The construction and wiring of professional LED strings.
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
- The difference in price and construction between home and professional Christmas lights is huge. But when you see the difference in the construction you realise that there's a lot more work in making the professional ones, and the materials add a lot of expense and weight too.
These are the strings of lights often used on city centre trees, either wrapped round the branches of ordinary trees or strung seasonally on big Christmas trees.
They're also used on the aluminium panels mounted on the sides of lamp posts, either on their own or with rope light outlines, some festoon for brighter points of light or strobes for sparkle and sometimes shoved through industrial grade fire and weather retardant tinsel.
Stuff like this tends to have a rough life, with extreme weather exposure and frequent installation and removal by people who often don't treat them too well and cram them into vans and storage spaces. Cheap home grade lights would be destroyed quickly in a similar application.
The lights are usually available in white, black or green rubber, with black being a preferred choice. The use of a high voltage DC bus allows a lot to be run end to end, but you have to be careful to ensure that the sealing o-rings are in place in the connectors. Lesser installers will often lose the o-rings when they are essential in avoiding plug and socket failure. If possible keep a bag of spare o-rings if you do a lot of work with stuff like this.
In the UK the mains voltage stuff shouldn't be used at ground level where kids can touch it. But certain types of company who use casual labour with dubious electrical credentials will use it because it's cheap. The same companies may use the wrong types of protection or quite often none at all "because it keeps tripping".
It's important to note that if these lights are wrapped round the branches of trees for year-round decoration, they have to be maintained. That involves checking their condition, making sure they're still loose and if necessary, repositioning them onto the tree to prevent bark and light damage as it grows. If just ignored, as often happens with city councils, the trees will literally grow through the lights, forming bark around them and potentially breaking them and exposing live connections.
It's not unusual to see trees with a tiny section left lit, if any, and exposed live wires in amongst the branches. The live wires may not be obvious if the tree is unlit. Never assume the power is actually off.
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:-
www.bigclive.co...
This also keeps the channel independent of UA-cam's advertising algorithms allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.
The detail you impart far exceeds anything a training course or book could ever do. Well done!
‘Until in Death You Do Impart’
Why do I get the feeling that this time of year you can see Clive's house from space?
Pretty sure he’s responsible for the ISS being able to pinpoint the whole Isle of Mann.
Video of Clive's house (with music) ua-cam.com/video/pWBjl-jPcVM/v-deo.html
Clark Griswald helped
lol
Astronomers hate him.
Probably worth investing in these sets even in a domestic setting, for the increased safety and longevity!
Our landfills would benefit too! Imagine the number of cheap light sets that get tossed out every year.
They probably last forever, with the occasional rectifier replacement as Clive mentioned.
Not to mention the carbon-black in the rubber and how well it conducts Lightning. ;)
The only question is where to get them from.
@@gordonlawrence1448 TLC Electrical sell them. I got quite a few lengths when they were half price. Wish I bought more though.
Who needs sleep when there's a new bigclive release to watch. Love it.
Definitely a step up from the Chinese 240V illuminated dental floss ones.
I remember plugging a Chinese fire string in and watching the arc inside the clear plastic plug. That string went straight into the garbage bin. I didn't even bother finding out how hard it would be to attach a new plug onto such hair fine conductors. I knew it would never be worth the effort.
My mom keeps getting these outdoor lights for cheap and keeps wondering why they keep burning out, but continues buying them. She'll love these!
@asdrubale bisanzio Figured
I love these types of videos that give a glimpse of the professional or industrial side of things. This was really interesting, thanks Clive.
Thank you Clive!
I just miss the days when Christmas lights were fun. I miss them so much. When you could go to a store, and there would be candle shaped ones, big ball shaped ones, really realistic icicle shaped ones.. I miss when they were a nice glow with incandescent filaments inside, I miss the fresh scent of freshly applied lacquer that every box of fresh Christmas lights had. I miss the days when blinking Christmas lights actually had four channels for all four lights, and from a distance it looked so magical when all four colors shifted independently and were not combined.. Heck, the ones I miss the most are the singing Christmas lights. The ones that had a ginormous blinker box, and all incandescent pill lights were bigger and flashed in sync with the music.. I just teared up from the nostalgia. I wish I had saved all the old sets. I wish I could have my prized singing set again..
