:mad:Now that China has absolutely cornered the market on Christmas tree lights in the U.S. & we have to kneel & grovel before them - is there anyone in America who can help me with defective lights? Every year I pull out the lights and every year most of them do not work. They worked perfectly the year before when they are new. And I pack them carefully, and try not to stress the strands too much. But it is the same story every Christmas. These are not lights sold by some corner guy in a trench coat - these lights are bought from Wal-Mart and Target and big box stores. The lights are the kind that are supposed to keep working if any single bulb goes bad. Sometimes the strands have half of the lights working, sometimes none of the lights. I go through every bulb on every strand & carefully check to make sure they are seated ok. I check for loose wires. I jiggle them a little. Once in awhile the jiggling will make it come back on but usually not. It is frustrating. Every year I stick the bad lights in bags. And every several years I toss them out. I use to try to salvage the individual bulbs, but I stopped as I now have many many boxes of loose bulbs. You want some? Is there a way to check these or fix them without replacing each bulb or buying test meters? Some method to try to re-animate them that I don’t know about? Right now I have six plugged-in strands sitting on my floor, either not lit or half-lit. Help me!
Where do you think they get them?
On a positive note, this tool may help you with your frustration…
http://sportys.com/toolshop/product/14213
Thx, Morgenstern. I may try it.
Here’s my solution: I gave up decorating with those mini lights. I use the c-7 sized LED’s for the tree now and anywhere else I need to use lights, I go c-7 or c-9 type light bulbs.
On paper, in some magical and mystical world of Christmas light engineering, those mini lights work. If you consider all the info, the storage, the materials, handling, and use by conscientious people, those lights should work. How many times can you get kicked in the face by these mini lights? FORGET “SHOULD”.
Move on. As this thread evolves into how and why they should work, and what tool and technique to employ… IT IS ALL ON PAPER.
Throw them out. FEELS AWESOME! I cut all of mine up, stomped them and will never depend on them again. One of the most liberating experiences of my life.
(When it comes to mini lights, all factual answers are bull$hit. Just go to the Pit and vent, then throw them all out).
Wow, Philster, that is so gonzo! I like it! I admit to having ripped an insubordinate strand from the tree, needles flying, and then hurling it out the patio door. It is emancipating.
I may go all LEDs. But probably not this year. I have all these boxes of salvaged tiny bulbs.
mini incandescent bulbs are specific to the string length. if you keep bulbs for replacement use on the same number of bulb string.
According to this, it’s a miracle they ever work in the first place.
Look away from this thread. Just throw them all out, tear them up… cut them up… just liberate yourself from them immediately!
You have to research and read and tinker to make a lightbulb work. LMAO! The return on the investment was out the frigging window when you were 4! MOVE ON!
A year ago I thought I’d save some electricity and throw out all my incandescent lights and replace them with LED light strands. C9s…hundreds and hundreds of bulbs to do my house and yard. I spent around $100.
They look like normal bulbs, but, actually, the part that looks like a bulb “pops” off, and that’s where the small LED is. I discovered this year when I plugged them in and none worked that they all let in water, and over the summer the entire shebang rusted out.
I almost cried. Do I even bother to pay 3x as much for commercial grade quality that are completely weather sealed?
The Sportys Lightkeeper Pro worked pretty good. Thx again Morgenstern. Its not perfect - I could reanimate about half of my dead light strings completely. Some of them that had only partial lights that I could not fix. But it is a very useful little weapon against the Chinese and their machinations.