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Mini Leaping Arches

DIY Mini Leaping Arches

This is an idea I had at the end of Christmas 2008. Originally I intended to make them work on a fourchannel controller I built out of a string of incandescentchaser lights but the design changed a bit when I madethe jump to LOR. It should take about an hour to put onearch together, I spent about 8 hours on the prototype butit will go faster the more you make. The plans that followoutline how to make the brackets between each arch andthe arch itself. This design is not completely my own, lotsof people have different designs and I sourced them all

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Mini Leaping Arches - Light Up Lawrence http://sites.google.com/site/njstreetchristmas/Home/how-to-1/mini-arches

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when I came up with this. Thank you all for yourfeedback!

MATERIALS LIST2 1/2" x 1/2" PVC elbows $ .90 each2 1/2" x 1/2" PVC cross $1.07 each1 2' section 1/2" Scedule 40 PVC pipe $ .84 each1 can PVC Cement, no idea on cost I had it already...5x30 bulb White, LED strands, mine came from Wal-Mart,$3.50 each50 feet 22 guage wire, similar to lighting strand, I salvagedmine from old incandescent strings I tore appart but RadioShack and Ace carry it as well.1 56" long section of PEX tubing $3.00 each1 can Black, plastic bonding spray paint $5.001 roll black electrical tape $2.001 package small zip ties $1.001 package heat shrink tubing, available at Ace Hardware$3.006x Salvaged male/female plugs (can come from the LEDstrings)

TOTAL COST PER ARCH ~ $30

TOOLS NEEDEDNeedle Nose PliersWire NippersButane TorchSoldering Iron with pointed tipFlux core solderExacto or other utility knifeSharpie MarkerTape MeasureJig Saw or other saw

STEP ONE


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This is a diagram of the overall assembly of the MiniLeaping Arches. The design is made to be expandable soyour first step is to decide how many arches you want. The materials list is for one arch and two brackets so

adjust your materials to however many arches you wantto make. From bracket to bracket these arches span

about 4' and they stand about 2' tall. The brackets holdthe arches to a more perfect circle but could probably beadapted to a lower arch if desired by swapping the 90

degree elbow for a 45 degree one.

STEP TWO


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The main component of this design is the PVC bracket sowe'll make those first. I actually made two different kindsof brackets, one for the meeting of two arches and one for

the termination at the last arch. The "stake" at thebottom of the bracket is simply an 8" piece of 1/2" PVC

pipe cut to a 45 degree angle.

STEP THREE


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The bracket is made up of three PVC fittings. Notice theelbows are a 1/2" male to 1/2" female fitting so I didn'tneed to use bushings to connect them. I actually made

two different kinds of brackets, one for the meeting of twoarches and one for the termination at the last arch. The"stake" at the bottom of the arch is simply an 8" piece of

1/2" PVC pipe cut to a 45 degree angle.

STEP FOUR


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This is an example of the assembled bracket. I glued thefittings together with the PVC cement. A little tap from a

rubber mallet helped them fit nice and tight. Here'swhere we face a challenge. The outside diameter of thePEX tubing is 1/2" while the inside diameter of the PVC

pipe is 1/2" and the inside diameter of the fittings is3/4". This means that we do need a bushing in the topend of the elbow so that the PEX tubing will fit tight.

Here you can see a top view of the bushing in the elbow,


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the unchanged cross, and the PEX tubing in a bushing. The bushing is nothing more than a piece of 1/2" PVCpipe cut off flush to the top of the fitting. I took a littletime to sand the edges so there were no sharp corners.

STEP FIVE

Now it's time to prep the section of PEX tubing. Eachsection is 10" long and will be loosely wrapped with 30white LEDs. If tightly wrapped a full 60 bulb string willfit but barely. Depending on the bulbs and counts you

choose you may need to adjust the section lengths. I left3" on each end of the arch for the PEX to fit into the

brackets so the overall length of the arch is 56".

STEP SIX


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Now it's time to begin wrapping the jump wires on thePEX. These are the wires that the LED strings will

connect to. I actually started at the last arch and workedmy way back to the plug end. I actually wrapped 6 sets ofjump wires under black electrical tape, 5 sets for the fivechannels on the arches and a sixth wire for the candy

canes that will go between each arch. A diagram shouldexplain this easier than a photo can.

=-----+---------------------------------|-|-|-----+---------------------------------=-----------+---------------------------|-|-|-----------+---------------------------=-----------------+---------------------|-|-|-----------------+---------------------=-----------------------+---------------|-|-|-----------------------+---------------=----------------------------+----------|-|-|----------------------------+----------=---------------------------------+-----|-|-|---------------------------------+

Female Plug String Attachment Bracket Jump Wire String Attachment

This way of wiring does only take up 6 channels on LORhowever, it does not allow you to control each arch

individually, they are all wired in series so when section 1on arch 1 lights, section 1 on arch 2 also lights and so

on...

STEP SEVEN


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I wired just a female plug on the sixth channel at eachbracket. This will allow me to plug in the Candy Canesand will allow me to change them out for something elsein the future if I want to. For those of you who decoratefor more than one season this lets you adapt your archesfor other holidays. You can also see the wrapped sectionbetween the two arches. These are the other 5 sets of

jump wires. I left a little extra here for some flexibility sothat I could stack the arches accordian style for storage.

STEP EIGHT

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STEP NINEPlaceholder.

STEP TENPlaceholder.


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STEP ELEVENPlaceholder.

STEP TWELVE

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10 of 10 11/13/2010 11:51 AM

mini leaping arches - light

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