Rather like how solid and chunky those look
P. S. 8:50 should the bucket be called "full bucket: rectifiers"
Only until you've used half of them.
Nice! For how common LED lighting is, there are very few good videos about it.
Thank you for this video. It was quite soothing for me personally as my daughter has been diagnosed today as covid positive. She no longer lives with us but still quite depressing time to go quarantine. You and This Old Tony channel made my day less depressing. Thank you.
This was excellent! Your professional experience as an electrician combined with your love of lighting technology made this very informative. Even though I am in the USA with our lower voltage standard your details about what to look for in the construction are still applicable. I will use some of the knowledge I gained watching this when I select lights for an upcoming project. Thank you.
For those of us in Canada, the Noma brand Christmas lights at Canadian Tire are UL or CSA listed and are actually fused. Much safer than that no-name stuff found elsewhere.
Hope we get more this Christmas of these videos. Always loved lights and controllers all my life, I love learning more from your long experience with them commercially.
Nice to see someone making decent electrical devices. I really like that they use rubber. I go out of my way to buy wire, test leads and so on, that are made from either rubber or silicon. Your videos are wonderful, especially on a Friday after a long work week and I need a pleasant Scottish accent dude showing me silly videos about his latest purchase of cheap Chinese electronics. Hehe. You're a gem :)
It just dawned on me how old my strings of lights must be. They're all incandescent. But they've held up well.
Same. Mine must be 15 years old or more
Same here... At least half of them is 20+ years old.
But I'm thinking of making replacement Led bulbs for them. I'm tired of replacing 2-5 bulbs per 10 bulb string per year.
I'm thinking of 2 leds counter parallel plus an appropriate resistor per bulb potted in resin cast in a form taken from the damaged incandescent bulbs
I changed the bulbs to the old type LED's 25 years ago for a friend. They still work now.
Same!
@@al1rednam if you like them dim, just add a diode in series and they will last a LOT longer. Or add 10-15 diodes in series in one direction in parallel with the same in the other direction. This will lower the voltage enough to stress them less. Especially if you have old strings from a 220V era and your country has upgraded to 230v, like mine. That change has killed dozens of bulbs until I added the diodes.
I love seeing this stuff because it is so instructional regarding my own creations.
Merry Christmas everyone
"Don't let your kids touch municipal Christmas lights"... Sounds like a recipe for lawsuits to me!
Sounds tasty
Its missing "while holding Your hand" ;)
"I shall finger these lights" 🤘 4:19
Or a song title. 80's punk :)
I can just see the newspaper headlines now ...."Irresponsible Parents Sued by Local Council, Chamber of Commerce, Electricity Supplier and their Insurers for County-wide Power Cut". "Delinquent Youth (name withheld to protect the Guilty, Guilty!, Guilty!!) Prosecuted for fingering Decorations". "Christmas ruined for millions by ..."", "One-armed boy sues local electrical goods shop for criminal negligence after causing billion-pound power cut in which 38 patients on life-support died".
'tis indeed a heartwarming message, broadcasting the warmth, goodwill and jollity associated with the season and beats the heck out of coronwumph, who threw that cushion?
Probably not a UV resin, but a 2 part resin, poured into the mould 500 LED's at a time, and then heated up to cure fast, then demould. Done while making the next 10 strings, so not actually the slow part, though there are machines making the long strips of LED wired assemblies, just trundling along spitting out a long LED wire. 2 part resin is a lot cheaper than UV cure, and they likely have 2 cups that are filled with resin from a big bucket, getting the ratio right automatically, which are then poured into the mix bowl, stirred up and then poured into the mould.
I have a set of LED Xmas lights that have been on a tree in my front garden for the last five years as its easier simply to leave them in place than put them out and take them in each year. They still work fine.
There are four of parallel strings of 10 LEDs each and the system runs on 30V which I supply from a bench power supply on my workbench. The cable between that and the tree is the only thing that is taken in each year.
