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| Christmas mini lights (filament/incandescent, not LED) - question about voltages |
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| andy2000:
--- Quote from: NiHaoMike on October 29, 2023, 03:53:20 am ---Or use a diode, trivial to seal up in heat shrink. --- End quote --- I've been doing this for years for incandescent light sets which are too bright. It doesn't cause noticeable flicker to my eyes, and I'm very sensitive to the flicker of most LED light sets. One of the main reason I don't use LED Christmas lights is because almost all of them look like strobe lights to me. |
| lezginka_kabardinka:
--- Quote from: mendip_discovery on October 28, 2023, 06:32:28 pm ---Why bother with them. They regularly use different/proprietary bulbs so it's always been a pain to use them. They also had a nasty habbit of catching trees on fire etc. This is one of those times were it's really nice to have LED. --- End quote --- Just because LEDs are the latest obsession, plastered in, and on EVERYTHING, doesn't make them "better" for EVERYTHING. He wants filament, and I am with him on this; they are vastly superior. |
| Sredni:
Incandescent camp here. The atmosphere is unique. I mostly use strings of 10 and 20 bulbs, rated for 24V and 12V. When my country moved from 220V to 230V I had to endure "The Great Burning" due to the reduced lifespan when running at a higher voltage. Being lazy, I simply went through dozens of strings, at least four per season, until I had enough and put a diode in series with them. 'Half' voltage, quarter power they became eternal. And in my eyes, they even look better. There are different ways to reduce the voltage: - single diode - two series of 10-20 diodes in parallel, with opposing orientation - series capacitor - a 12 to 24 V transformer to wire in series so that the voltage is subtracted from the mains voltage - a full blown variac (but that's overkill) Or even adding 3-4 extra lamps to the series (but they need to come from the same batch) To the OP, my advice is to power a single bulb with a variable voltage source and record the current. Once you reach the right brightness you should find the operating voltage (in case it's one of those string where multiple series are in parallel). |
| IanB:
--- Quote from: Sredni on October 31, 2023, 08:32:41 pm ---There are different ways to reduce the voltage: - single diode - two series of 10-20 diodes in parallel, with opposing orientation - series capacitor - a 12 to 24 V transformer to wire in series so that the voltage is subtracted from the mains voltage - a full blown variac (but that's overkill) --- End quote --- Or a simple phase angle lamp dimmer? These are simple, commodity items, plug and play. |
| Sredni:
--- Quote from: IanB on October 31, 2023, 09:01:17 pm --- --- Quote from: Sredni on October 31, 2023, 08:32:41 pm ---There are different ways to reduce the voltage: - single diode - two series of 10-20 diodes in parallel, with opposing orientation - series capacitor - a 12 to 24 V transformer to wire in series so that the voltage is subtracted from the mains voltage - a full blown variac (but that's overkill) --- End quote --- Or a simple phase angle lamp dimmer? These are simple, commodity items, plug and play. --- End quote --- The ones I have always used for my light fixtures had a minimum power requirement of a out 100W. Iirc they buzzed when used at lower powers, or maybe they just didn't start. I never bothered to search for a more adequate product. |
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