jtomason Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 (edited) One AC LED strand on the Mega Tree went out. I really, really, really did not want to get the ladder out (that sucker is HEAVY!), so grabbing the trusty LED Keeper (a tool I cannot recommend highly enough), I set out at eye level hoping to find the bad bulb. And I did! It was literally the highest one I could reach without assistance. So, grab a replacement from the spare donor set and we're all good, right? Oh no. Nature abhors easy fixes. Get the replacement LED, go to put it in the socket, and IT DOESN'T FIT. Well, obviously, I am doing something wrong....Let's turn it around...Nope... Twist a bit here... No... Maybe something got in the socket? No... Twist some more... Nothing. OK, let's try the dead one - goes in easily. Whaaaaaaa? The two bulbs have different sized "stakes": Grabbed another LED from the same donor string, and NOW the problem is fixed. Sheesh! Edited December 13, 2021 by jtomason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDucks Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 The stakes set the polarity AND voltage (per bulb). eg a 10 bulb string uses 12V / bulb. Keep spares for like type strings together (and marked what they fit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtomason Posted December 13, 2021 Author Share Posted December 13, 2021 (edited) 3 hours ago, TheDucks said: The stakes set the polarity AND voltage (per bulb). eg a 10 bulb string uses 12V / bulb. Keep spares for like type strings together (and marked what they fit) Yep - this is a duplicate set, purchased at the same time. Another LED from the same set fix the socket perfectly. This one is just way too wide to fit that socket; polarity would seem to have nothing to do with it. Edited December 14, 2021 by jtomason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcktpwrd Posted December 14, 2021 Share Posted December 14, 2021 I have run across that as well. was the wide bulb near the begining, end or a 'blob' in the string? That is where I usually find them. Some times they seem to be reverse polarity when testing with the LED Keeper... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtomason Posted December 14, 2021 Author Share Posted December 14, 2021 58 minutes ago, rcktpwrd said: I have run across that as well. was the wide bulb near the begining, end or a 'blob' in the string? That is where I usually find them. Some times they seem to be reverse polarity when testing with the LED Keeper... Nope. About 1/3 of the way into the string. Really odd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godney Posted December 14, 2021 Share Posted December 14, 2021 I have run into the same problem the bigger stake depending on the string will be at the start of a new group of leds in the string so it possible their might be several in the string depending on size of string. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orville Posted December 15, 2021 Share Posted December 15, 2021 Seen that quite often when I was using standard AC LED strands, some strands would have 2 like that, some would have 4 and some longer ones would have 6 to 8 in them. And every one of those large staked LEDS were always REVERSED from all the rest. I forgot who, but someone told me those are "ballast" LEDS, but I can't remember why they are reversed or what the reason for them was. They told me, but that's been a long time back. There's a specific reason for them, just not sure what it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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