In the 50s we used two sets of C7 5watt each (E12 base) lights on our tree and they lasted about 20 years. We used C9 7watt each (E17 base) outside I was too young to know what the electric bill was but I still like how bright they were. And the only thing that went wrong with them were the bulbs would occasionally burned out but they were in parallel.
The only safety issues were make sure the tree had water and don't have lights on when you weren't in the house.
I still use two sets of lights that are at least 20 years old, surprisingly only 1 or 2 bulbs have died. Outdoor stuff lasts less, the oldest thing I have is a 10 year old rope light but sections have died and I have cut them off, originally it was 25 meters, today its only 7 or 8 meters
When I was a wee lad, the Xmas tree lights were all 7 watt incandescent bulbs. They got hot, so we learned the hard way that we shouldn't touch them. More importantly they could cause a fire. The lower power bulbs were a definite improvement and now the whole string of LED lights use the same power that a single incandescent bulb used. 😮
5:55 So true about the colors. I noticed this on a set of my older LEDs Xmas lights. Red, yellow, orange were all fine but there were 4 blue and green LEDs out.
Another brilliant vid Clive. Thanks for entertaining us all for another year :).
After spending the whole month of December taking down, replacing rusty LEDs and putting them back up last year, I spent literally 6months this year cutting the heat shrink off, hot-glueing, and re heat-shrinking a set of 500 consumer lights to waterproof them (20 a week). They’re now effectively potted in hot glue. I love draping my house in warm white lights every Christmas, but can’t justify the premium price of quality ones like that. However watching this video I’m considering it for next year, because waterproofing 500 LED’s nearly drove me mad! Maybe I’ll start buying a few 100 sets like those ones here and there and start building up a collection!
Great Video Clive.
I have to say I am very impressed by the zoom capabilities of your camera.
Hope you have a great Christmas Clive.
Whilst I have long runs of white led, I still have 2 sets of coloured filaments ones. 1 set goes at the top of the tree, the other goes into a large glass pickling type jar. What I like about them is the smell, that's the smell I associate with Christmas.
Well, that was fascinating. Thank you, Clive!
One consumer low-voltage icicle set I decommissioned this year was interesting. 24 volts, runs of ten LEDs but spread over multiple icicles, two cables switching DC polarity controlled by the power adapter. The (very dead!) LEDs went in the bin, and the power supply has been documented and retained for a future project...
A typical RCD Type A should cover even the rippled DC Current of a 1 phase rectifier - you have the same in All electronics. But if you have a 3 phase rectifier you could get clean dc error currents which only a type B can detect.
Yeah, but not all RCDs are type A, a lot of existing U.K. domestic, office and industrial installations have AC type RCDs which are not specified as being able to trip with pulsating DC leakage currents.
It's nice to see something with a high power factor again!
I got 2 sets colour change LED 10 metres long with watertight connectors, from B&M around 5-6 years ago they are really good, expensive to buy but well worth it for the longer life and rugged build.
Going to have to look on their online store for those.
@@gordonlawrence1448
best I have seen in a cheaper shop. but got them a while back. 👍👍🎅🎅
7:14 "AMPle for this application" HAHA I see what you did there!
These industrial led Christmas lights are the same ones that I was putting up in London in 2018 ,got them in big boxes and as far as I remember the company got them from a distributor in France ,that's where the giant outdoor tree baubles came from too, I remember the factory in France machinery broke down and they had to search round for their annual top up of new ornaments ,the other makers were booked about 3 years ahead, I remember contacting bauble makers in the USA (at any expense they were essential) while the owners tried a maker in Poland and I think elsewhere...
The manufacturers of outdoor Christmas decorations and lights used in public shopping areas and along the side of (and above) roads are booked a few years ahead to supply cities in many countries..
This was fantastic , we need a lot of light in this very odd world.You can definitely see my house from Pluto :-) honest it’s not tacky! All from JLP. I grew up taking electronic things apart and built my own computer and computer network before even the internet was around with phone wire.
Interesting video, Clive. You can clearly see the difference between commercial grade and domestic grade lighting. If you are suitably skilled, purchase a switchmode power supply with high current capability and use that to drive large LED strings. Use resettable 2A > 5A circuit breakers in series.
Professional stuff is better for the environment because of longevity.
