On 12/12/2010 5:39 PM, Art Todesco wrote:
On 12/12/2010 12:06 PM, JIMMIE wrote:
On Dec 12, 11:40 am, Art wrote:
On 12/12/2010 12:03 AM, JIMMIE wrote:

On Dec 11, 11:37 am, wrote:
Ok, so this year I went out to buy some more outside Christmas
lights. Much
to my surprise, I could not find any REAL lights, just the fake led
lights.
I looked at all the big box stores, including Lowe's, Home Depot, and
Target. All I could find was the fake led lights.

Dont know if its the same problem you had but two years ago I put out
some "white" LED lights and they were dull dim yellow in reality. I
discovered this is because they only run on one half of each AC cycle
so they are ON only 50% 0f the time. I corrected this problem using a
bridge rectifer mounted in a quad outlet box. The only problem with
this scheme is that the lights are polarity sensitive and wont come on
at all if plugged in the wrong way(rotate light string plug 180
degrees). Otherwise the lights are much more brighter and vivid.

Jimmie

I've done this also, but you must remember that you are doubling the
wattage dissipated by the LEDs and the series resistors, which are
usually hidden in the sockets. This caould cause a heat related
failure and possibly fire. My guess is that if anything were a
problem, it would be the resistors. That said, mine have been
working with a full wave rectifier, brightly I might say, for about
4 years. I used 4 individual diodes installed right in the string
just after the plug and covered them with heat shrink. Another
advantage, if you turn your head quickly while looking at the
lights, they aren't as blinky as when running only on half wave.

I started to wire them like you did but thought it may be a little
impractical for 20+ strings of lights. The LED lights are a little
more pricey up front but I think they are going to be a lot less
expensive over the long haul than incandescent lamps and Im not even
considering power savings. After Xmass they are sell them at give away
prices just like they did the incandescent ones so I will probably
stock up.
Very true, if you have lots of light strings. I've only got 2 sets of
LED Christmas lights and one I'm not even using since we moved into a
new house. I also have 2 strings of "Halloween" LED lights, orange,
which I used in both houses without the diodes. But, the blinkin' still
drives me nuts.

Perhaps add a little capacitance to get closer to DC, but then you would
have a good bit more power also and might want to add some series
resistance. Since they draw so little current, you wouldn't need a large
cap. It can be calculated... if you want.

Interesting idea, the full wave, but the brightness of the minis is OK
with me, for my usage.

Jeff