I haven't owned one of these sets for a long time -- but as I recall, the bulbs didn't contain shunts as modern miniature lights do. Therefore, when one lamp fails the entire set goes out and there is no cascading effect. I remember these bulbs getting extremely hot at full voltage and shedding paint. These sets were prone to start fires when placed on Christmas trees.
Yeah they are an intrersting look into how lights used to be. Combined with the more modern dimmer plug I think we can eliminate some of it's flaws and enjoy them for years to come.
In America, these lights ran in strings of 8, using 15 volt bulbs, as our voltage is 120. (125 these days, nominal.) When introduced, 110 volts was a common domestic voltage and likely lasted longer. Bubble light versions came out, but because a failed lamp would kill the string, and the replacements were expensive, they began making them in strings of 9 to dim the entire string a bit and reduce the frequency of burn-outs.
You could probably use a single 1N4007 rectifier on one leg of the wiring. This will put half the AC current through the bulbs because it rectifies the current and only the top or the bottom peak of the AC goes through the bulbs. The rectifiers handle 1 amp of current so it will easily handle the 0.15 Amps (150 milliamps) of current for the bulbs and should not heat up. They are rated for 1000 volts also. This technique is use for hot glue guns or soldering irons for 2 power level applications. No rectifier is full power. Rectified AC will be half power. These are far cheaper than the dimmer box. Give it a try and test to see if they get too warm for your liking or not. For added safety margin a 1N5408 is a 3.0 amp 1000 volt rated rectifiers. Those should not warm up at all. Merry Christmas.
In a series set, if each bulb is rated 0.15 Amps, the current in the whole set is 0.15 Amps. If you multiply the voltage dropped across each lamp (20V) by the current through it (0.15A) then you get the power of each lamp, which is 3 Watts - which is why they get quite hot. So the whole set of 12 lamps uses 12 x 3 = 36 Watts (less if you are using a dimmer plug). I do love the old Olive shaped lights though!
I haven't owned one of these sets for a long time -- but as I recall, the bulbs didn't contain shunts as modern miniature lights do. Therefore, when one lamp fails the entire set goes out and there is no cascading effect. I remember these bulbs getting extremely hot at full voltage and shedding paint. These sets were prone to start fires when placed on Christmas trees.
Yeah they are an intrersting look into how lights used to be.
Combined with the more modern dimmer plug I think we can eliminate some of it's flaws and enjoy them for years to come.
In America, these lights ran in strings of 8, using 15 volt bulbs, as our voltage is 120. (125 these days, nominal.) When introduced, 110 volts was a common domestic voltage and likely lasted longer. Bubble light versions came out, but because a failed lamp would kill the string, and the replacements were expensive, they began making them in strings of 9 to dim the entire string a bit and reduce the frequency of burn-outs.
We have some lights from the states, including bubble lights!
You could probably use a single 1N4007 rectifier on one leg of the wiring. This will put half the AC current through the bulbs because it rectifies the current and only the top or the bottom peak of the AC goes through the bulbs. The rectifiers handle 1 amp of current so it will easily handle the 0.15 Amps (150 milliamps) of current for the bulbs and should not heat up. They are rated for 1000 volts also. This technique is use for hot glue guns or soldering irons for 2 power level applications. No rectifier is full power. Rectified AC will be half power. These are far cheaper than the dimmer box. Give it a try and test to see if they get too warm for your liking or not. For added safety margin a 1N5408 is a 3.0 amp 1000 volt rated rectifiers. Those should not warm up at all. Merry Christmas.
Interesting method, one to try out for sure, thank you!
In a series set, if each bulb is rated 0.15 Amps, the current in the whole set is 0.15 Amps. If you multiply the voltage dropped across each lamp (20V) by the current through it (0.15A) then you get the power of each lamp, which is 3 Watts - which is why they get quite hot. So the whole set of 12 lamps uses 12 x 3 = 36 Watts (less if you are using a dimmer plug). I do love the old Olive shaped lights though!
Yeah, they are awesome. 👌
Dimmer plug works a treat too.