![]() ![]() It is recommended to replace burnt out bulbs since more current will be flowing into your string and could burn out the rest of your bulbs quicker. 2.5V replacement bulbs I bought at Rona worked fine. The dollar store and Canadian Tire 2.5V replacement bulbs I bought popped right away so they were bad or mislabelled. The problem was likely a loose connection somewhere and not a bad bulb. I ended up going through the tedious process of testing each suspect bad bulb (by placing each in a lit string) and randomly ended up getting all the strings lit up. So 2.5V is good for 50 bulbs (and multiples wired in parallel), 3.5V for 35 (and multiples), and 6V for 20 bulbs. 120V divided by that number is your bulb voltage. To determine the bulb voltage, you need to count your number of bulbs in each SERIES section. The bulbs don’t include the plastic base so don’t throw those out. I found some 2.5V mini replacements at an independent dollar store though it looks like Canadian Tire and Rona is also a good source for bulbs. It was difficult to find replacement bulbs at both drug stores and hardware stores. A third of the lights going out will indicate you have three sections. If half the lights go out, you have two sections. To determine how many sections your string has, you need to pull a bulb from a good string. So even if both strings have a disconnect, power will pass to the next string. In my 100 light string, there are two sets of series 50 light strings which are wired in parallel. There is a tool called the Lightkeeper Pro that sends high voltage into your string to force bulbs where the shunts have failed to fuse together. Sometimes, the shunt fails causing the string to stay dark. The higher voltage caused by the burnt out bulb should cause the shunt to fuse together. Research indicated that the bulbs have a shunt so if the filament burns out, the bulb should short circuit so the string stays lit. Mini lights are wired in series so that if one bulb goes out, the whole string will be out. It is difficult to trace the wiring to see how they are wired. Less power usage, longer runs from a single outlet, bright colors and much more.After putting up icicle lights at the parents, quite a few of the strings had half or full sections with no light. LED’s are many leaps and bounds better than your old incandescent bulbs you might be using still. You don’t have LED h oliday lighting yet! Sometimes a loose bulb, broken socket, or frayed wire is all it takes for the whole strand to malfunction. They aren’t meant to provide you with years and years of holiday joy. Keep in mind that most cheap light strands are built cheaply. **NOTE: Make sure the strand of lights is unplugged before you insert the foil.** 4. But what if I don’t have an extra bulb? No worries, you can fix this by rolling up some aluminum foil to connect the two prongs inside the casing – thus maintaining/re-creating the flow of electricity. The tester will indicate which bulbs are bad and need to be replaced. Usually, changing a problem bulb (or tightening it) will fix the entire strand. If half of your strand of Christmas lights are out, chances are, you’re missing a bulb! Test the bulbs with an inexpensive tester, available where holiday lights are sold and online. There will be a little tab that slides out. The fuse(s) might have blown.Ĭheck to see if there is a fuse or two in the plug. Did you know? An incandescent bulb can reach heat of up to 200 oC! 2. This can cause an overheating of the filament, which may burn. This can happen for multiple reasons the power supply, for instance, may not be stable and may become higher for a short period of time (also known as a spike). Generally people complain that their Christmas lights only last a year, and when they pull them out the next holiday season, they find that they’re useless. This seems to be the case more often than not when dealing with incandescent lights. We’ve compiled together a simple list for reasons why this happens to people – seemingly year, after year, after year – to help you get back on the festive track! 1. Either half the strand is out, bulbs are broken, or they simply won’t even turn on. Around this time of year, we always hear about people’s woe’s and heartbreaks when they realize that their Christmas lights aren’t working. ![]()
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