Do christmas tree lights whip your butt?
edwardh1
| Posted in General Discussion on
They do mine- put them in a box all working- take them out the next year and only 1/2 of a string works
what to do?
If tools were like that you’d buy new tools every day.
Is it me?
Replies
Shoot, man . . . I got your Christmas tree lights right here !
I sure wish I had a digital camera . . . I did a post last month about getting my windmill up after 30 years. Chicago Aermotor 8 foot mill on a 53 foot tower. Well, I lit her up for Christmas. I climbed the tower and dropped in some S-hooks, then ran good heavy braided nylon cord to the ground and raised Christmas lights on each of the 4 legs, all the way to the top ! Now I can raise and lower the lights from the ground.
You can see the windmill from over a mile away. My Mom was tickled - this windmill was in her yard when she was a little girl, and she's 75. The lights were a surprise for her.
Greg
Well dang - with a story like that - I sure wish ya had a digital camera too!Vini, Vidi, Vino! I came, I saw, I wine!
LoL!
Nope, I set all the strings out first to see if they will light. That result is fairly binary--they either work or don't.
For outside lights, they'll work until the least best weather, and then only half a string will go dark (or if the bulb base has changed enough that the replacements don't fit . . . )
For tree lights, they all go on the tree lit and working. They wait until after every thing is in place, ornaments and all. Then, and only then, will an entire string fail.
Only if Santa thinks I have been a bad girl...
(Sorry...I couldn't resist...<g>)
Oboy oboy oboy !When you are a good girl, you are very good.But when you're a bad girl, you're VERY VERY good...;)Well, at least you are always that way in my imagination.;)OW !OUCH !!Now cut that out !!OK, ok, yer a good girl....A VERY VERY good girl.;)he he he
The person you offend today, may have been your best friend tomorrow
Well, at least I never got any coal in my stocking!
You, my friend, are bound to now...
Ho ho ho...
HmmmmmOk. Well, I'll take the coal then.You know, with the right attention, I can make that lump of coal into a diamond.The hardest substance known to man...;)
The person you offend today, may have been your best friend tomorrow
Me, too. I formally give up. Gave away all strands for everything but tree. Screw it all. Hung some icicle types last year, and left them up be/c dw liked the effect. They're on a timer. Every week or so, a new group of "icicles" would go dead. Now, 2' out of about 90' is lit. Too lazy to get the ladder out and take them down.
Bah humbug.
Down is much easier than up. I found a very handy gizmo that has a crook on it that mounts on a painter's pole. It was about $5 and has paid for itself already. I use the plastic shingle clips for the house lights, so it's not much help installing. But taking down? Flip of the wrist and out come the plastic clip, voilà!
Now, indoors, that's where it shines, it can reach where a person can't with a stepstool.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Cloud:
Speaking of light shows, here's what I want to see on your next dome:
Small, round windows (I'm thinking like on Rutan Spaceship 1 but smaller). Hundreds of them placed so that the dome functions as a planeterium on cloudy nights.
Just turn on about 50,000 watts of lights inside and then go outside and watch the show.
P.S. Meteor shower coming up on December 13th.David Thomas Overlooking Cook Inlet in Kenai, Alaska
I'll see what I can do, David. :)Hey, got a potential client in Kenai. He's stuck on a bank that's reluctant to do financing be/c of no local comps. That's our struggle everywhere. Got any insights on the local banking community? Hate for him to give up and go conventional in his construction.
Jim,
If he's in the City of Kenai, the city inspector is pretty cool (former plumber, knows his stuff). Any chance of getting a sign-off or letter from the building department? Would that help the bank feel better?
What have you found works elsewhere?
The banks here are really louth to loan on land, discounting its value to near zero. Because if a project goes south, it is easier for the next builder to just move down the road than to do a tear-down before breaking ground.
I self-financed until I had my Cert of Occ and then got the bank loan. Would the bank loan on a finished, inspected dome but not do a construction loan?
I hope the project goes ahead, I'd love to the see the process. What with Earthquakes, Forest fires, wicked cold temps, and Tsunami risk like no one else has, domes have a lot of merit up here.
Finally got Comity on my Civil PE up here if that helps. Would a meeting with client, banker and local PE help?
David Thomas Overlooking Cook Inlet in Kenai, Alaska
Edited 12/2/2004 5:29 pm ET by David Thomas
Naw, take an cover the dome in a grid of lights, so you can show whatever patterns you want to. Decent computer, a video pickup, and just mirror the sky above. Any "real" doors & windows would float against the image created.
Wow, just had a mental image about what that might look like in a thunderstorm . . . Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
They are selling these new LED xmas lights now. Perfect application for LEDs. No heat, really long life...
Perfect application for LEDs. No heat, really long life
Now where's the profit in a string of lights that lasts more than one year <g>?Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
I just got one of those tools for fixing xmas lites.
Works quite well, but not 100%.
If you have a bad string of lites, you pull out one bulb and insert the empty socket into a mating socket in this tool while keeping the string plugged into power. Then pull it's trigger a time or two. Somehow or another, it fixes "shunts" in these darn wires and the string then lites up.
Does anyone understand the mechanism behind how this works?
I'm happier than a pig in mud with the results so far.
My vote is for LED too. The strings are a lighter and easier to handle than bulbs, they last longer, use less power, and don't heat up. Best of all, the colours don't fade in the sun if they are, ahem, left up all summer...
Wally
Never put em up. There nice on other peoples houses, but I've got better things to do with my time.
Who Dares Wins.
They do mine- put them in a box all working- take them out the next year and only 1/2 of a string works
Thats what you get for taking them down!!! Dont you know your supposed to leave them up all year long???.......
Ahhh, read my note. He had 50% retention taking them down. I had 5% retention leaving them up. Two data points is scientific, right?