On Dec 29, 1:59*pm, gcotterl wrote:
For next Christmas, what kind of Christmas Light Strings should I buy
for the outside of my home?

On some of the strings I currently own:

* * * * *1) all the bulbs light
* * * * *2) none of the bulbs light
* * * * *3) the bulbs on only a section of the string light

On the strings I want, if a bulb dies or is missing, the rest of the
bulbs should light.

Most, if not all, of the "miniature" incandescent Christmas lights
marketed these days are wired in SERIES. The bulbs are supposed to be
designed to short themselves out if anything happens to the filament,
so the rest of the bulbs remain lit and it's obvious which one went
bad.

These lights are cheaply made, and the "failsafe" in the bulbs often
doesn't work. One goes out, they all go out because the circuit is
broken.

Another way they like to fail is a loose connection in one of the
sockets. When that happens you just throw the lights away and buy new
ones.

The ones that have sections go out are probably the longer 100- and
150-bulb strings. These are usually 4-5 separate 20-30 bulb strings
wired together to one plug. Same problems: busted bulbs or loose
wires.

The only type of lights that won't go out when you remove a bulb are
ones wired in PARALLEL. Old incandescent C5, C7, and C9 style lights
(larger bulbs) are wired in PARALLEL. It's tough to find these
nowadays.

You will NEVER find the strings with tiny bulbs wired in parallel. The
tiny bulbs are low-voltage (1 to 3 Volts, depending on how long the
string is) and will blow when exposed to 110V, so they hook them
together in series. There isn't enough room in the tiny bulb to
contain a 110V filament.

It's easy to tell the difference. Just look at the sockets.

1. If there are 2 wires going into all of the sockets, the string is
wired in series.
2. If there are 4 wires going into all of the sockets, the string is
wired in parallel.

The simple solution is to buy quality strings of lights. However,
there is no such thing. ALL the lights are now made in China to the
lowest possible quality standard. You can't buy a quality set of
lights at any price. You only pay more for the same cheap crap.

LED strings are wired in series, but LEDs tend to be more reliable
than incandescent bulbs. They usually don't fail unless visibly
damaged, so it's easy to tell where the problem is.