I have a strand(severeal really) of those outside icicle
Christmas lights, and the plug in has 2 3 amp fuses in
them. I have replaced both fuses, and still doesn't work.
Is there a real harm in just replacing the plug in with a
standard non-fused plug-in? Will it really heat up and
catch fire???? just wondering Thanks in advance

on 12/6/2008 10:53 PM bob said the following:
I have a strand(severeal really) of those outside icicle
Christmas lights, and the plug in has 2 3 amp fuses in
them. I have replaced both fuses, and still doesn't work.
Is there a real harm in just replacing the plug in with a
standard non-fused plug-in? Will it really heat up and
catch fire???? just wondering Thanks in advance



They are fused for a reason. Bypassing the fuse might light up more than
you want. Toss them and buy a new set. They are cheap.

--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

bob wrote:
I have a strand(severeal really) of those outside icicle
Christmas lights, and the plug in has 2 3 amp fuses in
them. I have replaced both fuses, and still doesn't work.
Is there a real harm in just replacing the plug in with a
standard non-fused plug-in? Will it really heat up and
catch fire???? just wondering Thanks in advance

Ya know, I just had the same problem. 3
strings of 105
lights each connected end to end. The
fuses in the plug at
the beginning were good, but was not
making contact. I
was not going to remove them, so I put
on a new plug
without fuses. The harm is that, 1)
someone will sneak
up on my roof at night and plug in more
lights to the end
connector or try to plug in a toaster or
something like
that or 2) if you have a massive
burnout, where all
the lamps die at once, the fuse won't
blow and the shunts
in the lamps will .... but the lamps are
already dead anyway.
BTW, many light strings don't even have
fuses. I'm not
sure if it's a UL thing now or not.

How do you know its the plug and not a bulb that is bad or loose?

without fuses. The harm is that, 1) someone will sneak
up on my roof at night and plug in more lights to the end
connector or try to plug in a toaster or something like
that or 2) if you have a massive


you know something, I have a neighbor who just
might try that...good idea

On Sat, 6 Dec 2008 20:53:34 -0700, "bob" wrote:

I have a strand(severeal really) of those outside icicle
Christmas lights, and the plug in has 2 3 amp fuses in
them. I have replaced both fuses, and still doesn't work.
Is there a real harm in just replacing the plug in with a
standard non-fused plug-in? Will it really heat up and
catch fire???? just wondering Thanks in advance


Well the fuse is there so you don't draw more current than the
wires and plugs can safely carry. That is why they are there. It is
unsafe with out them or with higher rated fuses. Just because it may
work for a test does not mean it is safe.

BTW are you testing the fuses to make sure they are tripping? It
could well be a bad lamp or wire or socket.

Those things are only designed to last a few years at best.

if you overload the string it will in fact melt. If the then uninsulated
wires touch, they will spark and burn in half. I doubt any real damage
could result. Aluminum foil is your friend in those fuse sockets. Been
there done that dozens of times.

s


"bob" wrote in message
scommunications...
I have a strand(severeal really) of those outside icicle
Christmas lights, and the plug in has 2 3 amp fuses in
them. I have replaced both fuses, and still doesn't work.
Is there a real harm in just replacing the plug in with a
standard non-fused plug-in? Will it really heat up and
catch fire???? just wondering Thanks in advance

"bob" wrote in message
scommunications...
I have a strand(severeal really) of those outside icicle
Christmas lights, and the plug in has 2 3 amp fuses in
them. I have replaced both fuses, and still doesn't work.
Is there a real harm in just replacing the plug in with a
standard non-fused plug-in? Will it really heat up and
catch fire???? just wondering Thanks in advance

Use the intended fuse. These are very helpful with lights.

http://www.lightkeeperpro.com/default.asp

Steve

bob wrote:
I have a strand(severeal really) of those outside icicle
Christmas lights, and the plug in has 2 3 amp fuses in
them. I have replaced both fuses, and still doesn't work.
Is there a real harm in just replacing the plug in with a
standard non-fused plug-in? Will it really heat up and
catch fire???? just wondering Thanks in advance



Did you replace blown fuses or just replace them as troubleshooting? Why
do you want to replace the fused plug?

