Outdoor Christmas lights

[gcotterl]

For next Christmas, what kind of Christmas Light Strings should I buy
for the outside of my home?

On some of the strings I currently own:

1) all the bulbs light
2) none of the bulbs light
3) the bulbs on only a section of the string light

On the strings I want, if a bulb dies or is missing, the rest of the
bulbs should light.

 

[DerbyDad03]

For next Christmas, what kind of Christmas Light Strings should I buy
for the outside of my home?

On some of the strings I currently own:

         1) all the bulbs light
         2) none of the bulbs light
         3) the bulbs on only a section of the string light

On the strings I want, if a bulb dies or is missing, the rest of the
bulbs should light.

Here's how I'm going to spend the "off-season"...

I'm going to buy a boat load of these:

http://www.1000bulbs.com/images/HLS-MALE600-600x.jpg

and a bunch of these:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/l.thumbs.canstockphoto.com/canstock0234912.jpg

Then I'm going to take all of the strings of Christmas lights that I
own and turn them into hundreds of single bulb strings, each with
their own plug.

I'll never have to worry about half-lit strings or short sections of
strings going out again.

If I do 8 or 9 a day, I should be ready by next Thanksgiving.

 

[DerbyDad03]

For next Christmas, what kind of Christmas Light Strings should I buy
for the outside of my home?

On some of the strings I currently own:

         1) all the bulbs light
         2) none of the bulbs light
         3) the bulbs on only a section of the string light

On the strings I want, if a bulb dies or is missing, the rest of the
bulbs should light.

Whatever you buy, just get enough to do what the guy on the right did:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/uimages/la/120209_DittoXmas.jpg

 

[Jules]

Then I'm going to take all of the strings of Christmas lights that I
own and turn them into hundreds of single bulb strings, each with
their own plug.

Use 4' fluorescent tubes instead - less than 50c/foot and far less
components to worry about. Wrap electrical tape around the tubes to
mask off the bits you don't want visible to give that "lots of small
bulbs" effect.

 

[Bill]

Why don't you buy a voltmeter (multimeter) and a book on how to use a
voltmeter?

http://www.amazon.com/How-Test-Almost-Everything-Electronic/dp/0830641270/ref=pd_sim_b_2


in message

 

[Tony Hwang]

For next Christmas, what kind of Christmas Light Strings should I buy
for the outside of my home?

On some of the strings I currently own:

1) all the bulbs light
2) none of the bulbs light
3) the bulbs on only a section of the string light

On the strings I want, if a bulb dies or is missing, the rest of the
bulbs should light.

Hi,
I use some light ropes and sparkling tiny LED strings. Sparkling
type LED has crystal like hard lens and very tough to crack or break.
And power usage is minimal. 2 Watts per 25 LED string.

 

[mkirsch1]

For next Christmas, what kind of Christmas Light Strings should I buy
for the outside of my home?

On some of the strings I currently own:

         1) all the bulbs light
         2) none of the bulbs light
         3) the bulbs on only a section of the string light

On the strings I want, if a bulb dies or is missing, the rest of the
bulbs should light.

Most, if not all, of the "miniature" incandescent Christmas lights
marketed these days are wired in SERIES. The bulbs are supposed to be
designed to short themselves out if anything happens to the filament,
so the rest of the bulbs remain lit and it's obvious which one went
bad.

These lights are cheaply made, and the "failsafe" in the bulbs often
doesn't work. One goes out, they all go out because the circuit is
broken.

Another way they like to fail is a loose connection in one of the
sockets. When that happens you just throw the lights away and buy new
ones.

The ones that have sections go out are probably the longer 100- and
150-bulb strings. These are usually 4-5 separate 20-30 bulb strings
wired together to one plug. Same problems: busted bulbs or loose
wires.

The only type of lights that won't go out when you remove a bulb are
ones wired in PARALLEL. Old incandescent C5, C7, and C9 style lights
(larger bulbs) are wired in PARALLEL. It's tough to find these
nowadays.

You will NEVER find the strings with tiny bulbs wired in parallel. The
tiny bulbs are low-voltage (1 to 3 Volts, depending on how long the
string is) and will blow when exposed to 110V, so they hook them
together in series. There isn't enough room in the tiny bulb to
contain a 110V filament.

It's easy to tell the difference. Just look at the sockets.

1. If there are 2 wires going into all of the sockets, the string is
wired in series.
2. If there are 4 wires going into all of the sockets, the string is
wired in parallel.

The simple solution is to buy quality strings of lights. However,
there is no such thing. ALL the lights are now made in China to the
lowest possible quality standard. You can't buy a quality set of
lights at any price. You only pay more for the same cheap crap.

