As a licensed electrician here is a simple way to join wires if you don’t have a soldering iron. You can use wire crimps then cover the crimps with heat shrink. 🤠
I've also been doing this for many years(decades?). I have a good collection of them built up that I keep plugged together end to end and wrapped on a cord winder. Also, when I have some spare time I take the lighted sections and cut the bulbs and socket off and put the wire sections in a bucket I keep for wire recycling and when its full I have a local scrap yard that pays me for un-stripped wire by the pound. Its that much less stuff in the land fill.
WOW thanks. I've thrown out so many old lighting cords without thinking of this. You've made my holiday decorating so much easier and now I dont have to waste using heavier orange extension cords I can use for what the capacity are made for.
I've been doing this for over 15 years. Anytime a string of lights goes bad I'd make it into a Christmas light extension cord. I would keep the entire length though, just cut out the wire with the lights. No need to splice or solder wires. By cutting them to length you need to worry about which lengths go where year after year. Keep the whole thing and wind up the length you don't need and hide it.
@cheriekalel9578 like could you use them regardless as an extension cord? Not sure I follow. The whole point is that I remove the lights bc 1) it is more aestically pleasing and 2) if any of the lights still light up, it won't look good between bushes.
No they wouldn't work (probably) because the damage causing the lights to stop working usually causes a stop in the flow of electricity so they wouldn't work as just extension cords.
I just removed my old 25-30ft long old string out of the garbage just in time after seeing this! What a great idea! The new extension is color matched to the rest now! Thanks for sharing.
Great idea! I have a row of blow molds that no longer had the lightbulbs, so I used string lights inside them. I will keep all my old string light sets now so they no longer have a trail of lights from one to another. Thanks!
Yeah, not sure if perhaps this is covered in another video but...sure, if you have an old strand lying around that you are looking to repurpose rather than throw away? By all means, do what Ryan demonstrates here and put that old wire to use as an extension cord between light strings. If however, you do not have an old light strand that you can repurpose and you need to connect different light strands and want that super-clean, pro look to your display? You can purchase green lamp wire (typically 14 gauge) and a bag of what are called vampire plugs. The plugs come male and female and are easily attached to a custom length of lamp wire to your choosing with only the need for a cutting tool. You don't need to strip the wires because the "fangs" of the vampire plugs bite through the insulation, into the wire and make your connection. You can either connect plugs at the end of one string and then connect to another string or you can make an inline plug connection from string to string as your display requirements demands. The use of lamp wire and vampire plugs (like the use of Ryan's demonstrated old x-mas light strings) to connect one string of lights in your display to another string is what the pros refer to as a "jumper line". That is a custom cut wire with connectors that does not have any lights on it which simply carries electricity from one part of your display to another.
This is one of the best videos I've seen. I never would have thought of this but have officially saved this to one of my playlists. Thank you for sharing.
I don’t mess with junky mini-lights anymore. I switched to C7 screw-in lights. Now I just replace a few bulbs every year. It’s SO much better! I have better things to spend my time and money on in December.
WOW 😱 so easy!! I just need the shrink tubes. I did giggle that your work space is your beautiful kitchen counter. The kitchen is the heart of the home. Even for DIY.
More power to you! I put all electric string lights to the curb. Lined up Dollar Tree and Walmart paper bags with lights hanging out. Gone within 10 min.. Stategically placed solar Christmas trees out front. Utility co. verified I am 1 of the most efficient customers.
After soldering, you can dap a little hot glue on the joint, let it cool and then add the heat shrink. This will make it more waterproof, you can also buy heat shrink with hot glue lining on the inside
Before heating the shrink wrap, pull on the wires pretty hard. If the solder joint breaks, it's a cold solder joint. Redo. Best way to make it less likely, heat the wires and let the solder wick onto the joint. Too much heat and the wires will oxidize before they can solder. For really old wires already oxidized when you strip them, you have to scratch the copper until it's shiny. A dab of rosin flux, even better.
