!@#$%^&* Christmas lights!

[MilDoc]

Usually takes 1 1/2 hours. Today took 6! The lights I string along the eaves were first. Plugged 'em in. The first 48 didn't light in a string of 150 where 1 bulb out = others lit. Checked the wires with a meter. Changed the fuses. Pulled each one out and tried a working bulb (yeah, I know, shouldn't have made a difference). And it didn't. Gave up. Cut the wires to eliminate those 48, soldered, rest worked fine. Still can't figure it out.

Then the net lights. 4 sets. 1/2 of each set out. OK. each has 2 fuses. Changed all. No dice. Checked wires. No dice. Again pulled ech bulb. Still no dice. Threw them out. Bought 4 more.

Next year, replace all with LEDs!!!

[LinuxRandal]

I prefer using a bulb that is going out, in my porch light. A lot less to reach

[JSCOOK]

Hey MilDoc, that soulds like me last year ... I'm convinced they have them designed so that after sitting all year, you end up replacing 50% of them out of frustration ... I had most of the same sort of excitment, and to make things worse, I no sooner got the eaves strung on the second level (man I hate heights!) then the next day part of them wouldn't light up ... wife started today about getting the lights up and told her they ALL better be LED's as any that aren't are going in the circular recycling bucket ...

[Stick]

it's -13°C here right now, and there's 16" of snow on the ground. I can't even imagine futzing with xmas lights this time of year! LOL! If I WAS about to mess with them, they'd go up in August and down in July (the only two months it seldom snows here). Mine stay up year round and I haven't even changed a bulb in the 10 years I've been in this house.

[Doug Jones]

Lights are too cheap these days to reuse them every year. Not worth the hassle.

[JSCOOK]

I agree ... but i'd feel really guilty sending them to the landfill every year after using them for the season ... maybe local municipalities should start recycling all the lights people get pissed off with and throw out

Lights are too cheap these days to reuse them every year. Not worth the hassle.

[MilDoc]

it's -13°C here right now, and there's 16" of snow on the ground.

Actually I envy you! NOT the -13C but the snow!

Grew up in Pennsylvania and miss the white stuff. Last year we had 1/8" of snow, gone by noon! But --- in central Texas --- 1/8" of snow means day off as everything closes!

[Stick]

Actually I envy you! NOT the -13C but the snow!

Grew up in Pennsylvania and miss the white stuff. Last year we had 1/8" of snow, gone by noon! But --- in central Texas --- 1/8" of snow means day off as everything closes!

Nice to look at......not so nice to shovel! By winter's end (June) it'll be about 6' deep here.

[crokett]

Nice to look at......not so nice to shovel! By winter's end (June) it'll be about 6' deep here.

And tell me why you live there again??? I know you drive a ways to get to work - if you are driving south you could move closer to work and it'd be warmer. Winter might even end in May.

[Ed62]

I haven't even changed a bulb in the 10 years I've been in this house.

That's the answer, MilDoc! Stay in the house, and you'll never know if you have a bulb out.

Ed

[Cheeky]

MilDoc,

Do your blood pressure a favor (empathetically speaking) and buy some LED lights at the end of the season (50-75%off). The best decision I made last year, post-Chrismas. Lifetime burn of about 25,000 hours.

[bhornberger]

Usually takes 1 1/2 hours. Today took 6! The lights I string along the eaves were first. Plugged 'em in. The first 48 didn't light in a string of 150 where 1 bulb out = others lit. Checked the wires with a meter. Changed the fuses. Pulled each one out and tried a working bulb (yeah, I know, shouldn't have made a difference). And it didn't. Gave up. Cut the wires to eliminate those 48, soldered, rest worked fine. Still can't figure it out.

Then the net lights. 4 sets. 1/2 of each set out. OK. each has 2 fuses. Changed all. No dice. Checked wires. No dice. Again pulled ech bulb. Still no dice. Threw them out. Bought 4 more.

Next year, replace all with LEDs!!!

I purchased this item from lowes and so far has brought back 6 sets from the dreaded half string out... Approx $14 bucks

https://www.lightkeeperpro.com

"Most miniature Holiday Light set failures occur when an individual bulb "shunt" fails to energize. These shunts are energized when a filament burns out. This causes a section of lights, usually 35 or 50, to go out instead of just one light bulb. This is because miniature light sets are wired in "series" and electricity must flow through each bulb, to the next, for them to light.The LightKeeper Pro Quick Fix Trigger sends a shaped, electrical pulse through the defective bulb, clearing the shunt. This allows it to operate properly. The current can then flow through the light set completing the circuit and illuminating the other bulbs."

[Stick]

And tell me why you live there again??? I know you drive a ways to get to work - if you are driving south you could move closer to work and it'd be warmer. Winter might even end in May.

No I drive 450 miles NORTH to work. I operate/maintain a hydraulic generating station, and most of them are in the north, where the big rivers are up here. Actually most of ours are another 400 miles further north than this one is. My farm is in southern saskatchewan, but even there, we often get killing frost in August and snow in September. Snow there is usually melted by April, but the ground is still too cold to plant until 3rd week in May.

Why I stay? Number one, I hate rain. Number two, I hate crowds, and the hordes of people that warm climates and/or cities attract. Number three, I love the outdoors and public land, where you can go and do what you want, no one owns it. Number four, although Mexicans seem to be able to cross freely into the US and stay and work, it just ain't that simple for a Canadian.

[MilDoc]

I purchased this item from lowes and so far has brought back 6 sets from the dreaded half string out... Approx $14 bucks

www.lightkeeperpro.com

But that doesn't explain why the lights stayed out after replacing each one, one at a time, with a known good bulb ...

[MilDoc]

MilDoc,

Do your blood pressure a favor (empathetically speaking) and buy some LED lights at the end of the season (50-75%off). The best decision I made last year, post-Chrismas. Lifetime burn of about 25,000 hours.

Yep ... that's my plan!!!