I've got a 7.5' prelit tree that has got to be 15yrs old. Every year I go mano e mano with it to set up and get all the lights working. This year is a little different. I noticed a number of bulbs that weren't working both the steady and the blinking ones. So I started to change them with the one provided with it, but none of them work even with new bulbs and the un-working bulbs will NOT work in other sockets. More importantly, the sockets of the UN-WORKING bulbs are very warm. The problem sockets are on DIFFERENT strings, in fact they are on different sections of the tree. Any thoughts? Yep, homeowners policy is up to date.
O Xmas Tree...
- Thread starter cuffs054
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How warm is "very" warm?
Miniature lights have a shunt built in so that when they do burn out the rest of the string stays lit. If too many bulbs are out the current flowing through the rest of the sting increases substantially. This shortens the life of the remaining bulbs. Not quite sue why the sockets of the lights that are out are warm though. Would indicate an excessive current flow, are the rest of the lights on that circuit lit? Are they very bright?
I do battle every years with various miniature light sets. I have about 18 sets I use on a couple of my trees that are over 30 years old. I really like them because of the large spacing between lights, it's over 10" and make my method of lighting the tree easy. I have no use for strings with 4" o 5" spacing that are available today. I have found a source for new sets with large spacing, at least I did a few years ago, but since my sets are still working I have not needed to resort to that.
Good luck identifying your issue.
Miniature lights have a shunt built in so that when they do burn out the rest of the string stays lit. If too many bulbs are out the current flowing through the rest of the sting increases substantially. This shortens the life of the remaining bulbs. Not quite sue why the sockets of the lights that are out are warm though. Would indicate an excessive current flow, are the rest of the lights on that circuit lit? Are they very bright?
I do battle every years with various miniature light sets. I have about 18 sets I use on a couple of my trees that are over 30 years old. I really like them because of the large spacing between lights, it's over 10" and make my method of lighting the tree easy. I have no use for strings with 4" o 5" spacing that are available today. I have found a source for new sets with large spacing, at least I did a few years ago, but since my sets are still working I have not needed to resort to that.
Good luck identifying your issue.
I like the older sets too, even the older mini lights. They are getting hard to find around here, even in the thrift stores. There used to be one thrift store that sold lights "as is" whether they were working or not. Not so any more. Just plastic bags of bundled up lights with a pig tail sticking out to test them. I'm sure strings that don't work (the ones I'd be interested in) are trashed. I'm glad I've got several old sets to keep using.
I bought a pre-lit tree several years ago. Used it for a couple of years and then suddenly half the lights went out. We couldn't find the culprit so just took wire cutters and removed them! We now use strings of lights and it still looks great.
Asko, that may be the future here. Last night I noticed a large section out. It's not worth tracing. Never thought of just cutting the little bastards out! I'm kinda interested in a set of "Tree Blazer, or Dazzler, or Sparkler or what ever the things are called. They are seen on TV so they must be good.
