Christmas light strands

[Legacy Posts]

but I've been busy with Honey-do's.

Yes, connect it to the 20 you have left. If you make a mistake, probably the worst that can happen is that the bulbs will burn out. To be on the safe side, use a 2 amp in-line fuse.

Also, George is right. This only works with the tiny bulbs which if one bulb burns out, the whole thing doesn't work. That is what I mean by series. If you wire ten tail light bulbs in series (end-to-end), they won't burn out if you plug them into 120 volts.

Do it like this:
+ ----light----light----light---- -
instead of this:
+ ----light---- -
light
light (which is the usual way)

...if that makes any sense at all.

[Legacy Posts]

That's interesting. I understand the concept, I think. Each light works off the one before so if it breaks the line is stopped. A stopped line means none of them work. and you answered the part about use the 20 or the 180. Might be fun to try since I'm only working with 12v.

Now there is a new question, what does a 12V plug look like, and where would I get one? wait, is that a cigarette lighter thingy? Do these things have a new name, as few people smoke? I think the part in my car is called a portal so the other part is called ???

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You've got it right. The ''thingy'' is either the cigarette lighter receptacle or another ''outlet'' that looks just like the old lighter outlets. New cars seem to have several of these mounted all over the place--mine has at least three that I have found. I didn't look just now, but I think the little hinged cover on each of mine sez something like ''portal,'' or maybe ''12v.''

And the male ''plug-in'' device is available at Radio Shack or possibly even at Ace Hardware for several bucks.

Go for it!

Still caveat: When you burn down that Surfside, the insurance company probably won't be able to find a new one--heavens, you might have to settle for a Casita! Really, don't worry, you're working with low-vo, and should have no problem with your fun project. Like Eric said, when at Radio Shack, get a little in-line fuse holder and a 2 amp. fuse--that is, unless you really do want a new Casita.:winky

Having said all that, you can go down to Wally's and buy a new string of corny RV holiday lights for $10, about the same as you're prepared to spend at Radio Shack.

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See what you've done to me Suz, you've got me burning up the Dish, and I haven't even fixed it yet. maybe I should switch over to Charles's idea with the little batteries and put those lights all over. OR if I wait two weeks, I can forget all about it for 11 more months. Well it was very educational, and I like that. got the ol' brain humming. and when you least expect it, during some project, I'll remember this and it'll be great.

[Legacy Posts]

No way...I gave up on the idea early in the thread. Like I said, if something can go wrong, it will go wrong when I do it. Ergo...no go for me, thank you. ;)

[Legacy Posts]

There's something else you can do that's quite simple. Get your string(s) of 120VAC lights and just put a small inverter between them and the battery. Less than efficient, power-wise, but elegantly simplistic in execution. Inverter is useful for other stuf also, so here's an excuse to buy one.

Pete and Rats