Step 1 : A Warning


there are no how to's on somehting like this so i decided to put one up but im starting off by say THIS IS EXTREMLY DANGEROUS if you dont know what your doing I was a apprentice electrician for several years so stuff like this doesnt bother me but if you have ANY doubt or second guess your self either call an electrician or have someone help you that is qualified

Step 2 : Determine Your Needs

the particular panel I'am making is capable of running approx 50,000 lights well leaving leeway it maxes out at approx 60,000 lights also for the rest of the how to i always talk in lights not strings because some people use alot more 25 or 50 bulb strings then others that use alot of 100 or 150 strings so when I say light I mean 1 individual bulb
this panel is essentially a very generic how to it can easily be changed to be bigger smaller more modular so figure out what works best for you but I have to recommend that if you have say 10k lights now build the panel for double what you currently have its much easier to make it over sized now then to have to make a second one or hack this one later on down the line

Step 3 : Go Shopping

I bought everything for this project at home depot here is a basic run down also prices are estimates as I lost my reciepts but there fairly close

1 125a 240v panel $35
8 20a breakers $26 "the panel comes with 4"
6 4" boxes $8
12 SPEC GRADE 20a outlets $36 "please dont skimp and get the ones that are 40 cents in the value bin"
2 3/4" clamp style connectors $2
4 1/2" box joiners $3
2 3/4" nipple offsets $3
6 raised 4" double gang covers $9
1 24"x24" piece of plywood $4
and you will also need 12g wire I have spools of it laying around and forgot to measure it but figure on 20'
for a total cost of $160

Step 4 : Assembly


first layout the panel and the boxes with the connectors in them lossely on the plywood trying to center it left to right and making it flush on the bottom this is so that the panel will stand up on its own as in the picture
once you have it where you want it screw the panel down first
then tighten down all the connectors
and finally screw down the boxes starting with the one that attaches to the panel
**NOTE**
after finishing this and putting the cover on the one that I made and i forgot that the cover goes down about 1/2 further then the box so when you fit the panel on do it with the cover on

Step 5 : Modify The Plugs

the plugs dont fit into the covers as they are so I started off by modifying them accordingly all you have to do is take out the 2 screws 'you dont need them' break off the 4 ears on the plug and some plugs have a tab inbetween the ears that you have to tin snip off but some do not I bought a case of the same outlets some had it some dont but its easy enough to take off