@fmphotooffice5513 Old electronics tech here. Nicely written! More concise than I could have. @ryanscottlifts Your vid is perfect; this one is about the repurpose idea and the circuit. There are plenty of others about soldering technique. I never noticed the lights are all on a single wire!
I make them into extension cords too. My wife came up with the idea years ago. Thanks . Now i dont need too make that video. They also fit nicer in the holiday plug covers better.
Thanks. Being a home maker and DYIer, I've done this many times. Just can't throw out perfectly good wire. Wanted to say it's my wife's bigest complaint when people have "extra" lights stretched between windows or hanging off whatever people are trying to decorate. It's like they're painting and can't stay between the lines
Cut your wires OFFSET so they are not directly across from each other in the splice. This prevents a strand of stray wire from shorting out to each other and if they get wet less likely to crosscurrent electricity in the rain.
I decorate a number of Holidays as well .. Anyother easy trick is with regular extension cords /// when new I just use a 2" sanding disc and remove extra from plug end to make it so both pins are the same size ... I have pry a hundred that way .. a tote full...
I assume since the fuses are still in there, you still need to worry about how many sections you put together, so does this include your homemade extension cord? Most light strings you can only put five together, so is it going to be talented as a light string?
Yes any individual cord is limited by the fuse. That said, I have ran 1,200 lights in a row before for those huge pines in my front yard without blowing those fuses. If it rains, it can cause the voltage to fluctuate and that may cause a breaker to pop though.
Hey it was just from Amazon. I have a few like it. I have one that's different size heat shrink crimps too. Shoot me an email and I will send ya the link!
Do you need to worry which two get soldered together at the two solder end? Can you cross them by mistake and have it not work? Great idea and video by the way!
Since the plugs aren’t polarized, it absolutely doesn’t matter which wire goes to which side of the plug. What’s important to remember is, ONLY use this extension cord for Christmas lights (for life safety reasons), and be cautious about the maximum length of your entire light strand + extension cords. You can go longer when using LED strands, but always check the plugs and wires for heat. Great idea, been doing this for years. Thanks for sharing!
@@andrewmkish If the wire is polarized (ie. one might have a ridge on it), good practice would be to connect like to like (even if the plug or socket aren't polarized). In general, this could could be used for any low wattage, non-polariized load. Those cords usually have 3A fuses (on both plugs; since either on could end up the hot wire). One of them will blow before you ever put enough load in it to damage the wire.
Hey, great video, Ryan. Your viewers gave good comments and tips as well, and your replies are spot on. Best wishes for your channel, and a **VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!**
I never would of thought of that. Great idea. I'm as lazy as the day is long...I will just cut the wire....then fill wire nuts with silicon caulk and act like my neighbor did it when something goes wrong. tHanks for the video
Standard strings of LEDs never seem to be the optimum length for my outdoor elements, so I've been "customizing my light sets for many years. The only issue with both incandescent and LED strings is that the individual "bulbs" are in SERIES, meaning your outlet voltage is divided up among many bulbs, assuring each bulb gets the correct voltage (both filament and LED lights operate on around 2-3 volts) is a matter of leaving the correct number of lights in the series setup. If this is not done, and strings are just cut up randomly to fit the bush or whatever to be lit, having too few bulbs will lead to bulbs failing prematurely or immediately. Having too many will result in dim or dark bulbs. Additionally, LED strings require current-limiting resistors in the string because LEDs without such devices could start fires and/or blow fuses. The point is, light strings cannot be cut up any old way and still work properly.'
Can you use an old strand that doesn’t light up anymore, and is soldering absolutely necessary if you’re shrink tubing them? Wouldn’t that be the same as twisting the wires together and wrapping the splice with electrical tape? I’ve never soldered a little splice like this and never had a problem.
@S.E.C-R you can use old strands that don't light up assuming it's not the internal fuse that's the issue (or you have a spare fuse). And you definitely want to solder or use some other form of waterproof connector vs just twisting together.