LED strings are wired in series, but LEDs tend to be more reliable
than incandescent bulbs. They usually don't fail unless visibly
damaged, so it's easy to tell where the problem is.

 

[mkirsch1]

Why don't you buy a voltmeter (multimeter) and a book on how to use a
voltmeter?

Have you ever used a voltmeter to troubleshoot a string of lights?
Even on a short 35-light string you could be at it for HOURS. My time
is worth more than a $2 string of lights. Don't know about yours.

 

[DerbyDad03]

Use 4' fluorescent tubes instead - less than 50c/foot and far less
components to worry about. Wrap electrical tape around the tubes to
mask off the bits you don't want visible to give that "lots of small
bulbs" effect.

re: "Wrap electrical tape around the tubes to mask off the bits you
don't want visible"

When I was a Loran C technician in the Coast Guard back in the 70's,
we used to take 4' fluorescent tubes and slowly approach the
transmitting tower until the tube lit up.

Then we'd hold one end and slide our other hand up the tube. The tube
would only light above our hand, so we could essentially "slide" the
light up and down the tube by moving our hand.

We always made sure we didn't get any closer to the tower than
necessary to get the tube to glow. A megawatt would hurt if the signal
decided you were a good path the ground.

 

[hr(bob) hofmann]

re: "Wrap electrical tape around the tubes to mask off the bits you
don't want visible"

When I was a Loran C technician in the Coast Guard back in the 70's,
we used to take 4' fluorescent tubes and slowly approach the
transmitting tower until the tube lit up.

Then we'd hold one end and slide our other hand up the tube. The tube
would only light above our hand, so we could essentially "slide" the
light up and down the tube by moving our hand.

We always made sure we didn't get any closer to the tower than
necessary to get the tube to glow. A megawatt would hurt if the signal
decided you were a good path the ground.

You were a little too close if you got the fluorescent light to
glow!!!!!

 

[DerbyDad03]

You were a little too close if you got the fluorescent light to
glow!!!!!

Actually, if we were a little too close, I wouldn't be able to tell
the story!

 

[Rick Brandt]

For next Christmas, what kind of Christmas Light Strings should I buy
for the outside of my home?

On some of the strings I currently own:

1) all the bulbs light
2) none of the bulbs light
3) the bulbs on only a section of the string light

On the strings I want, if a bulb dies or is missing, the rest of the
bulbs should light.

That has been the standard for many years so unless your existing strings
are pretty old they are likely already the kind where if one bulb burns out
the rest stays lit.

Where this doesn't help you is if one bulb is making a bad connection or is
missing entirely. Then the whole string (or section) does go out. I think
you will have trouble finding new strings that are any better in this
respect. Bulbs can burn out, but they cannot be missing or loose. LEDs
might not have this issue, but that is all I would buy anyway for other
reasons.

 

[terry]

Holy crud, they were way too close! One of my old radar instructors used to
tell us about how a few sailors decided to use a fire control radar (1
megawatt peak, maybe ~50KW average power) to "sterilize" themselves before
going on leave for the weekend. Easy to do, just stand in front of the dish
when it is operating. They figured that way their "dates" would not get
pregnant. When you are exposed to microwave radiation, do you know what body
parts warm up first? Anything small that sticks out, such as ears, nose,
lips, fingers, and...other body parts. They sterilized themselves, all
right. Permanently. They should have received some sort of Darwin award for
that stunt.

If I was close enough to any of my dishes for a fluorescent tube to light,
I'd probably wet myself.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

==============================================================

I can believe that. Many years ago; driving down a street in traffic
sloping towards the harbour here my vehicle radio was tuned to a local
AM band station at 640 kilohertz kilocycles!).That's 640,000
oscillations per second.

A NATO warship was moored at the harbour side about a quarter mile
ahead Its large radar antenna was rotating. Each time it pointed in my
direction there as a momentary 'swish' or click on my radio.

"Wow"; I thought, "What kind power at what frequency is that thing
putting about?", to be able to block my radio (just an on ordinary
cheap auto-radio) like that.

Radars (Am open to correction here by those more expert) operate at
many millions of oscillation per second. Some as high as 12,000
million per second!

Calendar related ........... best wishes for the next year.

 

[terry]

That has been the standard for many years so unless your existing strings
are pretty old they are likely already the kind where if one bulb burns out
the rest stays lit.

Where this doesn't help you is if one bulb is making a bad connection or is
missing entirely.  Then the whole string (or section) does go out.  Ithink
you will have trouble finding new strings that are any better in this
respect.  Bulbs can burn out, but they cannot be missing or loose.  LEDs
might not have this issue, but that is all I would buy anyway for other
reasons.

