chuckd Posted November 12, 2008 Share Posted November 12, 2008 Am I the only one? I'm curious.....Last year, I used a big name manufacturer's blue LED strings (no names here). They were half wave, and everything worked great for me.This year, I ordered up a TON of new, full wave LED strings from a different manufacturer (close to 2000 strands). Out of the box, I had about an 8% dead rate, and after unwinding the strings, another 4% would fail. Any type of handling is very risky. Makes my choice of these for my leaping arches quite foolhardy.The red and green strings are pretty good (still a small DOA rate, but not too bad).To top it all off, I unpacked last years stuff, and quite a few of the old blue strands had failed! They were simply being stored!!!Something spooky about blue? Anybody else here notice this trend as well?Thanks for letting me vent.Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westport Lights Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 I ordered 54 full-wave LED strings from www.ledholidaylighting.com this year with absolutely NO problems. Every string works, and fades. Whatever manufacturer he uses must be different than the ones you have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckd Posted November 13, 2008 Author Share Posted November 13, 2008 A quick question..... are the bulbs replaceable (mine are), and do the strands have that tubular wart on each end by the plug and socket? If so, they may be made by the same source (virtually all from China). Mine are from a big name supplier, I just don't want to name them here.I may have to order a few strings from them to see what they're like.Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westport Lights Posted November 16, 2008 Share Posted November 16, 2008 I believe the tubular wart you are talking about it the rectifier. Mine has that as it is full-wave. My bulbs are not removable. And even though they both came from China, I'd bet that they are not the same. There is more than one factory in China producing decorative lighting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Hamilton Posted November 21, 2008 Share Posted November 21, 2008 chuckd wrote: To top it all off, I unpacked last years stuff, and quite a few of the old blue strands had failed! They were simply being stored!!!Something spooky about blue? Anybody else here notice this trend as well?ChuckChuck, I don't think there is anything spooky about blue, it just sounds like you got some badly manufactured lights. As Westport mentioned below, I also bought some blue ones from the same place he did, and they all work great. Plus, the blue is bright and with stunning color.Also, regarding your comment about "simply being stored".... those lights were more likely "simply becoming corroded" !!! My guess is that they got moisture in the sockets from not being properly sealed and during storage the contact points started corroding. Pull out some bulbs and take a look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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