Difference between revisions of "How to cut and/or extend rope light"
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| − | This technique can be used to shorten rope light, splice two pieces of rope light together or add a plug to a piece of rope light. | + | This technique can be used to shorten incandescent rope light, splice two pieces of incandescent rope light together or add a plug to a piece of incandescent rope light. In the examples below, we'll be adding a 120vac wire plug. |
Tools needed: | Tools needed: | ||
| − | * Sharp knife and/or wire cutter | + | * Sharp utility knife and/or wire cutter |
* Needlenose pliers | * Needlenose pliers | ||
* Awl (or make your own) | * Awl (or make your own) | ||
| Line 12: | Line 12: | ||
* Heat gun | * Heat gun | ||
| − | :1 - | + | :1 - Incandescent rope light can only be cut in specific places. Look for a section that has two wires like the picture below. The rope light can be cut between the two wires. Cutting it elsewhere usually doesn't work and if it does, you'll likely find that there are fewer bulbs in the section which will cause them to run hotter, probably shortening their effective life. Cut the rope light straight across with a clean cut, either with a good wire cutter or sharp utility knife. |
| − | [[File:1-cut_rope_light.jpg | 400px]] | + | |
| + | :::[[File:1-cut_rope_light.jpg | 400px]] | ||
| + | |||
| + | :2 - Strip about 3/4" of insulation off the plug wire and separate the two wires a bit. Twist them very tightly so there are no stray wires and tin the entire bare wires using your soldering iron. It's important that the wires are smooth and tightly wound to minimize their size as much as possible. The tinned ends become the connectors and will be inserted into the rope light ends. | ||
| + | |||
| + | :3 - You will need an awl or other sharp, pointed tool to make space for the tinned wires in the rope light end. You can make an awl by driving a finishing nail into a short piece of wood and filing the end sharp like the example below. | ||
| + | |||
| + | :::[[File:2-homemade_awl.jpg | 400px]] | ||
| + | |||
| + | :4 - Use | ||
Revision as of 14:57, 15 July 2015
This technique can be used to shorten incandescent rope light, splice two pieces of incandescent rope light together or add a plug to a piece of incandescent rope light. In the examples below, we'll be adding a 120vac wire plug.
Tools needed:
- Sharp utility knife and/or wire cutter
- Needlenose pliers
- Awl (or make your own)
- A few 1" brads/small nails
- Soldering iron (to tin wires)
- Silicone glue
- Shrink tube (large enough for your rope light)
- Heat gun
- 1 - Incandescent rope light can only be cut in specific places. Look for a section that has two wires like the picture below. The rope light can be cut between the two wires. Cutting it elsewhere usually doesn't work and if it does, you'll likely find that there are fewer bulbs in the section which will cause them to run hotter, probably shortening their effective life. Cut the rope light straight across with a clean cut, either with a good wire cutter or sharp utility knife.
- 2 - Strip about 3/4" of insulation off the plug wire and separate the two wires a bit. Twist them very tightly so there are no stray wires and tin the entire bare wires using your soldering iron. It's important that the wires are smooth and tightly wound to minimize their size as much as possible. The tinned ends become the connectors and will be inserted into the rope light ends.
- 3 - You will need an awl or other sharp, pointed tool to make space for the tinned wires in the rope light end. You can make an awl by driving a finishing nail into a short piece of wood and filing the end sharp like the example below.
- 4 - Use