scodavis Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 Hello everyone, Today I got my shipment of C7 Xenon strobes from Creative Displays. I was eager to test them out, getting a couple of my old C7 strings of empty sockets from the garage. To my great dismay, they didn't fit - the sockets were tall enough vertically that, no matter what, I was unable to screw the bulbs in enough for them to make contact and light. I was able to test my strobes, but I had to use scissors on one of my old strings to physically cut down three of the sockets so that they would make contact. For my actual display, I plan to build my own strobe string of C7 sockets using SPT-1 wire and the SPT-1 C7 sockets from ChristmasLightShow.com. Does anyone have experience with these bulbs and sockets, or this problem? I could really use some help and advice here. Thank you! -Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 I presume you've already tried adjusting the center contact in the socket? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scodavis Posted May 7, 2016 Author Share Posted May 7, 2016 Honestly I didn't think about that - the sockets work fine with regular C7 bulbs so I figured they would work with the strobes. Not so much? Still, what is more important is whether the sockets I plan to buy and attach to SPT-1 wire will work. -Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 What you've encountered isn't unheard of. C7 and strobe bulbs have different enough shapes that strobes don't always reach all the way down to the base of the socket. Diagonal clippers might work better than scissors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scodavis Posted May 8, 2016 Author Share Posted May 8, 2016 Thanks George - what do you mean by diagonal clippers? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebuechner Posted May 8, 2016 Share Posted May 8, 2016 A 80 grit sandpaper block will work better without risking shattering the plastic. Or you can just get out a bigger hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santas Helper Posted May 8, 2016 Share Posted May 8, 2016 I ran into this same issue with C9 sockets for my strobes. I got my rotozip tool with a cut off blade (just about any blade will cut that plastic) and cut off about a quarter inch from the top of the socket. Takes hardly no time to do it and they work perfect after doing that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sizzler Posted May 8, 2016 Share Posted May 8, 2016 Two more things that might work for you is to use a strong bent nail or a dental pick and bend up the center tab of socket a little, or what I've done before is add a drop of solder on bottom center contact of bulb. There should already be solder on tip so is fast and easy to add a dab. Or if is easy enough to shorten the side wall of socket a hair if is plastic. If baekelite then just add solder to bottom of bulb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Batzdorf Posted May 9, 2016 Share Posted May 9, 2016 I used my belt sander. More power. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zman Posted May 11, 2016 Share Posted May 11, 2016 +1 for the belt sander. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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