 

[terry]

That has been the standard for many years so unless your existing strings
are pretty old they are likely already the kind where if one bulb burns out
the rest stays lit.

Where this doesn't help you is if one bulb is making a bad connection or is
missing entirely.  Then the whole string (or section) does go out.  Ithink
you will have trouble finding new strings that are any better in this
respect.  Bulbs can burn out, but they cannot be missing or loose.  LEDs
might not have this issue, but that is all I would buy anyway for other
reasons.

Sounds like the OP is using series string lights? AIUI those are
usually less waterproof and less rugged than lighting strings intended
for outdoor use and where more commonly, each bulb is attched to both
the hot and neutral wires. i.e. each bulb is operating at 115 volts
etc.
BTW what we usually do is to reduce the voltage on our strings of
lights by some form of step-down transformer or by puttinng two
strings of lights in series. This is epecially a good idea on lights
on a indoor Christmas tree. So bulbs are less hot and last much
longer.

 

[DerbyDad03]

Holy crud, they were way too close! One of my old radar instructors used to
tell us about how a few sailors decided to use a fire control radar (1
megawatt peak, maybe ~50KW average power) to "sterilize" themselves before
going on leave for the weekend. Easy to do, just stand in front of the dish
when it is operating. They figured that way their "dates" would not get
pregnant. When you are exposed to microwave radiation, do you know what body
parts warm up first? Anything small that sticks out, such as ears, nose,
lips, fingers, and...other body parts. They sterilized themselves, all
right. Permanently. They should have received some sort of Darwin award for
that stunt.

If I was close enough to any of my dishes for a flourescent tube to light,
I'd probably wet myself.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

A Loran C signal is *not* the same thing as microwave radiation.

A Loran C signal is a 100Mhz signal sent out in a precisely timed
pulsed sequence.

The danger was strictly based on you becoming a path to ground for the
100 megawatts of power.

Because Loran C is supposed to be operating 100% of the time, any off-
air time (or problems with the timing) that lasted over 1 minute was
considered "bad time" and went on the station's record. 1 minute of
bad-time ruined a "perfect month". (We once set a record for 7 perfect
months in a row, in the days of 15KV vacuum tubes and mechanical-relay
based transmitters)

I mention that stuff so as to explain "tower maintenance" and how it
relates to getting near the tower.

When the tower needed maintenance, the "book" said to kill the signal
to the tower, allow the tower tech to climb onto the tower, and then
energize the tower again. It was perfectly OK to be *on* the tower
while it was transmitting, you just didn't want to be "too close" to
the tower. Typically, this shut-down, tower-mounting and power-on
sequence took less than a minute, so a station didn't ruin a perfect
month over a burnt out lightbulb or some other mundane tower problem.

In reality, because the tower techs knew that shutting down the
transmitter might present problems, and were sensitive to the records
that stations were trying to set, most were willing to "jump the
tower". This was accomplished by running towards the tower and jumping
onto the concrete base with the tower energized. Of course, we never
"allowed" this practice, always "protesting" vehemently - usually to
no avail - but the log books would always state that the tech took it
upon himself to jump the tower.

I've never seen (or heard of) anyone getting hurt via this practice,
but I have seen people serious injured while working on the
transmitters themselves. High voltage capacitors, such as the largest
ones in this picture, pack quite a punch when the grounding system
fails to do its job.

http://www.highenergycorp.com/images/oil/All_HV_caps_5_c.JPG

I've seen caps charge up to over 5KV just by sitting on the workbench
of the transmitter building without a shorting strap attached. We used
to charge them up with a Hi-Pot and then short them out with a dead-
man stick (with the lights off of course) to show the "newbies" why
they should never be in the transmiter building without a journeyman
transmitter technician. After seeing the demo, some guys wouldn't even
go *near* the building!

 

[The Daring Dufas]

Holy crud, they were way too close! One of my old radar instructors used to
tell us about how a few sailors decided to use a fire control radar (1
megawatt peak, maybe ~50KW average power) to "sterilize" themselves before
going on leave for the weekend. Easy to do, just stand in front of the dish
when it is operating. They figured that way their "dates" would not get
pregnant. When you are exposed to microwave radiation, do you know what body
parts warm up first? Anything small that sticks out, such as ears, nose,
lips, fingers, and...other body parts. They sterilized themselves, all
right. Permanently. They should have received some sort of Darwin award for
that stunt.

If I was close enough to any of my dishes for a flourescent tube to light,
I'd probably wet myself.

Did any of them end up with cataracts?

TDD