Led Christmas Lights
Led Christmas Lights questions and answers
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Q: How many LED Christmas lights can you string together end to end?
The commercial grade LEDs are often advertised as being able to connect 125 strings together, end to end, on one outlet with the use of a special adapter. But the standard LEDs are often advertised as only being able to handle 3 strings together, end to end. If one string takes up less than one amp (a LOT less than 1 amp...0.09 amps, I think) and a 15 amp breaker can handle 12.5 amps before blowing, shouldn't we be able to connect over 100 strings together before the breaker goes?
A: When you look at the strand, you will see a small fuse in the male end of the plug. Typically, there are two 3 amp fuses in the plug.
Because LEDs use so much less wattage than conventional lights, you can string more together, but you will be violating many safety rules.
That being said, look at the amp rating on the LED strands you are trying to connect. If they are (say) 0.04 amps, then you could put 33 strands. Me? I would allow myself a safety factor and not put more than 20 in line together.
Regarding your second question: 12.5 amps / 0.09 amps per strand = 138 strands without much of a safety factor. Remember though, that your fuses are only rated for about 3 amps.
You also have to consider the amperage of the extension cords as a factor for stringing them together.
Q: Where can I find one of those ugly christmas sweaters that have blinking LED lights and play music?
If someone could send me a website with a light-up, blinking christmas sweater, that'd be great...
A: dillards, tiffanys any of the flashy wanna be superstar deptment stores
Q: Do christmas lights emit carbon monoxide?
I was watching the news this morning, about how good the new LED christmas lights are. I knew they were more energy efficient, but the news guy also mentioned that they help cut down on carbon monoxide emissions. I had not heard that before, and I'm trying to figure out how this is possible. do old lights emit toxins??? I have a ton up in my store!!
A: Since the LEDs use less energy (1/10th as much as an incandescent), the power plant does not have to produce as much electricity to keep up with demand. The ignorant newscaster failed to realize that the power plant will emit as much CO as they are permitted for regardless of LEDs or not.
And if your power supplier is a nuclear plant, there is NO CO emission at all.
No, you old lights do not emit toxins. They do, however, cause your meter to spin round and round really fast.
Q: How do you get Christmas lights to stay up inside a car?
I have a couple of strings of LED lights and an inverter. The lights light up fine, but I've tried duct tape and electrical tape and they keep falling down. Any ideas?
I decided to try just stringing them on handholds and things. It's a van and has enough stuff sticking out I made it work fine. The velcro idea is interesting though. I say keep answering, maybe somebody else can benefit.
A: velcro from a craft store
Q: How do you put up Christmas lights on hidden gutters?
We've tried stapling, but the lights won't stay straight - these are the LED lights with the three wires. Thank you.
A: duct tape will fix that
Q: Does all Christmas Lights have Led?
or is there a safe one that i can put in my kids room?
If so please let me know what brand and where you have found them..? Thank You To All Who Answer☺
A: Are LED lights safe? yes they are.
Are you asking if your lights contain lead? New lights (the ones you would purchase off the shelf from a reputable marketer) should not contain lead. Does this mean they do not contain lead? Well, as we have seen with the dog food and toothpaste, anything from China could contain bad materials as there appears to be a communication gap about what is safe.
I get my lights from Target. They have energy savers that will reduce your electrical load for the same price that Home Depot, Lowes and WallyMart sell theirs for.
Q: I have a strand of LED christmas lights, but only half of the strand is working? Whats wrong!?
A: With the LED strands the lights are often in small groups wired in series. Typically a replacement bulb is included. Take a bulb from a section that is working and exchange it with one from the section that doesn't. If the good section goes off then the bulb is bad. This procedure may take time but there may be more than one bad bulb in the dark section.
Q: LEAD in christmas lights!!?
i cannot believe this! i heard it on tv. I read the paper on the christmas lights and its TRUE! it says "wash hands after touching, contains LEAD"
why is this?
READ THE WARNING. ITS TRUE. ITS BEEN LIKE THIS FOR AWHILE NOW!!!!!!!!
A: Possibly because if they are coloured lights the plastic may contain lead. The plastic may contain lead if it is clear anyway.
The wires may be cased or made out of led (then covered in plastic obviously)
There probably isnt any bear lead, they just have to put that on there incase the lead becomes exposed and somebody comes down with lead poisoning they can't sue
Q: Replacement bulbs for old Christmas "candle" lights?
I have a few strings of lights that are quite old-- at least 20 years. They look like dark red/burgundy candles in brass bases, and the normal Christmas bulbs are plugged into the top, where a light would go. As might be expected after two decades of Christmases, some bulbs have blown out. We tried to switch bulbs with old strings, but the voltage for the bulbs is off, or something, because while they complete the circuit, they only barely light up-- not even a flicker, just a tiny pinprick of dim light. We don't have the original boxes, and I can't even find strings of lights in stores that aren't LED lights!
Does anyone know how I can find out the type of bulb it takes (without trial-and-error), and where to find replacement bulbs?
My lights are similar to this-- a darker red color, but the basic form looks the same. Pity they're discontinued! https://www.smarthome.com/C0413R/Red-Candle-Light-String/p.aspx
A: you should retire lights that old
Q: LED Lights that would be useful?
