trussmonkey Posted August 10, 2004 Share Posted August 10, 2004 hi all anyone know of a good source for soccapex grenades and other such lighting goodies. cheers tm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinw Posted August 10, 2004 Share Posted August 10, 2004 Most of the grenades I've come across had been home made. Its pretty easy to do, and should only take a couple of hours if you have the tools. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted August 10, 2004 Share Posted August 10, 2004 I'm going to have to play the 'sounding thick' card now but what are Grenades? The only thing I can think it might be is Soca line testers i.e. 6 LEDs to show if there is a working light on each channel. But I don't call them grenades :) Stu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lightnix Posted August 10, 2004 Share Posted August 10, 2004 ...Soca line testers i.e. 6 LEDs to show if there is a working light on each channel...Yes, those are the chaps and most of them are homemade, usually from a second hand connector, although for £55 (+VAT & delivery) you can buy a new one here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted August 10, 2004 Share Posted August 10, 2004 Thanks for that 'nix. I'd never heard of them being referred too with that name. Still thats my thing learnt for today :) Stu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trussmonkey Posted August 11, 2004 Author Share Posted August 11, 2004 cheers lightnix, off to buy one now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamp mong Posted December 3, 2004 Share Posted December 3, 2004 Just picked up on this thread. I am interested in making my own grenade. Both male & female ends and wondered if any one new of any links to a website that showed a wiring diagram! Especially one that would include a 7th LED to show a bad earth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grum Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 Socapex Tester You will need: 6 Green LEDs (3mm)1 Red LED (3mm)6 680 Ohm resistors7 Pieces of coloured wire1 9V battery1 9V battery connector1 Soca connector of each sex3mm HSS DrillGlue Gun and glueSoldering stuff 1.Drill 7 holes in the side of the female soca shell like so: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7Insert the LEDs into the holes (the red on in hole 7) making sure they are all the same way round. Glue into position. 2.Solder all the short legs of the LEDs together as close to the bottom as possible. Connect the black wire from the battery connector to these short legs. 3.Solder a coloured wire to each remaining LED leg (as close to the bottom as possible) KEEP A NOTE OF WHICH WIRE IS SOLDERED TO WHICH LED .Now cut off any excess bits of LED and cover with glue to protect.This should leave you with 7 bits of wire (one from each LED) plus the red wire form the battery connector. 4.Take your female soca end and clean and tin each pin. Cottect all of the centre pins together using solder leaving just the outside ring of pins. Now solder a resistor to each of the odd pins as close to the resistor as possible. Now connect all of the resistors to each other so that they meet in the centre MAKE SURE THEY ONLY TOUCH EACH OTHER (use some pvc sleeving if you can get hold of it) 5.Now connect the coloured wires form the leds to the remaining pins in the following order LED Soca pin 1----- 2 2----- 4 3----- 6 4----- 8 5----- 10 6----- 12 7 --- Centre pinsNow solder to red battery wire to the resistors. Connect a battery and put the soca together. Label the LEDs 1-6 and label the red LED “earth shortâ€. 6.Take the male soca and use solder to short pins 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, & 11-12. Job done. You can use this tester to check six lamp bars ect. OR use it with the male shorting plug to check cables. Hope this helps. Grum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamp mong Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 Why thanks! A very detailed response! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew C Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 Socapex Tester You will need:<BIG SNIP>6.Take the male soca and use solder to short pins 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, & 11-12. Job done. You can use this tester to check six lamp bars ect. OR use it with the male shorting plug to check cables. Hope this helps. Grum<{POST_SNAPBACK}> That would be called a "Grenade", because if you plug the male into the wrong cable - BANG! I'm sure that there is a safer way of doing this, but just at the moment I'm on the wrong side of 1/2 bottle of wine. ;) I'll think on it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grum Posted December 5, 2004 Share Posted December 5, 2004 That would be called a "Grenade", because if you plug the male into the wrong cable - BANG! I'm sure that there is a safer way of doing this, but just at the moment I'm on the wrong side of 1/2 bottle of wine. ;) I'll think on it!<{POST_SNAPBACK}> If your stupid enough to try and test a cable that could be live then maybe its a good thing that your hands are blown off! :** laughs out loud **: I know that a shorting plug carries an element of risk if your using it on an installed cable but if you follow safe working practises then there shouldn't be a problem. The real advantage is in the warehouse / fit up where you can perform a simple, quick test to be sure that a cable is sound before you tripe it up. I know its not as good as a PAT test (nor should it be used as a substitute for one) but it is a handy double check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomLyall Posted December 5, 2004 Share Posted December 5, 2004 You might want to add separate LED for each 'earth' core, although this would considerably increase the drain off the battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug kelly Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 You can also add a few and gates and a piezo buzzer so when all circuits have a load it buzzes. Very handy when you have a circuit down and cant see the grenade when putting par ceramics back in place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnhuson Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 Time to drag up an old thread, has anyone found anywhere in the UK who sells them ready made? I lost my homemade one many moons ago and never got round to replacing it, I'm too busy/lazy to make a replacement. Found a place which sell them in the states but it's generally a pain in the a**e importing stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisD Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 Hate to make a stupid point but surely you're gunna want to test a long run of soca, probably patched in at one end. Would it not be a darn sight more sensible to use larger resistor values of around 33K or so, (Don't quote me on the calculations!) uncommon the grounds and use it to check for mains voltage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.