Logic behind disposable stuff is that people get bored and throw things out even when they are still fine and working, so why built them for longevity? And if people aren't buying new stuff from you, how can you make money? Funny how these things work both ways. Fashion and regulations change over time. Do you remember when Mercedes built cars for lifetime? They are not anymore. That is why now there is more push for recyclable materials. People throw things out anyway, so make them more recyclable and harmful to environment.
I still own my grandfather's Cortina Mk.V from 1981. Really amazing vehicle, dependable and easily repairable. But Ford didn't get sale from us for 40 years. If everybody did the same, they go bust. As with every other car manufacturer.
@@jakublulek3261 as if most people drive cars for more than 10years+
The bucked load of your customers gets bored by then! You can sell cars anyway but your reputation goes down, as the product is not seen on the road (in Africa).
The 3rd world just converts to cheap own cars from China/Iran/Russia...
Is it even possible to build a reliable car with euro *any* exhaust rules?
The car manufacturers get rear ended by their own "financial engineer", look at vw " how to burn your brand for centuries" techniques, just lie and cheat it will work nicely..
Dummy vw customer buys another one
@@kitecattestecke2303 Most car manufacturers make money on professional, business market where cars are rotated after 2 or 3 years. Private customers stick with used or lower end vehicle. And all emission regulations are still applied on NEW cars, not the old ones. As a government, you cannot ban usage of older vehicles, so they rely on too high maintenance costs to push older vehicles out. And considering that 1990s and early 2000s were massive slump in quality, it isn't unreasonable assumption.
@@jakublulek3261 Economy is a closed circle in which we're trapped for life. This circle feeds on resources, even if its prisoners recycle materials, which still costs energy.
And, yes, I remember the good old Mercedes quality. I owned one in the late 80's/early 90's. It featured pneumatics for the central locking system and automatic headlight adjustment. It kept going and going....
“The” economy is just a posh word meaning money transactions. COVID19 lockdowns and restrictions show how fragile the so called economy is (for some sectors). While other sectors are making healthy profits. Humans existed before money and money based economy. If we ever find a different system, we will still survive.
Cars can be made to last for twenty years. I myself buy only brand new cars. I’m just over fifty and have only ever bought three cars. The first one I sold to my sister. The second one (a Rover 214sei) lasted 18 years but was still running well when I drove it to the buyer. And I’m still driving my 2009 Toyota Prius.
People love to ‘get a bargain’, hence the market panders to them. In a competitive market, this drives down the price from the rival manufacturers. Who then have to cut costs... And we spiral downwards. Constantly changing models/features/names/colours/shapes to try to keep people buying while using advertising to promote the brand and offset any negative comments from independent reports/media. None of this is good for a long term economy, or for us and the environment. So those of us who are sensible and can see where this is going, really do need to do something. It’s perfectly possible for governments to find gentle but effective ways of persuading long lasting products to be produced. Scrapping all taxes on repair and servicing work, and on spare parts would help. But I’m sure if we put our thinking caps on, there are plenty of other things that can be done to wean us away from our cheap consumer society.
I've had the cheap (black lead) type christmas lights around my parents' house for over three years now, and they still work. Not a single LED has failed! Some of them have gone a bit brown from rust, but they're okay.
...I'm surprised you didn't scream "Full Wave Rectifier!!!" like Electroboom guy!!! LOL
Good information Clive. I'd been hoping you would make one on safe outdoor led strings. Thanks.
In my country, light strings usually have connectors only on one end, so multiple sets can't be connected together. So far I came across a few types:
- 230V mains input, small controller box with a "mode" button, then 4 separate output lines (usually red, green, blue). Some variants have a speaker in the controller box to produce annoying beeping Christmas tunes and flash the lights with the tunes (I hate this type).
- 230V input, small driver box, then a single strip of static lights.
- 230V input, massive 24V transformer, really long wires to small controller box with a "mode" button, then 4 separate output lines (r-g-b or jut 2 colors, such as blue-white).