I wana make a RAW Real Scale TitanTron for my Wrassling figures. So i have to sort out a few things and do this and that etc. etc. I've drawn pictures, plans, etc. and I have a very vague idea of how big it will be and its materials etc. but one thing i really haven't properly looked at yet, is lighting.
See, for such a small stage (the whole thing will be roughly 40 by 60 (inches)) i'm thinking i might have a hard time getting my hands on some decent, strong, flashy/pulsating/ lights.
Im not too knowledgeable about this kinda thing, so im hoping that you guys and girls can give me names or something of any kinds of lights that might be able to work out properly.
Before its suggested: Christmas lights aren't what im going for. I dont want six foot of wire for a few lights
For those un-aware, this is the real WWE RAW titantron, that i am trying to miniaturise for wrestling figures:
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e54/Kenzooru/Picture-030.jpg
All help appreciated.
Thanks :)
A: Try checking out
www.orientaltrading.com
Also, Michael's Crafts in there floral area have a set of lights (either 8 or 10 lights to a set, i believe) that is run by 2 AA Batteries.
Q: Christmas Lights....?
3 weeks ago, I put up LED lights on my roof. I also put up 2 AIRBLOWN inflatables, and a set of Candy Cane lights up the driveway. I have all of these plugged into a timer and has worked fine for the past 2 weeks.
About three days ago, the outlet that everything world blow and I would have to press the reset button and it would then stay on. Now when I press it, it just keeps shutting off. I use all out door extention chords and weather wise it has been raining and today (when the outlet keeps blowing all the time), it was freezing rain.
Any help would be greatly appriciated.
Thank you for the suggestions. Everything is running fine now. I beleive that water must have got in But I have one other question....
I have put electrrical tape over all the outdoor extention chords to prevent water from entering again. Is there anything else I should do? Again any response would be greatly appriciated and I thank you all again for your time.
A: A GFI (ground fault interupter) trips when it detects an unbalanced current between the hot and neutral wires. The reason current would be unbalanced if it finds another path (a ground fault). I suspect that one of you lights or decoration got some water in it causing a ground fault. You can try plugging the items in one at a time until you find the bad one. Another possibility is that water may have leaked into the GFI outlet itself. In that case nothing plugged in will work. This is not uncommon. They sell special outlet covers for use when wires are plugged in, most are not waterproof if a wire is connected. The link below shows an "in use" cover.
Q: how can I make an LED blink like the christmas light?
using only dc source.. thanks in advance
A: You just need a small timer circuit. Something using a 555 timer IC would be easy to build. The link below is a good start. This is for one LED. You will need more timers for more LED's if you want them blinking separately.
Q: How can I get a fault with our 500 led Christmas tree resolved? Would an electrician do it?
The tree has 400 LED lights pre-wired. There is a section where about 20 lights are not working. We have tested all these bulbs and they are all working. This makes us think there is a break somewhere in the wiring. It is six feet tall and should have been £170.00 but because of the lights issue we got it for £67.50. It would be great to get it all working as it
should be. Would an electrician look at it? Obviously, if it was a cheaper tree we would probably just bin it - but this tree is really nice and quite expensive so we would like to get it fixed.
A: you don't need an electrician, just a multi-tester which you can get at any electronics store or hardware store. starting between where you know the power is good:i.e. where the lights are burning, test each wire between the lit and brunt out and you should find your short, when you find it just unplug the lights cut the wires on each side of the short, thereby removing the short, and then just twist the wires back together and use electrical tape to cover the bare wires. should be problem solved.
Q: I need to buy LED rope lights for a car, should I get the 12 volt or run an inverter and go with AC?
I'm buying this for my father's toyota pick-up for Christmas. I'd like to keep costs below $200. I also have a concern about the life of the truck's battery in both cases. He would use these lights while sitting at a car show with the engine turned off. Any ideas would be helpful and appreciated.
Thank you all.
A: Get the 12V LED. An inverter uses a lot of battery power, even if nothing is plugged in to it.
As for the 12V LED lights, you could cover that whole truck with the rope LEDs and leave them on for hours, and it will still start! LED lights use ~ 10-20mA (per light on high lumen models). An average car battery can handle the headlights being left on for over an hour...
Lets say each headlight pulls 55W (equal to 4.6A) and then you need to include all the other marker lamps (tail,side, ect) that will pull between 3-9W.
55W + 55W + 9W + 9W + 5W + 5W = 138W lets round up to 150W so we include dash lights and anything else we forgot. 150W is equal to 12.5A at 12V.
Normal 5mil LED pulls ~10mA. Say you have 1000 LEDs. 1000 * .010 = 10A
Hope this helps. No need to worry about the battery :)
Q: photographing led lights?
Which is better, photographing led lights, or the traditional lights. For indoor and outdoor on an Christmas tree. I will be using digital.
A: It really should not matter. Just be sure to take you camera off the "auto" mode and to some test shots to find the best exposure and then shoot using manual exposure settings.
Each type light has its own unique look, whether incandescent, LED or neon.
Shoot and enjoy the differences.