Boy Howdy! I want to see the part of how to select out the light strand more clearly 🙆♀️ And the soldering what to which. Im only understanding two places to solder? The female socket contact head had two wires ... And the center cord that goes the length to the male contact head with pins/blades was one wire... So what got soldered to what? 🤷♀️
Sweet! I just got my dual range no contact tester. If these crappy Aldi lights can't be salvaged, bam!! Im doing this to them. On a flipnote, anybody got any ideas on how to blackout C6/7 bulbs that are running from one object to another and you don't want that to be shown? No, I dont want to use electrical tape cuz that gets so sticky. These are faceted bulbs btw.
@@jefffuhr2393 That might be the avenue to go down. The good news is these are LED. I've used blackout caps for smaller ones but I haven't found any larger ones yet.
Does the string have to have every bulb in it to work? Some of those types of lights don't & you can literally just unscrew the bulbs from wherever you don't need/want any. Or save your burt bulbs & put those in the spots you want dark, as they'll still carry current. I have village lights that use those C6/7 bulbs, & one bulb often burns out, but the string will stay lit. The strings also stays lit when I unscrew bulbs to replace bulbs; thus, my suggestion of unscrewing some in certain areas.
@@leahrowe847 Not sure. all of them are still working. It is the Menards silver Box commercial type. Since it's outside I'm not sure if leaving some blank spots would be best.
There is nothing wrong with using X-mas as the shortened version for Christmas. The 'X' in Xmas comes for the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word Christos, which became Christ in English. The suffix-mas is from the Latin-derived Old English word for Mass. Its origins are deeply rooted in the Christian tradition, dating back to ancient Greek and Latin languages. Christmas is actually the English-shortened version of Christ's Mass.
As a licensed electrician here is a simple way to join wires if you don’t have a soldering iron.
You can use wire crimps then cover the crimps with heat shrink. 🤠
It’s a no-brainer. But never crossed my mind. Thanks
@@mindsablank8061 very welcome!
I've also been doing this for many years(decades?). I have a good collection of them built up that I keep plugged together end to end and wrapped on a cord winder. Also, when I have some spare time I take the lighted sections and cut the bulbs and socket off and put the wire sections in a bucket I keep for wire recycling and when its full I have a local scrap yard that pays me for un-stripped wire by the pound. Its that much less stuff in the land fill.
WOW thanks. I've thrown out so many old lighting cords without thinking of this. You've made my holiday decorating so much easier and now I dont have to waste using heavier orange extension cords I can use for what the capacity are made for.
I've been doing this for over 15 years. Anytime a string of lights goes bad I'd make it into a Christmas light extension cord. I would keep the entire length though, just cut out the wire with the lights. No need to splice or solder wires. By cutting them to length you need to worry about which lengths go where year after year. Keep the whole thing and wind up the length you don't need and hide it.
Well thanks for keeping it to yourself for 15 years 😂😢
Haha nice man!! I have done this for a few years and decided to share my secret after my neighbor asked!
Just curious, would they work the same without cutting the lights off?
@cheriekalel9578 like could you use them regardless as an extension cord? Not sure I follow. The whole point is that I remove the lights bc 1) it is more aestically pleasing and 2) if any of the lights still light up, it won't look good between bushes.
No they wouldn't work (probably) because the damage causing the lights to stop working usually causes a stop in the flow of electricity so they wouldn't work as just extension cords.
I just removed my old 25-30ft long old string out of the garbage just in time after seeing this! What a great idea! The new extension is color matched to the rest now! Thanks for sharing.
Glad it helped!
Remove the bulbs to have as spares, although admittedly many of them will be defunct you’ll still have some amount that will be good.
What a great idea! I'm digging those old lights out of the gabage!
Before l saw this video l used to give old lights to Goodwill.
Great idea! I have a row of blow molds that no longer had the lightbulbs, so I used string lights inside them. I will keep all my old string light sets now so they no longer have a trail of lights from one to another. Thanks!
Lovely idea & you took the fear out of trying it. Easy peas! Thanks 😊
You're welcome!
This is such a great idea!! Genius!! Thanks!