On Sat, 6 Dec 2008 20:53:34 -0700, "bob" wrote:

I have a strand(severeal really) of those outside icicle
Christmas lights, and the plug in has 2 3 amp fuses in
them. I have replaced both fuses, and still doesn't work.
Is there a real harm in just replacing the plug in with a
standard non-fused plug-in? Will it really heat up and
catch fire???? just wondering Thanks in advance


Go ahead and replace it (unless you'd rather just buy a new string,
which could be easier). Then never use it as the FIRST string. Plug
it into other strings so you still get the protection of the fuse in
that string. Note that you'll probably need to find (or make) a
NON-POLARIZED plug.

In most cases, miniature lights use series of 50. Each series uses
about 200mA, and an icicle strand usually has 3 series (uses 600mA).
The little fuses are rated 3A, although I find it more reliable to
limit current to 1A less than that. According to that rule, you can
connect 3 of those strings end-to-end, using a total of 1.8A.

A regular (15 AWG) extension cord could handle 9 strings (3 from each
or the outlets, 5.4A) or 15 strings (9A) using an additional 3-plug
adapter. Don't forget the GFCI.
--
18 days until the winter solstice celebration

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

"The government of the United States is not, in
any sense, founded on the Christian religion."

On Sun, 07 Dec 2008 07:22:30 -0600, Art Todesco
wrote:

bob wrote:
I have a strand(severeal really) of those outside icicle
Christmas lights, and the plug in has 2 3 amp fuses in
them. I have replaced both fuses, and still doesn't work.
Is there a real harm in just replacing the plug in with a
standard non-fused plug-in? Will it really heat up and
catch fire???? just wondering Thanks in advance

Ya know, I just had the same problem. 3
strings of 105
lights each connected end to end. The
fuses in the plug at
the beginning were good, but was not
making contact. I
was not going to remove them, so I put
on a new plug
without fuses. The harm is that, 1)
someone will sneak
up on my roof at night and plug in more
lights to the end
connector or try to plug in a toaster or
something like
that or 2) if you have a massive
burnout, where all
the lamps die at once, the fuse won't
blow and the shunts
in the lamps will .... but the lamps are
already dead anyway.
BTW, many light strings don't even have
fuses. I'm not
sure if it's a UL thing now or not.

Like I said in my other message, just plug that fuseless string into
another with a fuse.

Considering someone plugging in a toaster: Miniature light strings
have non-polarized sockets that won't accept most things.
--
18 days until the winter solstice celebration

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

"The government of the United States is not, in
any sense, founded on the Christian religion."

On Dec 7, 1:30*pm, Claude Hopper
wrote:
Mikepier wrote:
How do you know its the plug and not a bulb that is bad or loose?

Did I say I know? Bad or loose bulbs don't blow fuses.

The OP does not mention blowing a fuse, he said he only replaced
them, implying maybe he thought that's why the lights were not
working. Obviously if he replaced the fuses and it still does not
work, there is an open someplace, not a short. So it could be a loose
bulb or a bad bulb shunt that did not close fully.

bob wrote:
I have a strand(severeal really) of those outside icicle
Christmas lights, and the plug in has 2 3 amp fuses in
them. I have replaced both fuses, and still doesn't work.
Is there a real harm in just replacing the plug in with a
standard non-fused plug-in? Will it really heat up and
catch fire???? just wondering Thanks in advance


Hi,
You mean fuse was blown? If you replace them did it blow again?
Do you have a multimeter? Do you have a sniffer with which you can track
down the bad spot on the string? If fuse did not blow, fuse holder can
be bad. Really multimeter will come in handy.

"bob" wrote in
scommunications:

I have a strand(severeal really) of those outside icicle
Christmas lights, and the plug in has 2 3 amp fuses in
them. I have replaced both fuses, and still doesn't work.
Is there a real harm in just replacing the plug in with a
standard non-fused plug-in? Will it really heat up and
catch fire???? just wondering Thanks in advance



Yes.
Yes.

Red Green wrote:
"bob" wrote in
scommunications:

I have a strand(severeal really) of those outside icicle
Christmas lights, and the plug in has 2 3 amp fuses in
them. I have replaced both fuses, and still doesn't work.
Is there a real harm in just replacing the plug in with a
standard non-fused plug-in? Will it really heat up and
catch fire???? just wondering Thanks in advance



Yes.
Yes.
Hi,
Well then something i shorting out. If it is multiple short strings
connected in series, you'll have to disconnect them and try one string
at a time until you find a culprit. Or careful visual inspection on
wires or lamps will rewveal something.

Steve Barker DLT wrote:

if you overload the string it will in fact melt. If the then uninsulated
wires touch, they will spark and burn in half. I doubt any real damage
could result. Aluminum foil is your friend in those fuse sockets. Been
there done that dozens of times.

s

And I bet your daddy used to put pennies under blown screw base fuses
dozens of times too.

