JF1993 Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 Doe's anyone know if Menard's "Enchanted Forest" is a good brand? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Fischer Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 For what?I have not had good luck with their LEDs and would not recommend them. Most of the other stuff is rebadged Gemmy, Noma, etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JF1993 Posted August 31, 2012 Author Share Posted August 31, 2012 I was wondering about their LEDs, because I bought about 25 strings from them during the post Christmas sales. I think they will do fine, but I just hope they don't quit on me or anything Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Fischer Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 My experience is you get 2-3 seasons out of them tops before they rust out and/or fail. They also have them at a relatively high 'regular' price and put them on sale most of Nov-early Dec, so when they do go half price (as low as Menards typically goes) it isn't that great of a deal. Like maybe $8.50 on sale vs $7 on clearance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JF1993 Posted August 31, 2012 Author Share Posted August 31, 2012 what brands do you recommend? I was kinda wondering in case I have to end up replacing some of these strings in a year or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baron1414 Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 JF1993: I have used Lowe's and Phillip's brand from Target from the retail stores. Do not use Martha Stewart's from HD, they won't fade etc. I have also used and still use CDI's, Magic in the Sky and Christmas LED's brands. These dealer's are excellent to work with and quality has been great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly jett Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 jf1993 i started out with the typical whatevers on sale after christmas and the retail leds don't last and are the ones i always have issues with.when i went away from retail i've had alot of luck with WINTERLAND INC and with ALL THINGS CHRISTMAS AND MORE. call winterland and ask for tarah. i met here at the 2011 expo and she has been nothing but helpful. she seems to always have a sale on for a light set that she got a deal on.their prices are competitive with everyone else and they are good quality products. they have retail leds as well as commercial leds. the commercial are a little bit more money but they are alot better quality to anything i've found in retail. commercial also give you some many more options. there are so many connectors with commercial that the options are almost endless.good luck in the hunt.....and be sure when you find that good deal that you let the rest of us know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JF1993 Posted September 1, 2012 Author Share Posted September 1, 2012 This might sound like a dumb idea, but has anyone ever tried anything to prevent strings of lights from dying out? I thought about possibly using some kind of clear plastic pipe or something to cover the light string in case of water or ice damage. any thoughts or ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wbottomley Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 This might sound like a dumb idea, but has anyone ever tried anything to prevent strings of lights from dying out? I thought about possibly using some kind of clear plastic pipe or something to cover the light string in case of water or ice damage. any thoughts or ideas?That's not the case for sealed commercial strings. Here's two vendors that have great lights and service: vendor 1 | vendor 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JF1993 Posted September 2, 2012 Author Share Posted September 2, 2012 Thanks. I was browsing one of the websites and found red and blue icicles I was looking for those, but does anyone know a way to prevent damage on traditional light strings? I even heard duck taping the connectors is a good way to stop moister from frying the electrical components. Oh and one last question, if you buy sealed commercial strings can you still replace the light bulbs if they burn out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 (edited) Thanks. I was browsing one of the websites and found red and blue icicles I was looking for those, but does anyone know a way to prevent damage on traditional light strings? I even heard duck taping the connectors is a good way to stop moister from frying the electrical components. Oh and one last question, if you buy sealed commercial strings can you still replace the light bulbs if they burn out?The only way I know to prevent damage/aging of traditional (presuming you mean incandescent) light strings is to leave them in the package and not use them.Taping connections is an extremely bad idea. It won't prevent moisture from getting in, but it will prevent moisture from draining out. Unless you've got connections underwater, ordinary rain, snow, sleet isn't going to cause very many, if any, problems.Sealed commercial LEDs are, well, sealed. So no you can't replace the diode (LEDs aren't conventional light bulbs) easily. You can, however, splice in replacement diodes of the exact same color from scrap inventory if ever needed. Edited September 2, 2012 by George Simmons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JF1993 Posted September 2, 2012 Author Share Posted September 2, 2012 I was just worried about the snow and ice, because I live in Northern Illinois and sometime we can get hit real hard with snow. On the other hand some seasons we might only get two or three snows, it's really unpredictable weather.I'll be sure to not tape anything in that case, and I'll just keep the strings off the ground to keep the moister level low.Commercial sounds like something I might have to invest in possibly in the next couple of years or so. Although changing a light sounds like a pain, but I'm not really concerned about that since LEDs are made to last around 10,000 hours.Thanks again for all the helpJF1993 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now