General > General Technical Chat
Christmas mini lights (filament/incandescent, not LED) - question about voltages
IanB:
--- Quote from: wraper on October 28, 2023, 08:10:34 pm ---Just buy decent looking LED lights. For similar cheap price you can get them both with nice warm colors or totally awful. Those incandescent lights are an absolute rubbish. Not only they are not electrically safe, they are very unreliable. Going for a week with no failures is very unlikely.
--- End quote ---
I've done for fairy lights the same as I have done for other incandescent lamps. Run them on a dimmer at reduced brightness. Then they run for years without failure. Most of the time full brightness is too much for me, subdued lighting is much more pleasant. So it's a win-win situation.
SolderSucker:
--- Quote from: wraper on October 28, 2023, 08:10:34 pm ---
--- Quote from: SolderSucker on October 28, 2023, 06:38:45 pm ---I really hate LED Christmas bulbs - the colours are usually slightly off/unnatural and the light is overly bright and harsh. Blue light in particular is the worst.
Filament bulbs are a lot better (for me at least) as they give off a far nicer, softer glow.
But if you prefer LED bulbs then that's fine, we all have different preferences.
--- End quote ---
Just buy decent looking LED lights. For similar cheap price you can get them both with nice warm colors or totally awful. Those incandescent lights are an absolute rubbish. Not only they are not electrically safe, they are very unreliable. Going for a week with no failures is very unlikely.
--- End quote ---
I've used filament lights for some time but after a recent break (while I tried LED lights) I went back to them. Only ever had a problem with bulbs failing and then not that often. Bulbs these days also have a built-in shunt, so when one bulb dies it doesn't take the whole string with it and the dead bulb is easy it identify. They are definitely not "absolute rubbish".
I've tried all kinds of LED bulbs, both cheap and expensive, and none have appealed - their harsh and incorrect colours are not to my taste.
SolderSucker:
--- Quote from: IanB on October 28, 2023, 08:16:28 pm ---
--- Quote from: wraper on October 28, 2023, 08:10:34 pm ---Just buy decent looking LED lights. For similar cheap price you can get them both with nice warm colors or totally awful. Those incandescent lights are an absolute rubbish. Not only they are not electrically safe, they are very unreliable. Going for a week with no failures is very unlikely.
--- End quote ---
I've done for fairy lights the same as I have done for other incandescent lamps. Run them on a dimmer at reduced brightness. Then they run for years without failure. Most of the time full brightness is too much for me, subdued lighting is much more pleasant. So it's a win-win situation.
--- End quote ---
I've never tried a dimmer with the filamant lights - is there any particular type that you would recommend?
IanB:
--- Quote from: SolderSucker on October 28, 2023, 08:23:05 pm ---I've never tried a dimmer with the filamant lights - is there any particular type that you would recommend?
--- End quote ---
Any regular lamp dimmer will do it. In the USA there are "table lamp dimmers", which have a socket you can plug a table lamp (or fairy lights) into. I have not looked to see if you can buy such a thing in the UK, but I would guess they are available somewhere.
Zero999:
--- Quote from: Gyro on October 28, 2023, 07:05:25 pm ---
--- Quote from: Ian.M on October 28, 2023, 06:57:11 pm ---If the filament goes open, the mains voltage breaks down the magnet wire insulation, spot-welding it to the leads and shorting out the bulb so the rest of the lights stay on, albeit at a fractionally higher voltage.
--- End quote ---
I believe they use Aluminium wire, relying on oxide breakdown to make the short. Of course there's no Oxygen in the bulb to prevent it from alow it to re-forming. Yes, the fuse bulb is vital, a clear bulb with a white painted top (in the UK anyway).
--- End quote ---
I thought they used a low pressure gas, with a low breakdown voltage, which would drop to a normal filament lamp, once the arc had struck.
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