Re: Extending Xmas mini-light string

From: Mac (foo_at_bar.net)
Date: 12/06/04 

Date: Mon, 06 Dec 2004 17:23:47 GMT

On Mon, 06 Dec 2004 13:52:25 +0000, Guy Macon wrote:

>
> GJWK wrote:
>
>>Hello all, I have what I believe should be a simple question. Unfortunately
>>it's been about ten years since my one DC circuits class and I can't seem to
>>find the chart I vaguely remember needing. Basically I would like to take a
>>single string of Xmas mini-lights and extend them to about twelve hundred
>>feet or one light every eight feet along a fence line. The questing is can I
>>do this and if so what gauge wire would I need to stretch one string to a
>>twelve hundred feet? If I have the current flowing through two thousand plus
>>feet of wire will it fry the bulbs in series or make the bulbs on the end
>>too dim? I think the bulbs are about .5 watts each and I'm hoping for a
>>hundred fifty or so in line.
>
> You seem to think that a "single string of Xmas mini-lights" has
> 150 bulbs in it ("twelve hundred feet or one light every eight
> feet along a fence line") instead of the usual 48.
>
> Here is a refresher on how the lights work:
> http://home.howstuffworks.com/christmas-lights2.htm
> http://www.scienceplace.org/science/lights.shtml
>
> Here is the wire data you need to know:
> http://www.bnoack.com/data/wire-resistance.html
>
> I could walk you through the math, but there is a simpler way
> given your skill level.
>
> Here is how you do it:
>
> Keep the wiring exactly the same, but replace each short length of
> wire between bulbs with an eight foot length of 12AWG stranded lamp
>
> That's it. It will work fine.

Safety is another issue, though. Some person could be shocked by the
mains AC voltage anywhere along the line. Especially if the OP adds his
or her own bogus splices at every bulb.

To do this safely, one would need to use properly rated wire with some
kind of outdoor rated lights and junctions and so on.

Maybe it would be better for the OP to just use short strings of
LED's, with alkaline battery packs powering them. Maybe 10 LED's per
battery pack of 4 D batteries.

At least there will be no fire or risk of shock.

--Mac

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