Christmas tree light question

[John Carter]

Yes, it's that time of the year when men swear at tree lights, just
as I am doing now %&&*%*^$&^$%&^$%*&(^(*&%!!!

We have a pre-lighted tree with the lights that stay lit when a bulb
goes out or is removed from the string. The tree has many separate
strings that connect to a "buss" type exension cord that runs up the
tree "trunk". One connection (#4) connects to the buss winds around
several brancehes and then provides a socket for the top string of
lights.

The top string that plugs into the string in question lights fine.
The strung in question (SIQ) does NOT light at all. From this I
concluded and tested the fuses in the SIQ and they are fine. I have
removed all the bulbs from the SIQ and individually tested each one
by plugging it into a working string elsewhere ion the tree. Thaey
all either burn fine, or do not light up, but the tring stays lit, so
from this I know that the bulbs from trhe SIQ do not keep the others
from lighting.

There is one buld in the SIQ that is (from the documentation that
came with the tree) NON_REPLACEABLE. Inspection of this buld
clearly shows it to be burned out - the filament is broken and the
bulb is slightly blackened.

I have (maybe falsely) concluded that this is why the SIQ won't
light, and somehow I need eliminate it from the string to get it to
light. What does one do with such a bulb? Why is there a non-
replaceable bulb on a string.

Googling for a soultion, I found someone who says to cut it out of
the circuit and replace with ballast. But there are 3 wires
connected to the socket of the non-replaceable bulb. So what do I
use for ballast and how do I connect the 3 wires ?

Anything to get through this holiday so I can rpelace the tree with
one that uses LED's. All my other outdoor and decorating lights are
now led.

Any help will be greatly appreciated. Excuse spelling - I am
exhausted and eyes now failing.

 

[IanM]

John Carter wrote:

There is one buld in the SIQ that is (from the documentation that
came with the tree) NON_REPLACEABLE. Inspection of this buld
clearly shows it to be burned out - the filament is broken and the
bulb is slightly blackened.

I have (maybe falsely) concluded that this is why the SIQ won't
light, and somehow I need eliminate it from the string to get it to
light. What does one do with such a bulb? Why is there a non-
replaceable bulb on a string.

Googling for a soultion, I found someone who says to cut it out of
the circuit and replace with ballast. But there are 3 wires
connected to the socket of the non-replaceable bulb. So what do I
use for ballast and how do I connect the 3 wires ?

You have encountered the dreaded fuse-bulb. It is a bulb without the
auto-shorting device the normal bulbs have to keep the string lit so
that if too many bulbs fail and short, it will blow instead of the
string overheating and the string isn't a hazard. In the old days
before the lawyers got in on the act the fuse-bulb used to be
replaceable. Unfortunately a few idiots put a 'normal' bulb in there
and sued and you are now stuck with the result. The manufacturers
understandably made it tamper-proof rather than just changing the socket
to prevent 'normal' bulbs being fitted. I put '' round normal because a
normal bulb for anything EXCEPT series lighting strings is the SAME as a
fuse bulb and DOES NOT have the shorting device.

If you are experienced enough to replace it safely, all you need is a
miniature bulb of exactly the same current rating as the string without
a shorting link and a suitable holder with adequate insulation for mains
use. You said you have gone LED for everything else. If you still have
any old strings, you will probably be able to rob something suitable
from one of them. If you lack the skills, parts and tools required then
PLEASE forget about fixing this string and instead resurrect one of the
old strings with a separate power lead to light the unlit part of your
tree. Your family, insurance company and local emergency services
would all thank you if they knew . . .

--
Ian Malcolm. London, ENGLAND. (NEWSGROUP REPLY PREFERRED)
ianm[at]the[dash]malcolms[dot]freeserve[dot]co[dot]uk
[at]=@, [dash]=- & [dot]=. *Warning* HTML & >32K emails --> NUL:

 

[Tom Biasi]

"John Carter" <me@mymailsvr.org> wrote in message
news:Xns9CD2CFDEE9EE6jcartgmailcom@74.209.136.88...

Yes, it's that time of the year when men swear at tree lights, just
as I am doing now %&&*%*^$&^$%&^$%*&(^(*&%!!!

We have a pre-lighted tree with the lights that stay lit when a bulb
goes out or is removed from the string. The tree has many separate
strings that connect to a "buss" type exension cord that runs up the
tree "trunk". One connection (#4) connects to the buss winds around
several brancehes and then provides a socket for the top string of
lights.

