Fixing Christmas lights ...

Reply to
Phisherman
Loading thread data ...

On 11/29/2004 6:54 AM US(ET), Paul Giroux took fingers to keys, and typed the following:

You have to have a vacant socket in order to plug the socket into the device. They don't want you to test the string from a good bulb socket, so if you remove a bad bulb before unplugging the whole string from the outlet, you won't have to try to remember which bulb was bad (it's the vacant socket). I don't have one of these devices, but I'm going to look for one.

Reply to
willshak

Yes, but I'm talking about the test procedure if the socket is too big to fit into the device; they make you remove one good bulb from each string until the entire run no longer lights up, then you insert the plug (the 2-prong 110v thing) into the Lightkeeper. That piece is what is confusing me: there's no continuity anywhere, how does the circuit completes so that the shunts "activate"?

Reply to
Paul Giroux

Cool. A $79.95 gadget to repair a two buck string of lights!

Americna ingenuity!

Joel

Reply to
Joel M. Eichen

On 11/29/2004 8:49 AM US(ET), Phisherman took fingers to keys, and typed the following:

But where is the challenge in that? Don't you get a warm glow when you fix something (but in this case you want to get a 'bright' glow)? :-)

Reply to
willshak

On 11/29/2004 9:28 AM US(ET), Paul Giroux took fingers to keys, and typed the following:

It is saying to plug the empty bulb socket into the device, not the 110 plug.

"Plug the light string *bulb socket* fully into the LightKeeper Pro Socket Connector. The metal contacts of the bulb socket should line up with the metal contact of the LightKeeper Pro Socket Connector. When properly inserted, the flat indentations of the Socket Connector will match the parallel the indentation of the bulb socket".

Reply to
willshak

On 11/29/2004 9:49 AM US(ET), Joel M. Eichen took fingers to keys, and typed the following:

The Mfg. blurb says $19.95.

formatting link
other site was selling it at $24.97.
formatting link

Reply to
willshak

I saw that, but I'm referring to the "Partially Lit Sections - Alternate Method Step 1D: (...) The Lightkeeper Pro's Socket Connector should be your first choice to repair a partially lit set. If the Socket Connector can not be used, the Alternate Plug Connector is a versatile option. (...) It is important to note, if the light set is partially lit, one bulb must be removed from each lighted section before using the Quick Fix Trigger. Removing the bulb from each lighted section isolates the problem. (...) A click will be heard each time as the charge flows to teh defective shunt."

But you know, as I read this again, I think they want you to remove a bulb so that only the loop with the bad bulb and shunt is actually in circuit.

Doh! Doh! Doh!

Reply to
Paul Giroux

Reply to
Art Todesco

Reply to
Art Todesco

Cheap grain-of-wheat xmas lamps are designed for no-more-than 3-volts.. and will (dimly) light with a regular C-cell battery.

50-bulb strings are thus in series. 100-bulb-strands are usually 2 separate 50-bulb series twisted together so that the bulbs alternate.

If I were testing the bulbs, I'd use a battery and a chunk of wire.

I've seen fault-tolerant light strings, but I don't have any idea how they work. If OP had one, he wouldn't be asking how to test the lights in a string, though.

--Goedjn

Reply to
default

Our christmas tree is a pain to decorate and un-decorate, too, but that's because it's gotten taller than our extension ladder.

Reply to
default

Put it on a dolly, roll it into the garage, and then roll it back into the house next winter.

Joel

Reply to
Joel M. Eichen

Then buy a white set. (or is white a color too)?

If it is, you already have a dark (dead) set, NO COLOR when it's burned out.....

Reply to
T-Pot

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.