Yeah, not sure if perhaps this is covered in another video but...sure, if you have an old strand lying around that you are looking to repurpose rather than throw away? By all means, do what Ryan demonstrates here and put that old wire to use as an extension cord between light strings. If however, you do not have an old light strand that you can repurpose and you need to connect different light strands and want that super-clean, pro look to your display? You can purchase green lamp wire (typically 14 gauge) and a bag of what are called vampire plugs. The plugs come male and female and are easily attached to a custom length of lamp wire to your choosing with only the need for a cutting tool. You don't need to strip the wires because the "fangs" of the vampire plugs bite through the insulation, into the wire and make your connection. You can either connect plugs at the end of one string and then connect to another string or you can make an inline plug connection from string to string as your display requirements demands. The use of lamp wire and vampire plugs (like the use of Ryan's demonstrated old x-mas light strings) to connect one string of lights in your display to another string is what the pros refer to as a "jumper line". That is a custom cut wire with connectors that does not have any lights on it which simply carries electricity from one part of your display to another.
This is one of the best videos I've seen. I never would have thought of this but have officially saved this to one of my playlists. Thank you for sharing.
I don’t mess with junky mini-lights anymore. I switched to C7 screw-in lights. Now I just replace a few bulbs every year. It’s SO much better! I have better things to spend my time and money on in December.
@@ShavinMcCrotch I hear ya!
WOW 😱 so easy!! I just need the shrink tubes.
I did giggle that your work space is your beautiful kitchen counter. The kitchen is the heart of the home. Even for DIY.
@carakellmeyer5037 haha I have a workbench in my garage, but moved a car lift over to that side so it makes filming kind of hard now.
Thanks for sharing I had no idea you could do that
More power to you! I put all electric string lights to the curb. Lined up Dollar Tree and Walmart paper bags with lights hanging out. Gone within 10 min.. Stategically placed solar Christmas trees out front. Utility co. verified I am 1 of the most efficient customers.
Awesome tutorial. Thanks
You're welcome!
Pretty genius!
This is genious!!
Thanks!
After soldering, you can dap a little hot glue on the joint, let it cool and then add the heat shrink. This will make it more waterproof, you can also buy heat shrink with hot glue lining on the inside
Brilliant. How did I never think of that? Thank you and Merry Christmas.
@@LincolnHawk-bk5yr Merry Christmas!
Before heating the shrink wrap, pull on the wires pretty hard. If the solder joint breaks, it's a cold solder joint. Redo. Best way to make it less likely, heat the wires and let the solder wick onto the joint. Too much heat and the wires will oxidize before they can solder. For really old wires already oxidized when you strip them, you have to scratch the copper until it's shiny. A dab of rosin flux, even better.
Good call! I actually did that off camera, but I guess I should never assume everyone knows.
@fmphotooffice5513 Old electronics tech here. Nicely written! More concise than I could have.
@ryanscottlifts Your vid is perfect; this one is about the repurpose idea and the circuit. There are plenty of others about soldering technique. I never noticed the lights are all on a single wire!
Before soldering, I usually dip the wire ends into flux before twisting them together, and judiciously apply a Bic lighter to shrink the tubing.
Thanks!
Sweet, nice project thanks!
This is freaking genius!!!!
Haha thanks!
I make them into extension cords too. My wife came up with the idea years ago. Thanks . Now i dont need too make that video. They also fit nicer in the holiday plug covers better.
Totally agree!
Awesome idea. I have been using the male plug side in the past for wiring other xmas deco, but making them into "extension cords", that's cool.
Brilliant
Great idea 💡 👍 I would twist the wires fir neatness but it would reduce the length somewhat.
Good idea!
Love it
Thanks. Being a home maker and DYIer, I've done this many times. Just can't throw out perfectly good wire. Wanted to say it's my wife's bigest complaint when people have "extra" lights stretched between windows or hanging off whatever people are trying to decorate. It's like they're painting and can't stay between the lines
Sweet, I'll be saving that box of "dead" lights in the garage!
I have that same hat so I knew this would be a great video. Nice job and thanks for the info!
@@markthompson7503 haha it's my go to hat!
Cut your wires OFFSET so they are not directly across from each other in the splice. This prevents a strand of stray wire from shorting out to each other and if they get wet less likely to crosscurrent electricity in the rain.