The top string that plugs into the string in question lights fine.
The strung in question (SIQ) does NOT light at all. From this I
concluded and tested the fuses in the SIQ and they are fine. I have
removed all the bulbs from the SIQ and individually tested each one
by plugging it into a working string elsewhere ion the tree. Thaey
all either burn fine, or do not light up, but the tring stays lit, so
from this I know that the bulbs from trhe SIQ do not keep the others
from lighting.

There is one buld in the SIQ that is (from the documentation that
came with the tree) NON_REPLACEABLE. Inspection of this buld
clearly shows it to be burned out - the filament is broken and the
bulb is slightly blackened.

I have (maybe falsely) concluded that this is why the SIQ won't
light, and somehow I need eliminate it from the string to get it to
light. What does one do with such a bulb? Why is there a non-
replaceable bulb on a string.

Googling for a soultion, I found someone who says to cut it out of
the circuit and replace with ballast. But there are 3 wires
connected to the socket of the non-replaceable bulb. So what do I
use for ballast and how do I connect the 3 wires ?

Anything to get through this holiday so I can rpelace the tree with
one that uses LED's. All my other outdoor and decorating lights are
now led.

Any help will be greatly appreciated. Excuse spelling - I am
exhausted and eyes now failing.

Brother I feel your pain. You sound like you are on your last nerve. Hey,

many days left 'till Christmas, lets work it out.
There are so many variations of the trees that you describe it is difficult
to help. Some common points. In the USA they have to meet UL specs and
probably have a fusible link for each circuit. If the bulb you describe is
the fusible link maybe something is wrong with that circuit. Examine it
carefully for shorts. Look for physical damage. The three wires are a common
way to complete the circuit if a bulb fails.
Calm down, look at the tree with fresh eyes and report back. There are some
Non UL ways to fix this but I would suggest them for academic purposes only.

Tom

 

[John Carter]

IanM <look.in.my.sig@totally.invalid> wrote in
news:hev9h6$2lct$1@energise.enta.net:

John Carter wrote:
There is one buld in the SIQ that is (from the documentation that
came with the tree) NON_REPLACEABLE. Inspection of this buld
clearly shows it to be burned out - the filament is broken and
the bulb is slightly blackened.

I have (maybe falsely) concluded that this is why the SIQ won't
light, and somehow I need eliminate it from the string to get it
to light. What does one do with such a bulb? Why is there a non-
replaceable bulb on a string.

Googling for a soultion, I found someone who says to cut it out
of the circuit and replace with ballast. But there are 3 wires
connected to the socket of the non-replaceable bulb. So what do
I use for ballast and how do I connect the 3 wires ?


You have encountered the dreaded fuse-bulb. It is a bulb without
the auto-shorting device the normal bulbs have to keep the string
lit so that if too many bulbs fail and short, it will blow instead
of the string overheating and the string isn't a hazard. In the
old days before the lawyers got in on the act the fuse-bulb used
to be replaceable. Unfortunately a few idiots put a 'normal' bulb
in there and sued and you are now stuck with the result. The
manufacturers understandably made it tamper-proof rather than just
changing the socket to prevent 'normal' bulbs being fitted. I put
'' round normal because a normal bulb for anything EXCEPT series
lighting strings is the SAME as a fuse bulb and DOES NOT have the
shorting device.

If you are experienced enough to replace it safely, all you need
is a miniature bulb of exactly the same current rating as the
string without a shorting link and a suitable holder with adequate
insulation for mains use. You said you have gone LED for
everything else. If you still have any old strings, you will
probably be able to rob something suitable from one of them. If
you lack the skills, parts and tools required then PLEASE forget
about fixing this string and instead resurrect one of the old
strings with a separate power lead to light the unlit part of your
tree. Your family, insurance company and local emergency
services would all thank you if they knew . . .

I have met the dreaded fuse-bulb and have been defeated.

My soultion was to carefully unwind the SIQ from the 6 branches it
was "installed" in. I put the brancehs back on the tree, connected a
string of similar number bulbs, and draped them over the branches.
Since the brancehs were the top tier just below the treetop, it is
hard to detect any less density of the rpelacement string, even
though it has fewer bulbs.

All is well again and I thank all who replied with timely and
accurate answers.

Happy Holidays

PS My wife went out looking for a new tree today and she concluded
that our tree has a better shape and density than anything else she
saw, so it looks like more unwinding when strings fail to light on
the tree. This time I'll use LED lights. So far they seem to look
nicer and should hold up longer than the old minibulbs.

 

[IanM]

John Carter wrote:

IanM <look.in.my.sig@totally.invalid> wrote in
news:hev9h6$2lct$1@energise.enta.net:

John Carter wrote:
There is one buld in the SIQ that is (from the documentation that
came with the tree) NON_REPLACEABLE. Inspection of this buld
clearly shows it to be burned out - the filament is broken and
the bulb is slightly blackened.

