Got an LED string with no capacitors (or are they resistors) - can I use them?

[tlogan]

One of my mini trees (2 x50 multi colored LEDs) went out. I know it's the strings because I plugged a working set in the same channel and it worked. So I opened up a couple of boxes of the Holiday Time lights(you know, from Wally World) and one of the strings has NO little nubs with whatever is that's in there (capacitor, resistor?). A quick plug-in to test and they all light. 

So, can I use it to at least get through this season?

[TheDucks]

AC LED strings have Rectifiers (cheap ones like you talk about, are 1/2 wave: More flicker). Usually, the length  (bulb count) eliminates the need for a resistor.

No Bulge anywhere (it can be), make me think these are just mini lights. Measure the resistance (use the Diode mode), should have a significant difference when reversing the probe connections

[tlogan]

Thanks. Yes, mini lights.

[TheDucks]

Yes. You may need to play with the intensity. If you have a G3, there is a setting per port (you may have to dig a bit in HU)

[tlogan]

Thanks. It IS a G3. I'll check it out tonight, in comparison to all the rest of the trees and make any adjustments.

[SeeFromSpace]

Greetings,

just wanted to add a couple of comments regarding mini lights and regular led strings. The easiest way to tell the difference between the two is to just examine under a magnifying glass. The mini light will have a filament wire that glows when turned on. The led will not. Regular led strings generally always have a current limiting resistor (the bulge). That being said i have many strings with no visible bulge showing. In that case the manufacturer uses a number of very small resistors that fit directly into the LED sockets and are not visible even when removed from the string. So, for example, instead of using one big 1200 ohm 1/2 watt resistor (a bulge) they might use six 200 ohm 1/8 watt resistors for the same results and they won’t be visible.