Hey great advice. Something I hadn't thought of before. Definitely a good idea.
If you have a stray strand after soldering and heat shrinking, you definitely need to reevaluate and improve your soldering skills.
Great tip and the setup looks great!
@@andrewbeetz2196 thanks Andy!
Way to go Ryan, great job!
Hey thanks! Appreciate the comment!
Thank you so much for sharing such a great idea. And very timely to. ❤
Glad to be helpful!
BOOM it just makes sense, 😊 thank you so much
I have been schooled!!!
Thank you
Haha!
I decorate a number of Holidays as well .. Anyother easy trick is with regular extension cords /// when new I just use a 2" sanding disc and remove extra from plug end to make it so both pins are the same size ... I have pry a hundred that way .. a tote full...
I have done that too with my Dremel!
Wow. I didn't know you can do that. Good idea.
THANKS! Good video.
I assume since the fuses are still in there, you still need to worry about how many sections you put together, so does this include your homemade extension cord? Most light strings you can only put five together, so is it going to be talented as a light string?
Yes any individual cord is limited by the fuse. That said, I have ran 1,200 lights in a row before for those huge pines in my front yard without blowing those fuses. If it rains, it can cause the voltage to fluctuate and that may cause a breaker to pop though.
I like that shrink tubing kit you have. Any links to get one for me?
Hey it was just from Amazon. I have a few like it. I have one that's different size heat shrink crimps too. Shoot me an email and I will send ya the link!
Do you need to worry which two get soldered together at the two solder end? Can you cross them by mistake and have it not work? Great idea and video by the way!
Since the plugs aren’t polarized, it absolutely doesn’t matter which wire goes to which side of the plug. What’s important to remember is, ONLY use this extension cord for Christmas lights (for life safety reasons), and be cautious about the maximum length of your entire light strand + extension cords. You can go longer when using LED strands, but always check the plugs and wires for heat.
Great idea, been doing this for years. Thanks for sharing!
@@andrewmkish If the wire is polarized (ie. one might have a ridge on it), good practice would be to connect like to like (even if the plug or socket aren't polarized).
In general, this could could be used for any low wattage, non-polariized load. Those cords usually have 3A fuses (on both plugs; since either on could end up the hot wire). One of them will blow before you ever put enough load in it to damage the wire.
What they said. Non-polarized. Enjoy!
Hey, great video, Ryan. Your viewers gave good comments and tips as well, and your replies are spot on.
Best wishes for your channel, and a **VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!**
@@jefffuhr2393 Merry Christmas!!
Great idea! Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas!
This is brilliant!
DANG! why didn’t I think of that before making a dump run before the holidays ! Oh well , next time …
Next time!
Great video.
Hey thanks!
🎄🎄🎄Merry Christmas Everyone ☃️☃️☃️
Why is such a really clever idea so difficult to see. 👏👏👍👍
@@velcroman11 honestly, it took me 15,000 christmas lights last year and a lot of extension cord headaches to have this realization haha
great video
@@casycasy5199 hey thanks!
Dammit, I JUST threw out six full strands of defective lights from last year. Will definitely remember this for future defective strings!
@@cps2175 or look up how to test using a dual range no contact tester.
😂
Me too, oh well...
Awesome idea!
SO glad I found this right before I tossed a whole box of lights. I’m subbing, thanks!!
Awesome!! Glad this video was helpful!
This is awesome! This will be helpful at Halloween to! 👻💀👿🎃
Thank you!
Crimp tubes with the soldier inside of it works even better and stronger...
I never would of thought of that. Great idea.
I'm as lazy as the day is long...I will just cut the wire....then fill wire nuts with silicon caulk and act like my neighbor did it when something goes wrong. tHanks for the video
I am glad this video inspired you to get creative!