- 3×AA battery holder with switch, small static LEDs (r-g-b or just white) between two wires. Usually this type can't last long before the batteries become flat. Sadly, this type starting to become more common than other ones with 230V adapter... ☹
But none the less, LED lights are cool, especially the custom ones! 👍 😉
Happy Christmas mate. Even when you leave me out of my depth, it’s all still interesting!
That’s what learning is all about, the quality of the teacher
have 2 sets of these set up outside, they are brilliant
Mmmf, damn, I LOVE that thicc black rubber insulation on the wires! 👌😁
Now you've got me wanting to resurrect an idea I had long ago, of using a bunch of metal-halide lamps on a spare spool of 6/4 SOOW cable I've had laying around forever, with water-resistant metal housings, and colored-glass inserts for effect.
reminds me of the 80's when somebody turned up with about 30 floodlights.. off some asda car park or something.. a few coloured gells and hey presto.. lighting for the band.. which always managed to blow the fuses everywhere.
One thing I learned: don't try the rectified thing with normal household strings. They intentionally put half the sections in opposite polarities to provide a good balanced load when fed AC. But that means when you fed them rectified AC only half of them light up. Need a 120V 1000hz AC source if I want to eliminate flicker.
I have used this kind at home for 10 years + . Now some of the strings are getting bad LED's. I solve this by slaughtering one string, getting rid of the bad one's in that string, and I am cutting the wire in between 2 LED's, then replacing, in the other strings, bad LED'S, putting heatshrink and silicone glue over the joint. This works well for years.
For many years i have been taking the light strings that one half dies on, cutting them at the two wire part in the middle and joining them with another half set. At least now i know why that works.
i cut and fix my rope light every year, started as a 25 meter set. it's now 7 or 8 meters
Lasting 5 years is considered good? We had outdoor light sets that were so old that we could no longer obtain replacement bulbs for them as the base hadn't been used since the early 1960s. The sets were purchased in the late 1940s and were still working fine in 1980. Same thing for the interior 'twinkle' light sets with the tiny bulbs with a screw-in Edison-style base - they were close to 50 years old and worked fine.
I'm still running Christmas lights I bought in the mid 90s through the single digit 2000s. No LEDs yet.
- …and no stjupeed aleedeeez, off cores! ©
Big Clive in LED heaven! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Just spent hours fixing some LED sets, I know it's cheaper to bin & replace but where's the fun in that?! Where would one purchase pro grade lights Clive? Thanks
We got a couple of sets of these from Costco UK this year - fed up with the self wicking cheapies.
Check out the ConnectPro from Festive Lights (in the UK). Unfortunately many lines are sold out right now, though.
I remember Hooj Choons ':D
At least here in Finland every hardware store sells these chunky bois and they are not that expensive, unless you buy a ton of extra led-strings of course.
Planning to get some next year, these lights will make great presents for ppl with a garden/porch :)
@@MLX1401 I was thinking the same thing, you can get these for only a little more than a cheap set would cost you if you go shopping a bit. I've used them for over half a decade now and the only problem has been fading over time, since if I add new lights to a 5 Yr old string it will look considerably brighter than the rest. Still, the user experience is night and day and you're not worried all the time that a little frost or rough handling will kill them.
Wow! Very impressive!
Thank for the lovely video hope you have a lovely Christmas Clive
Been buying this style of Christmas light for the last few years, definitely much more better than the normal LED sets. Now at the point where I got about 2KM of the stuff in the garden. (most of which is multi color ones on a big tree) Shame all the compatible sets seemed to vanish from eBay lately.
Seems that snowtime is the brand they're going under on ebay now.
I really wish TWINKLY PRO would send you all of their collections as if you gave them the thumbs up I would definitely buy some,
I had one running every night for years in my carport. Took a bit of time to run them down. After 6-8 years the wire started to look a bit crusty but maybe it was just bug crap. I have about 15 of these chains for the garden only for Christmas. Have had a few failures but not like the cheap ones that sometimes only lasts a season or two. 😀
I like the system that you can connect them together and use splitters into 5.
In the beginning they said max 2000 LEDs pr run, now they say less. Can’t remember how many right now.
2000 lights in sets of 50 would draw 0.6A, 5000 would draw 1.5A . I'm guessing the limit is the gauge of the pass through wires, with the sub-2000 type using thin chinesium wires inside the rubber.
