[snip]

Ideally, a power supply would exist that would create 2 or 3 volts DC,
and each LED would be wired in parallel (individually). This power
supply would have capacitors to eliminate flicker. But these mass
produced light strings are made cheap, to sell cheaply, so they use the
series wiring....



The LEDs still won't work unless current is limited.

A LED is a voltage regulator. It needs at least the proper forward
voltage (2-3V) and will regulate it to that. Current draw will be
"infinite" (until the LED is destroyed) unless the circuit limits
current. This is often accomplished by a resistor, effectively giving
the power supply a high impedance (voltage drops to LED voltage before
LED maximum current is exceeded).

BTW, by mistake I connected a LED without a resistor once. I never saw
any light. There was a POP and half the plastic around the LED disappeared.

Note that a CR2032 coin cell makes an ideal power supply for a single
LED. No resistor needed as the internal resistance of the cell is high
enough that the LED drops the voltage as necessary, and limits current
appropriately.

--
17 days until the winter celebration (Friday December 25, 2015 12:00:00
AM for 1 day).

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"There's no more proof for the existence of God than there is for the
existence of the Easter Bunny. That's right. The Easter ****ing Bunny."
[Stryder, on alt.atheism]