On Mon, 5 Dec 2016 15:22:23 -0500, Tekkie® wrote:

DerbyDad03 posted for all of us...



I've been looking at buying some LED Christmas lights but I'm curious about
the wiring harnesses.

I know the bulbs are brighter, last longer, etc. However, I'm curious as to
whether the wiring harnesses are any different/better than traditional
mini-light strings. Do LED's strings go bad in sections just like
traditional strings or are they wired such that each individual socket is
a stand alone entity?

I have a large number of mini-light Christmas strings. Straight, icicles and
swags. Every January I put away full working sets and every December I plug
the strings in to find bad sections scattered throughout. I try all the
standard bulb tricks and sometimes I can get the sections working, but
sometimes I can't.

I'm not talking about entire strings being bad, I mean that one or more 4'
section in a 21' string will be out. Then I have to buy new strings or
combine strings by cutting out bad sections and soldering in good ones. It's
a constant PITA.

Replacing all my strings with LED's would be a huge up-front expense, but
if I knew that I could pull them out every year and they would work, it
would be worth it.

Sine they are diodes they are parallel wired, no sectional problems causes
by the LED.
It depends what quality of LED string you buy. There is the dirt
cheap crap that is as lousy as any of the cheap incandescent serial
strings, and there is GOOD stuff. Bronners in Frankenmuth carry a line
of LEDS with "one piece" harnesses. The "sockets" and the wires are
molded together, unlike the cheap ones that are just stuck together. I
cannot remember the name of the Chinese company that makes them for
them - There are a couiple other companies selling what looks like
the exact light strings. The big thing is they are SEALED -you can
drop them in a barrel of water and no connections will get wet. I went
to look but the last empty box went out to recycling this morning - -
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