Wiring Moon Lights?-Reef Lighting-3reef Forums

new2salt2 · 07-07-2004, 12:31 PM

well this was probably a stupid idea. i decided to use some old x-mas lights. So i wanted to shorten them.. i thought that if i did it by cutting the wire just before the first bulb then added some lenghth to the cord so it would reach my tank then lined up 5 lights about 30" in length. well the bubls are the real dark blue that dont give off much light. I hooked them up and blew them all. anyone know how to make this work?

JohnO · 07-07-2004, 12:42 PM

By cutting the cable, did you remove any lights?

John

fletch · 07-07-2004, 01:29 PM

If you experience this problem, your Christmas lights are series-wired. In series wiring, each bulb acts like a fuse: if one bulb burns out, the circuit is broken. Some sets have a shunt wire that allows the electricity to pass into the next socket if one bulb burns out, but no series-wired set will work if a bulb is removed from its socket. If your set does not have a functioning shunt wire, all you need to do is locate the missing bulb and replace it in order to close the circuit.

E.H. Scott of Hofert Co., a leading supplier of Christmas trees and decorations, says that many consumers are confused about how to replace bulbs in series-connected sets. To find the appropriate bulb, you merely divide the voltage standard (120 volts) by the number of bulbs in the set. If you have a set of 20 lights, you would need a six-volt bulb.

So If you are using 3 bulbs you will need 40 watt bulbs if you are using 4 bulbs you will need 30 watt bulbs and so on.... I hope that this helps.................... John

new2salt2 · 07-07-2004, 01:33 PM

ahh. so what i did is reduce 50 bulbs to 5 and that give them too much amps and burns them up .. am i undrstanding that right? i did remove all but 5 bulbs from the string. any suggestions to making tis work?

fletch · 07-07-2004, 01:36 PM

You would need to use 5 24 watt bulbs........... John

new2salt2 · 07-07-2004, 01:37 PM

yea i see. dont remeber seing that big of bulbs for xmas lights lolol

JohnO · 07-07-2004, 01:40 PM

John,

Ummm, isn't it the voltage that is divided by the number of lamps?

John

fletch · 07-07-2004, 01:44 PM

I don't think I have either
The bulbs you are using would be 2.4 watt bulbs 120 / 50=2.4

fletch · 07-07-2004, 01:47 PM

[quote author=JohnO link=board=lighting;num=1089239472;start=0#6 date=07/07/04 at 16:40:31]John,

Ummm, isn't it the voltage that is divided by the number of lamps?

John[/quote]

What did I say? John?

JohnO · 07-07-2004, 01:53 PM

LOL Yep, you did say that :-)

So wouldn't you then need 5 x 24Volt globes?

Or is that I am just a bit slow today? Either could be the case BTW

John