light, that have great specs... When I get to my desktop again.

Actually that particular brand I linked has extremely high quality LED lighting which also has many of their products which have very good color rendering Index.

The T8 LED (4,000K color temp) tube I linked has CRI of 81 which is better than the fluorescent bulbs it replaces and will be much better than most if not all of the cheap cut rate LED "strips" you will find on the typical Ebay vendors folks like to gravitate to..

Good quality does not come cheap and a bargain is a bargain until it fails early..

any problem with roll your own ?

I used the 5m LED strip from Amazon to convert my 12v florescent

insert the complete strip in a poly tube and seal both ends ?

i used this strip of 5050 smd, cut up and mounted in the fixtures

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ASVC2S4/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JQV6Q4I/ref=psdc_15704871_t1_B00ASVC2S4

Powered directly from 12v, the kitchen counter fixture is on almost 24/7 and has not been visibly affected by charging voltages

i did this in oct 2014, over 2yrs and still working great

don't know if it would be durable enough

but seems like inserted in a poly tube, keep it pretty safe and flexible enough to roll up, with out breaking the strip, by bending on the cut lines

I'd never use industrial outdoor LEDs for lighting at a restaurant, they have terrible color rendering. Like lighting food with a mercury vapor lamp.

I'm away from my PC right now, I will post a link for some nice very bright rope light, that have great specs... When I get to my desktop again.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Need a sixteen footer (5 meters) for the kid's restaurant. 50 feet from the crashing Pacific Ocean. This would be for lighting not visual esthetics. A dimmable light would be nice but not essential. I'll work out the 12 volt power supply and feed lines myself.

It has to be removed every night or on night # 2 it would jump off it's hooks and slither on down the beach.

"Everyone has the best". Too many reviews are posted by people who plug theirs in then jump on the computer and write a review. I would appreciate sane relevant criticism of products and suggestions.

I would have to say the budget is around sixty dollars.

And yes, I have followed dozens of suggestions on this forum and made purchases and have had very few contrary encounters with products. i.e. I trust you folks.

Something like this?



Found HERE which IS designed for outdoor signage and IS water proof!

Although be aware, these modules are $3.25 EACH so they are not cheap by any means but you can buy them in long lengths and the modules and wire are sealed.

I have bought the red and amber versions of this module to replace the blasted cheaply made LED marker lights on my TT (although they were NOT "cheap" in my cost) that have been worse than good old incadescent markers for failures. So far the replacement modules are holding up very well.

The red and amber were too bright in my markers so I just added a resistor to dim them down a bit.. So they are dim able.

Not sure those modules are going to be energy efficient as they are about 3/4W per module and not sure on the lumens..

Does it HAVE to be 12V?

I have been using some pretty cool 4ft T8 replacement retrofit 120V LED tubes in a lot of my lights around my house.. These babies are extremely bright and may take a lot less of them than any rope light..



Found HERE

You can place those into single strip light fixtures for T12-T8 4ft bulbs..

They do have a sealed strip version HERE but they are more expensive and looks like they have a detachable power cord which my be an issue around salt spray..

Although quite a bit above your price point, they do have a vapor proof outdoor fixture which really would be ideal for salt spray situations..



HERE for $63 for one fixture..

But keep in mind that fixture has 6500 lumens and most likely would not need a lot of them to cover 50ft!

Most of these however are not dim able as a downside.