Roly wrote:
WE've got several sets of Christmas tree bulbs and also some other
similar bulbs used for parasol lights etc.

They all have the same type of plastic base and bent wire terminals, but
are of different voltages and wattages.

Some retailers stock some bulbs, but there are some that we can't match.

Is there a dealer who specialises in thses sort of bulbs ? The usual
suspects like RS and CPC don't appear to stock much of this type.

You'll probably just have to "do the rounds", try garden centres,
Wilkinsons, Poundland as well as Woolies etc.


If the original instructions have been lost, is there an easy way to
determine the correct volt and power rating of a given bulb ?

Some bulbs are rather low voltage - try using 1.2v batteries,
first singly, then in series, 'till the bulb lights up as
they should. You might have to put two bulbs in series to get
a good "match". If you whap a significant voltage through a
buld without starting low, you could well blow it. Once you've
got the voltage you need about right, it's probably easiest to
just guess at the wattage, which might be anywhere from about
0.1W to 1W for most of these bulbs. You could also fiddle about
using a multimeter (borrow/buy for a tenner), Scalextric
controllers and things like that, etc. Have fun!