kzaas Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 I can't really afford to convert to LED's so I am looking for some replacements 3.5 volt bulbs. Since I have been deorating my house I have always outlined the roof including peaks and valleys, and also outlined the all the corners of the house with multimode lights that I cut the controllers off of and built one beefy controller to control all of the strings. Since 2006 I ahve been controlling them with LOR. I have been using these strings since 1992 and just replacing bulbs as they blow. Since they are so old obviously the colors are almost all faded off, one year I even used a sharpie to recolor all of the bulbs(my kids hated me that year cuase I made them help, 13 strings X 140 bulbs. we were very busy for a couple of days and had very colorful fingers).So my question is, where can I get 3.5 volt replacement bulbs in high quantities at a reasonable price. I have been tring to find new multimode lights but they don't seem to make four color sets anymore, they are all three color.I use these lights alot in my sequences so I don't want to just omit them. Anyone know where I can find the replacements? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Saul Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 I don't have a good answer for you on where to get them but I can relate to the sharpies, we tried that a few years ago too.For replacement bulbs I picked up hundreds of the 4 packs years ago, they went down to .02 per around Febuary and I bought them all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrownOut Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 What about using clear bulbs (or cheap sets of clear to pull the bulbs from) and buying those packs of bulb covers?*never mind... the price factor. I need coffee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shfr26 Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 Try bettys christmas lights, not sure if it is what you need or not, but they have 3.5 bulbs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Young Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 kzaas wrote: I can't really afford to convert to LED's so I am looking for some replacements 3.5 volt bulbs. Since I have been deorating my house I have always outlined the roof including peaks and valleys, and also outlined the all the corners of the house with multimode lights that I cut the controllers off of and built one beefy controller to control all of the strings. Since 2006 I ahve been controlling them with LOR. I have been using these strings since 1992 and just replacing bulbs as they blow. Since they are so old obviously the colors are almost all faded off, one year I even used a sharpie to recolor all of the bulbs(my kids hated me that year cuase I made them help, 13 strings X 140 bulbs. we were very busy for a couple of days and had very colorful fingers).So my question is, where can I get 3.5 volt replacement bulbs in high quantities at a reasonable price. I have been tring to find new multimode lights but they don't seem to make four color sets anymore, they are all three color.I use these lights alot in my sequences so I don't want to just omit them. Anyone know where I can find the replacements?The least expensive way is to buy multicolor incandescent strings 35, 70 to a string(non controlled). Replacments cost way too much. You can get strings for a couple of bucks new, usually a buck during sales.You could use the 50/100 strings but those are 2.5 volt and would therefore burn brighter, and burn out sooner, than the 3.5 volt ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kzaas Posted August 3, 2011 Author Share Posted August 3, 2011 Greg Young wrote: kzaas wrote: So my question is, where can I get 3.5 volt replacement bulbs in high quantities at a reasonable price. I have been tring to find new multimode lights but they don't seem to make four color sets anymore, they are all three color.The least expensive way is to buy multicolor incandescent strings 35, 70 to a string(non controlled). Replacments cost way too much. You can get strings for a couple of bucks new, usually a buck during sales.You could use the 50/100 strings but those are 2.5 volt and would therefore burn brighter, and burn out sooner, than the 3.5 volt ones.I did use 2.5 volt ulbs in the past on these strings and was having pretty good luck, and as you said they would burnout a bit faster. Last year I bought a bunch of one hundred bulb strings on clearance and stripped them down for the bulbs. Last night I started replacing the bulbs on one of the strings(only started with one color), when I applied power to that section all of the bulbs blew.So I guess I need to stay with 3.5 volt and like you say buy some 35 or 70 bulb strings on clearance this year and plan for the refurb next year.As for your suggestion Brownout, its a good suggestion but even finding clear 3.5 volt bulbs(without buying the expensive 4-5 bulb packs) seems to be impossible.If anyone still knows where I can get larger quantities please chime in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displaysinmotion_will Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 if your using a lor controller, why not set the intensity for those strings lower to compensate for the difference in voltage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Batzdorf Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 My suggestion would be to put out a call on PC and here for 35 or 70 count strings and see if anyone has any avail. Then use them as your restock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surfing4Dough Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 kzaas wrote: Greg Young wrote: kzaas wrote: So my question is, where can I get 3.5 volt replacement bulbs in high quantities at a reasonable price. I have been tring to find new multimode lights but they don't seem to make four color sets anymore, they are all three color.The least expensive way is to buy multicolor incandescent strings 35, 70 to a string(non controlled). Replacments cost way too much. You can get strings for a couple of bucks new, usually a buck during sales.You could use the 50/100 strings but those are 2.5 volt and would therefore burn brighter, and burn out sooner, than the 3.5 volt ones.I did use 2.5 volt ulbs in the past on these strings and was having pretty good luck, and as you said they would burnout a bit faster. Last year I bought a bunch of one hundred bulb strings on clearance and stripped them down for the bulbs. Last night I started replacing the bulbs on one of the strings(only started with one color), when I applied power to that section all of the bulbs blew.So I guess I need to stay with 3.5 volt and like you say buy some 35 or 70 bulb strings on clearance this year and plan for the refurb next year.As for your suggestion Brownout, its a good suggestion but even finding clear 3.5 volt bulbs(without buying the expensive 4-5 bulb packs) seems to be impossible.If anyone still knows where I can get larger quantities please chime in.I have tended to find 35ct strings at "junk" stores like dollar stores and Big Lots cheap so I would check there once they start stocking Xmas stuff. Don't know about dollar stores, but Big Lots tends to be one of the first places around to start having xmas stuff out (several weeks before other stores usually). Hobby Lobby supposedly has some stuff out already, but not sure about availability of such size strings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kzaas Posted August 4, 2011 Author Share Posted August 4, 2011 Jeff Millard wrote: I have a couple NIB 35 count multis in the shed. PM me an address and I'll send them out tomorrow.JeffThanks Jeff, By the way the address correction was made on my website, thanks for pointing that out.If anyone has any 35 or 70 count strings they want to get rid of, let me know how much you want for them.Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james campbell Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 found these on ebay,don't know what the wattage is and it looks like this seller has red green and pinkhttp://cgi.ebay.com/Lot-88-Christmas-Loose-Mini-Green-Light-Bulbs-NEW-/370490729718?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5642f7e4f6almost forgot rolflmao Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBullard Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 james campbell wrote:found these on ebay,don't know what the wattage is and it looks like this seller has red green and pink http://cgi.ebay.com/Lot-88-Christmas-Loose-Mini-Green-Light-Bulbs-NEW-/370490729718?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5642f7e4f6almost forgot rolflmao Without knowing what size strands he took these bulbs out of, I wouldn't pay 10 cents per bulb for these. They could be 2.5, 3.5, 6 or 12 volt mini bulbs, he didn't bother to say.(while I'm 90% all LED, I do keep extra incadescent mini light bulbs in inventory in all 4 voltages. I buy them at Walmart after Christmas for 2 cents per bulb) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kzaas Posted August 4, 2011 Author Share Posted August 4, 2011 I totally agree jbullard, but I do appreciate the effort James. JBullard would you be willing to part with your 3.5 volt bulbs and if so what are your quantities in red, blue, green and amber or yellow?James I said you couldn't read this thread if you are going to laugh at me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james campbell Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 kzaas wrote: I totally agree jbullard, but I do appreciate the effort James. JBullard would you be willing to part with your 3.5 volt bulbs and if so what are your quantities in red, blue, green and amber or yellow?James I said you couldn't read this thread if you are going to laugh at me sorry misread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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