How do Christmas lights work, and what's the easiest way of finding the one that is out?
Dumb question I know:
I bought a string of Christmas lights but the string didn't work.
The box says: 100 lights; Total wattage: 40.8; use 2.5 volt lamps; series-connected string.
The string is intended for 120 volt AC, and I believe that they are incandescent lights, not neon or LED.
Believing that these bulbs are in fact incandescent bulbs, I assumed that they ought to work with DC, so I hooked up a DC voltage divider and applied 2.5 volts DC to a couple of the lights (individually) but neither one of them lighted up. I raised the voltage to 3 volts but still nothing happened. Furthermore, the voltage across one of the lights remained at whatever the supply was, indicating that this bulb wasn't conducting any current. But the voltage across the other bulb went essentially to zero, indicating a short circuit, but that bulb also still didn't light up.
So what's going on here? Shouldn't these lights work on DC as well as AC? If not, why not?
What do I need to do to get these 2.5 volts to light up ?
Thanks for any info or sources of further information.
Dumb question I know:
I bought a string of Christmas lights but the string didn't work.
The box says: 100 lights; Total wattage: 40.8; use 2.5 volt lamps; series-connected string.
The string is intended for 120 volt AC, and I believe that they are incandescent lights, not neon or LED.
Believing that these bulbs are in fact incandescent bulbs, I assumed that they ought to work with DC, so I hooked up a DC voltage divider and applied 2.5 volts DC to a couple of the lights (individually) but neither one of them lighted up. I raised the voltage to 3 volts but still nothing happened. Furthermore, the voltage across one of the lights remained at whatever the supply was, indicating that this bulb wasn't conducting any current. But the voltage across the other bulb went essentially to zero, indicating a short circuit, but that bulb also still didn't light up.
So what's going on here? Shouldn't these lights work on DC as well as AC? If not, why not?
What do I need to do to get these 2.5 volts to light up ?
Thanks for any info or sources of further information.