Standard strings of LEDs never seem to be the optimum length for my outdoor elements, so I've been "customizing my light sets for many years. The only issue with both incandescent and LED strings is that the individual "bulbs" are in SERIES, meaning your outlet voltage is divided up among many bulbs, assuring each bulb gets the correct voltage (both filament and LED lights operate on around 2-3 volts) is a matter of leaving the correct number of lights in the series setup. If this is not done, and strings are just cut up randomly to fit the bush or whatever to be lit, having too few bulbs will lead to bulbs failing prematurely or immediately. Having too many will result in dim or dark bulbs. Additionally, LED strings require current-limiting resistors in the string because LEDs without such devices could start fires and/or blow fuses. The point is, light strings cannot be cut up any old way and still work properly.'
Great idea. I don't like seeing Christmas lights as extension cords.
Can you use an old strand that doesn’t light up anymore, and is soldering absolutely necessary if you’re shrink tubing them? Wouldn’t that be the same as twisting the wires together and wrapping the splice with electrical tape? I’ve never soldered a little splice like this and never had a problem.
@S.E.C-R you can use old strands that don't light up assuming it's not the internal fuse that's the issue (or you have a spare fuse). And you definitely want to solder or use some other form of waterproof connector vs just twisting together.
Thanks for sharing
Whoa
Boy Howdy!
I want to see the part of how to select out the light strand more clearly 🙆♀️
And the soldering what to which. Im only understanding two places to solder?
The female socket contact head had two wires ... And the center cord that goes the length to the male contact head with pins/blades was one wire...
So what got soldered to what? 🤷♀️
You have 3 solder joints. And if you grab a light strand, you just need to cut out the wire that has all of the lights connected to one another.
How do you get the small bush to not be overloaded with lights? Do you have light strings that are super short, or do you cut them to length somehow?
Those are a 50 light strand. Those 50 light strands are really short...maybe 10 feet.
Nice job. Always an abundance of broken lights…
Instead of soldrering , why not use marine grade butt splices ,,, they are heat shrinkable and waterproof . No soldering necessary .
Or you can use them as extension wire with burnt bulbs as it is.
Good idea, but you have to watch overloading and voltage drop. Also, they're not waterproof plugs; I use a bag and twisties.
Be careful. You are in a worse spot if water gets in those bags. I did read up on wrapping cable ends, you aren't supposed to.
Sweet! I just got my dual range no contact tester. If these crappy Aldi lights can't be salvaged, bam!! Im doing this to them.
On a flipnote, anybody got any ideas on how to blackout C6/7 bulbs that are running from one object to another and you don't want that to be shown? No, I dont want to use electrical tape cuz that gets so sticky. These are faceted bulbs btw.
Might be a terrible idea safety-wise due to heat build up, but here goes...
Spray paint them with hi-temperature engine or exhaust or BBQ grill paint.
@@jefffuhr2393 That might be the avenue to go down. The good news is these are LED.
I've used blackout caps for smaller ones but I haven't found any larger ones yet.
Does the string have to have every bulb in it to work? Some of those types of lights don't & you can literally just unscrew the bulbs from wherever you don't need/want any.
Or save your burt bulbs & put those in the spots you want dark, as they'll still carry current.
I have village lights that use those C6/7 bulbs, & one bulb often burns out, but the string will stay lit. The strings also stays lit when I unscrew bulbs to replace bulbs; thus, my suggestion of unscrewing some in certain areas.
@@leahrowe847 Not sure. all of them are still working. It is the Menards silver Box commercial type. Since it's outside I'm not sure if leaving some blank spots would be best.
Easier if you use solder butt connectors with heat gun.
I file the fat side of the extension cord to fit into the lights.
black tape works and you dont gotta do all that
I think this years iffy light string has been tossed already. Sigh🙄
It’s not “X-mas,” it’s spelled “Christmas.”
It’s Christmas, not Xmas!
Try CHRISTmas lights! Inever saw x-mas anything!...AAre you against saying CHRIST!
There is nothing wrong with using X-mas as the shortened version for Christmas. The 'X' in Xmas comes for the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word Christos, which became Christ in English. The suffix-mas is from the Latin-derived Old English word for Mass. Its origins are deeply rooted in the Christian tradition, dating back to ancient Greek and Latin languages. Christmas is actually the English-shortened version of Christ's Mass.
What’s christ?