@@johndododoe1411 You could be right. Sounds like something that could happen. I guess I should be looking for a different manufacturer for new chains next year.
Clive and his tough rubber sheath
Gotta love industrial steff that isn't built to squeeze out every last cent
Biltema has been selling this style for about 5yrs in Scandinavia. I remember how bad they faded the first few years, but they are much better now. And yep, always the rectifiers that failed. Every time.
And this is for home use btw. Not municipal x)
Have you got a link where I can get these lights as I'm pissed off with the crap that don't last 2 minutes.
They can be quite hard to find. They're not really aimed at the public.
Try www.festive-lights.com/connectable-lights/connectpro
Good place to pick these types up from ?
Merry Christmas^^
That is really interesting. Thank you for explaining the 3 wire system! What is the best way for someone to weatherproof/waterproof connections like that at home without having to use epoxy?
North Americans are sitting here thinking ... That’s a lot of lights.
I was going to make my own Christmas lights for outdoor this year, designed my PCB including all the parts and casing roughly £15 then wiring, pvc heatshrink, £38 then the LEDs £42 but $78 for shipping 😳 decided to buy some and put waterproof silicone sealant in the ends of the heatshrink instead
I think most of the consumer grade Christmas lights sold in the USA are somewhere between the commercial grade you're showing in this video and el-cheapo Chinese versions, leaning towards the better ones. I've been using an outdoor set of LED lights for the last 3 years with no problems, and had another set lit continuously for about 4 years. I bought an ebay Chinese set because I wanted some deep purple or near UV lamps that are hard to find in the US, and they were so cheaply made that I was afraid to leave them unattended. The lights sold in the USA don't typically have a rectifier that I know of. You can see the 60-cycle 'shimmer' if your viewpoint is vibrating, such as if you go "Pbbbbbbbbbthhhh" or imitate a motorboat :)
Mine have failed after just 2 seasons, but my cheapo £15 Wilko's are still going after 4 seasons. Will need to check the rectiifier.
I would definitely use the industry lights then the cheap Chinese lights you was showing the other day wouldn't want a fire 🔥 risk in my house.
My poundland garden solar lights looked like the ones you showed at the start and they didn't make it from spring to winter: loads of rust in them. The solar panel is still charging the battery though so I have a little solar battery pack with a long cable to do something with.
In cities there were beautiful high trees decorated with similar lights to these. When it was wet i deliberately touched one light with right hand to check for leakage current.I didnt feel anything, so I would give that a quality passed sign.
The light technology in there and the products are “almost there”.
The lights solution I’m looking for are the 100ft of led IP66 lights for professional use (so they will stand up to staying on an outdoor tree for many years nonstop and actually by IP66). But be the RGB les type which are addressable like the current similar batch of indoor Xmas tree lights that software can 3D locate all lights of and allow you to program an executable light display sequence.
The RGB Color selection is most critical so one can display the colors of the season without having to replace the lights on the tree in the garden : Xmas or Easter or Independence Day etc.
If ever you find such a set do test it and let us know what you think.
WS2811 pixels?
This is very interesting. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. It's appreciated. Merry Christmas!
The colorful ones also have a nice effect with using more yellow and red LEDs is to balance the brightness for the colors. Blue and green are InGaN and extremely efficient, thus a lot brighter. In colorful LED strings red and blue usually are getting almost invisible by the InGaN LEDs.
I think Biltema (swedish hardware store similar to Clas Ohlson) has these industrial LEDs for sale. They're large and rugged, looks pretty identical.
I remember my mother having proper outdoor lights. With the regular bulbs and thick heavy cables that were rugged.
For the last 8 years I've been looking around my local shops - gardening and landscaping shops and stuff like this to find PROPER outdoor lights for my balcony.
Only cheap splash resistant stuff and everything else that is just wrong to use.
Maybe I'll scavenge through the internet to look out for industrial ones. Seem way better and proper for home use.
Would have been interesting to see some wiring cross sections.
Nice video, Clive.
I would definitely buy the better ones...I prefer safety of cost.
woman in the store= look at the color palette, they match with the outdoor decoration.
man in the store= omg, look at those flexes. the quality of the terminals is amazing!