I have (maybe falsely) concluded that this is why the SIQ won't
light, and somehow I need eliminate it from the string to get it
to light. What does one do with such a bulb? Why is there a non-
replaceable bulb on a string.

Googling for a soultion, I found someone who says to cut it out
of the circuit and replace with ballast. But there are 3 wires
connected to the socket of the non-replaceable bulb. So what do
I use for ballast and how do I connect the 3 wires ?

You have encountered the dreaded fuse-bulb. It is a bulb without
the auto-shorting device the normal bulbs have to keep the string
lit so that if too many bulbs fail and short, it will blow instead
of the string overheating and the string isn't a hazard. In the
old days before the lawyers got in on the act the fuse-bulb used
to be replaceable. Unfortunately a few idiots put a 'normal' bulb
in there and sued and you are now stuck with the result. The
manufacturers understandably made it tamper-proof rather than just
changing the socket to prevent 'normal' bulbs being fitted. I put
'' round normal because a normal bulb for anything EXCEPT series
lighting strings is the SAME as a fuse bulb and DOES NOT have the
shorting device.

If you are experienced enough to replace it safely, all you need
is a miniature bulb of exactly the same current rating as the
string without a shorting link and a suitable holder with adequate
insulation for mains use. You said you have gone LED for
everything else. If you still have any old strings, you will
probably be able to rob something suitable from one of them. If
you lack the skills, parts and tools required then PLEASE forget
about fixing this string and instead resurrect one of the old
strings with a separate power lead to light the unlit part of your
tree. Your family, insurance company and local emergency
services would all thank you if they knew . . .



I have met the dreaded fuse-bulb and have been defeated.

My solution was to carefully unwind the SIQ from the 6 branches it
was "installed" in. I put the branches back on the tree, connected a
string of similar number bulbs, and draped them over the branches.
Since the branches were the top tier just below the treetop, it is
hard to detect any less density of the replacement string, even
though it has fewer bulbs.

All is well again and I thank all who replied with timely and
accurate answers.

Happy Holidays

PS My wife went out looking for a new tree today and she concluded
that our tree has a better shape and density than anything else she
saw, so it looks like more unwinding when strings fail to light on
the tree. This time I'll use LED lights. So far they seem to look
nicer and should hold up longer than the old minibulbs.

I'm glad you have found a workable, safe solution. However it looks

like improved light testing skills are in your future in the interests
of domestic harmony.

DONT let blown bulbs accumulate in any string or the fuse bulbs will
fail sooner. You can probably 'nurse' what you have for a couple of
seasons. A torch battery of a suitable voltage (a bit less than the
bulb's working voltage) wired with a small series resistor (protection
against the auto-shorting 'feature') to a socket taken from the dead
string makes a far better bulb tester than trying them 'live' in
circuit. The tester must actually light the bulb as the shorting device
gives misleading results with common circuit testers. It turns bulb
testing into a much simpler chore.

The other useful gadget for testing is a bulb base, glass removed with
two leads with plugs to suit your multimeter going to the two contacts.
Its used with the string disconnected and it lets you measure
resistance between any bulb socket and the supply terminals of the
string in both directions to quickly locate sockets with bad contact to
the bulb or failed bulbs that haven't shorted.

For about 20 years from the 70s to the 90s I kept several WW2 vintage
Osram strings in safe and good working order until I couldn't get any
compatible bulbs any longer. The pre WW2 string was scrapped for spare
sockets circa 1990 to keep the other strings in safe condition. I'd bet
I could get one of those string going nearly 20 years later without much
hassle. The old bulbs were much better than those produced after the
mid 80's and usually outlasted several replacements even though they
were ancient when I inherited the lights.

I'm not so sure the LED strings will last well. Chinese crap built down
to a price, designed for minimum parts count not lifetime. They mostly
over-drive the LEDS to save a few cents on brighter ones and they are
usually NOT replaceable. There have to be some better ones out there as
I see some used for decor effects 365 days a year, but I'd bet they have
a premium price and without going to a specialist supplier you will
probably get ripped off. I don't see any free or very cheap extended
warranties on the LED strings either ;-)
--
Ian Malcolm. London, ENGLAND. (NEWSGROUP REPLY PREFERRED)
ianm[at]the[dash]malcolms[dot]freeserve[dot]co[dot]uk
[at]=@, [dash]=- & [dot]=. *Warning* HTML & >32K emails --> NUL: