Discuss Wedding light up letters help! in the DIY Electrical Advice area at ElectriciansForums.net

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Hi all, I’m getting married next year and plan to make Some 4ft Mr & Mrs light up letters using wooden pallets as it costs a lot to hire and would like some help in deciding how to wire it all up, as it needs pat testing for the venue. My plan was to have a plug going to light holders on a 1.5 flex (with 12 x 4watt led e14 bulbs on each letter) and then a rewireable socket at the end so I can plug it into the next letter (basically an extension lead with bulb holders in between) do I need to cover the flex cable? And will this pass a pat test? Thanks in advance for your advice!!! :)
 
Welcome to the forum, will this be indoor use only can we assume, just a little info' so we can advise correctly.
 
Hi thanks, been meaning to join this forum for a while now as love my diy projects! yes indoor use only, a lot of work for 1 day! Haha
 
if you'r e getting married, i'd invest in a pair of ear defenders as well.
 
i dunno, marriage does have it's merits.

Wedding light up letters help! fcaee9c2a6884610f7b1967c2182290d - EletriciansForums.net
 
I did exactly the same for my wedding a few years ago now.
But i used standard incandescent bulbs and 15A round pin plug - i plugged it into the venues lighting dimmer rack which meant i could dim the lights to give a nice filament glow. Gave off a lot of heat though!

Consider that 12 X 4W lights will be very bright, i was using 40W incandescence but it was blinding before even 50% power. Maybe get dimmable bulbs and wire to a standard dimmer switch mounted on the back of your letters.

I don't believe you need to cover the flex, as its unlikely to suffer mechanical damage in the short duration it will be used for. However make sure you use strain relief, and clip the cable to be back of your letters.
Make sure your letters are weighted so they don't fall over, consider if children might use them as climbing frames!
Consider the thermal impact, but as you are using LEDs you should be fine.
Wood is a combustible material so i wouldn't want to see any exposed conductors or terminal blocks.

E14 bulbs don't have an earth terminal so only limited PAT testing is possible. I don't know much about PAT but as far as i see it with a E14 fitting all you can do is show polarity (screw should be neutral), L-N & L-PE insulation test and a visual inspection of the installation.
 
There is another thread about this, done a bit ago.
Someone doing lighting for letters for a wedding.
I'll see if I can find it...
 
It would be great if you keep us informed on what you do. Pics would be great as well. Helps other people out in the future.
 
Thanks guys, nearly finished building the frames, busy day! Just need to finish S / & letters. postman delivered 72 bulbs and holders to day for the big letters, thinking of using E10 or something for the smaller letters, also had a thought that if I have a plug on the end will it fail pat test as it would only be 2 core, and If someone plugged in an appliance (not that anyone would) but it wouldn’t be earthed then... if that makes sense :)

Wedding light up letters help! F5334B1D-F96B-4B0F-8E9A-68D2E5AA8CC3 - EletriciansForums.net
 
Do the lights need earthing?
What make of lights are you using?
How about, rather than using 3 pin mains plugs/sockets, use something like this?
 
Lights don’t need earthing, that’s a brilliant idea, save worrying about putting a socket on the end! Cheers mate! Included pic of light and holder:

Wedding light up letters help! 7DDA976D-F438-4E77-8A90-094264CFF387 - EletriciansForums.net

Wedding light up letters help! 5A5A1975-E91C-4108-9CE0-6C3D8BB7BF15 - EletriciansForums.net
 
Last edited:
So got the first letter finished! Here’s a few pics! Ended up getting the 2 pin plugs to connect them, thanks spoon! :) Will put some more pics up when it’s all finished! Then need to see if it will pass a pat test or I’m screwed! :(

Wedding light up letters help! 43A8DA74-FA30-4BCF-A59A-FCBF68C021D8 - EletriciansForums.net

Wedding light up letters help! 1ED24265-4267-45D0-88F2-A601BF7737C4 - EletriciansForums.net
 
So got the first letter finished! Here’s a few pics! Ended up getting the 2 pin plugs to connect them, thanks spoon! :) Will put some more pics up when it’s all finished! Then need to see if it will pass a pat test or I’m screwed! :(
 

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