I can't tell you how many blue and green LEDs I've had to replace on my GE brand Christmas lights. They used mini LEDs for one. The first season with just 1-2 months of use I replaced over half the LEDs. The legs on the LEDs would just rust off in the sockets. They didn't weatherproof the sockets. I ended up using a hot glue gun and sealing the backs of all of sockets. The next year rust wasn't a problem but the blue and green LEDs burn out all the time. I'm ready to throw them away and buy a set like what you showing.
The blue and green LEDs are a different technology to the red and yellow in older sets. Much less reliable.
It's interesting how different and yet similar these are compared to the US consumer-grade ones I get from Target; same 3-wire arrangement with the LEDs in parallel to the main power bus, same two sections in a string, but mine have no resistors nor rectifier, just pure AC and enough LEDs to drop the (120V) voltage all the way.
Thanks, I need to cut a set of 1000 apart and insert connetors. I was feeling a bit stupid.
Careful with the markings on the cable. Not all rubber is equally good for outdoor use. In your case H05RN-F, the "N" stands for Chloroprene rubber, which is the better option, more resistant to sunlight and abrasion etc. But it could also be H05RR-F, in that case, the code for the outer insulation sheath is "R", which stands for natural or (unspecified) synthetic rubber. It can be made somewhat UV resistant, but is not generally recommended for outdoor use and light duty only.
Clive I'd love to see you have a look at the Christmas LED offerings from folks like Paul Zhang, Wired Watts, or Holiday Coro. They're addressable RGB and aren't CSA/UL certified (I'm Canadian) and wondering how safe they are to attach to my house. They come in two flavours - 12VDC and 5VDC, I run the 12VDC type. Some folks have seen quite scary fire situations this year and the hobby isn't sure if it's to do with the epoxy potting or something on the IC. If you want a set I can send you one. Thanks in advance!
It looks like it can double as a rope for when you want to put a star on top of a particularly tall tree
And if you're in a high-wind environment, you can always zip-tie them to a thin steel wire. Or simply shorten the continuous wires a bit by zip-tieing a short loop. That way they'll take the brunt of the pulling force.
Our church uses these LED strings, but some of the LEDs flash. How does that work when they are all in series?
Put a reasonably sized capacitor at the end and you get rid of the flickering... or just a loud bang if you mixed the polarity.
That would raise the voltage to peak mains and increase the current through the LEDs and resistors dramatically.
@@BigClive, Ouch. I completely forgot that.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and all with you, Clive. Thanks for the fun videos et al. Keep Well and Stay Safe. Cheers!
I have a big collection of the coloured professional ones exactly the same, they weren’t cheap but they are very good.
Even the industrial LED strands noticeably flicker? That's disappointing.
I can't stand my current set of LEDs 60Hz (with maybe 50% of that on) makes an uncomfortable streaky ghosting effect whenever I turn my head past the lights, so I've stopped putting them up entirely.
Love LEDs, usually have “warm white” variants. They tend to be ~3000K, not tungsten’s ~2700K. Makes white balance a pain
I couldn’t help myself and bought a couple sets of Twinkly Professional 800rgbw. If you haven’t seen them, you should check them out. Could have gotten similar for much cheaper but the the software was the draw for me.
I wonder if you can still get the very safe Christmas lights that ran on 240 like woolsworth used to sell, the ones that killed the cat
Where can you buy these? It would save so much time at Christmas because I’m the one that has to get all the lights working.
Clive W Griswold preparing for his Christmas extravaganza! 🤣
( yes I am aware it’s Clark not Clive )
The audio is really nice
I use incandescent Christmas lights personally, but these are interesting to know how they work! Also LEDs don't twinkle in the same way incandescent lights do-
These ones twinkle. 100 times per second, the voltage drops below 150V, and they all go out. Which is almost precisely what incandescent bulbs do at about the same moment.
Very illuminating 🚥🚦🚥🚦🚥
How expensive are the strings you described in the video?
25 pounds for a set of 100
@Matt Quinn i was pleasantly surprised to see how cheap they are. If you go on amazon chinesium lights are close to that price but nowhere near in quality