"Doubt" doesn't imply certainty, Steve. You can set a house on fire with
a 9 volt battery and a little bit of steel wool across its terminals.

And, since stuff posted to newsgroups lives nearly forever, why risk
someone suing your ass off because an accident happened and they claim
it happened because they followed your (bab) advice.

Happy Holidays,

Jeff

PS: Would you please satisfy my curious mind and let me know what the
"DLT" after your name signifies?

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

"bob" wrote in message
scommunications...

I have a strand(severeal really) of those outside icicle
Christmas lights, and the plug in has 2 3 amp fuses in
them. I have replaced both fuses, and still doesn't work.
Is there a real harm in just replacing the plug in with a
standard non-fused plug-in? Will it really heat up and
catch fire???? just wondering Thanks in advance

Here is some general information on repair of miniature series string
Christmas lights.

If it's an "end to end" string with an outlet on the end you can check if
the fuses (plural because both sides are fused on these non polarized
units) by plugging another known to work in the end or some other VERY
LOW draw item or a voltmeter or neon test light. Likewise if it's a
string made of several substrings (like 100 or 150 light strings are made
of sets of 50; 70's are made of two 35 light strings) and some group(s)
light and some don't then it's not the fuses. If you suspect fuses and
replace them and still no lights anywhere then you have a connection
problem somewhere along the line.

The most common problem when a string (or substring) doesn't light is
going to be a bulb that is missing, is not fully inserted, or has burned
out and the built-in shunt has failed to keep the connection going.
These are the things that take the longest to find and often fail the is-
it-worth-it test.

First look it over to find any obvious problem.

If not then here is where it gets difficult. You can replace bulbs,
sometimes replacing one then using that one to subsitute for the next and
so on but that won't help if there is more than one problem. (Usually
it's cheaper to sacrifice a string as a source of spare bulbs rather than
buying separately.)

Best bet is to get one of those pen-like devices with an LED that glows
when brought near a "hot" wire. To use effectively you will have to
figure out which way you have plugged in the string (to assure that
"hotness" is being fed from the plug end while the series string of bulbs
is connected to neutral at the far end. The diagnostic work can be done
the other way but then you have to work from the far end back to the
beginning. Easier just to reverse the plug.

And for purposes of this discussion we are talking about the end of a
series string of bulbs which will not the end of the overall string on
100 and 150 light sets. You can tell where one substring ends and the
next starts even without counting by looking for a place where there are
only two wires between bulbs.

Remember these detector pens need only be brought close to an INSULATED
wire that is "hot" for the LED to glow. You don't strip anything or have
contact with dangerous voltage.

You will have to do some untwisting of the wires to ensure that the
detector pen is brought close to a potentially hot single wire which
doesn't have any other conductors near it.

Basically, after you play around a bit with the wires from the plug to
the first bulb to gain knowledge of how the detector works you should try
it on the first few bulbs, untwisting some wires and proving that "hot"
goes in and comes out on the wire that holds the bulbs.

Once you get the hang of this then go out about half way through the
bulbs and see if you still have "hotness" there. If you do then divide
the distance to the end of the string (meaning that group of 50 if it's a
multi string set). If you don't detect anything at that point then go
back halfway to the beginning and see if you find it there. You should
be able to narrow it down to a bulb where "hot" goes in but doesn't come
out. Replace that bulb. If the string or sub string still doesn't light
keep checking as you have more than one problem.

Remember that one of the other wires, of the two that go direct from plug
to end outlet (or to the next substring), is carrying "hot" so you must
separate the bulb-string wire from it to avoid a false positive.
Likewise that other wire is carrying neutral and will cancel the reading
if too close to the wire under test.

If you are dealing with a string that has no outlet on the end you can
use this method but beware that this type of string has alternate bulbs
on opposite wires. In other words, imagine a circle of wire with bulbs
on them at, say, 8" intervals and then is twisted together into a linear
string so the bulbs end up about 4" apart. The work outlined above can
be done but as you work along you skip every other bulb as you go along
detecting.

I have another method of repairing strings but it's too complex to
explain here but it involves using a Variac and lighting a few bulbs on
appropriate voltage, then moving farther along and increasing the voltage
and eventually finding and repair the bad bulbs. I call it the brute
force method as I've never failed to repair a string unless some wiring
defect is found where it would be unsafe to put it back in service.
Those become the bulb donors for good strings and wire salvaged for other
use.