General > General Technical Chat
Christmas mini lights (filament/incandescent, not LED) - question about voltages
Zbyszek:
I will disagree with some statements about how robust are LED lamps. For many years I was using for outside decoration incandescent bulb. 1.) If snow covered them then next day lamps melted it and appeared again. LED is cool so was lost buried by snow. This can be fixed shaking off snow from the branches, but still 1:0 for incandescent. 2.) Incandescent lamps had some kind of non corrosive wires contrary to LED which has iron wires . After one (max two) seasons they are rusted and not working anymore. 2:0
Brumby:
--- Quote from: IanB on October 29, 2023, 12:06:29 am ---
--- Quote from: Brumby on October 28, 2023, 11:54:10 pm ---The first set I remember had a string of globes rated for 17V. They had a screw base and, from memory, were about 5cm or so long (it's been a while). These were in the days of, if one globe failed, the whole string went dark. Chasing down the faulty globe was THE Christmas ritual nobody liked (I didn't buy my first multimeter until some years later).
--- End quote ---
I seem to recall from my childhood that some of the strings had special sockets that shorted out if you removed the bulb. So finding a faulty bulb just involved removing each bulb in turn until the string came back on. Also, if you had a faulty bulb on Christmas Day with no spares available, you could just remove the faulty bulb until you could obtain a replacement.
--- End quote ---
There was no such behaviour from those lights. (It was Australia pre 1970)
SolderSucker:
--- Quote from: Gyro on October 28, 2023, 10:37:20 pm ---A totally off the wall suggestion, which might look really ugly!... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111023835999
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That's actually a nice find, I've been hoping that somebody would produce coloured caps for LED lights. Thanks for the very useful link, it's giving me some more ideas and I see via an Ebay search that there are also caps for 5mm LEDs, etc. For example:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/374214367617
SolderSucker:
--- Quote from: AndyBeez on October 28, 2023, 11:36:10 pm ---We have been driving our retro incandescent Xmas lights with a dimmer for many seasons. Running at 80% has little impact on visual brightness but, reduces heating and extends the lifespan of the strings. Also, a dimmer provides a soft start, treating the ageing filaments with care. I have zero idea if spare bulbs even exist. One string is so retro, the bulbs are LES fitting.
Image. I cannot recommend this dimmer as I do not own one but, such plugin devices exist for UK sockets. This one is quoted at 300W. Be sure to downrate the fuse in your festive light string's plug to 3 Amps. I should add that a dimmer is not ever compatible with mini LED transformers - they are buck converters and will likely buzz very loudly if dimmed.
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Thanks, I see the one that you provided the image of:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mercury-DMR-1WHT-Plugin-Dimmer-Switch/dp/B000LAU04K/
I think I'll give it a go. Noted about changing the fuse in each string's plug to 3 amps.
One question though - I plan to plug three strings (each consisting of 100 filament bulbs) into a multiway adapter and then that into the dimmer. Any potential problems there? Each string is rated at 33 watts, the linked adapter is 300 watts so should be fine.
themadhippy:
--- Quote ---Or use a diode,
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The flicker might be a problem for some,but for those of us who put fluorescent starters in series with there lights its another flashing effect
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