Problems with Mega Tree

[Ben Hopkins]

This past Christmas we had 15' two color mega tree using our existing flag pole, a couple of problems occurred. Problem one: we had some very high winds bent the pole over to the ground. I went and bought another flag pole kit and secured it with guy wires ( I know I should have done that but figured the pole was strong enough to withstand high winds) the Second problem is some of the 100 cnt. mini lights wire were pulled out from the socket, replaced those strings, towards the end of the season more wires pulled from bottom of light socket. has anyone else had this problem and what was the solution. This is my second year and was very frustrated with the mega tree, have thought about not putting one up next but I really like the look of the tree.

Thanks

Ben

[Robin]

Not sure exactly what you mean by pulling out from sockets.

[Ben Hopkins]

sorry for not being real clear there is two wires that run into the little socket that the mini light fits into. not sure on how to describe them, maybe Ill try to find some pictures

[Roman A. Gurule Jr.]

It sound to me like you still have a lot of moment side to side on you pole, and your lights are tied down on the bottom. I think it is causing them to pull apart.

Roman

[Ben Hopkins]

the old pole that was bent over did not have any guy wires, the new flag pole has 4 guy wires, tried not to make the strings not real tight so they would have some movement on the strings.

[iresq]

Hhmm. My strings were pretty tight and did not have wires pull out of the socket.

Did this happen towards the top or bottom? Is there any pattern to the failures?

[Robin]

I have to say this has never happened to me with a mega tree. I have had a couple of bad sockets and replaced them on other elements of my display.

Would be interesting to know what brand lights these were and how old.

I think maybe you may have left them just a little too lose as I usually pull mine pretty tight as they still stretch a little during the course of the season.

[Tim Herberger]

Nice pics Jeff. How do you get multiple pics on one post ? I've tried but ended up making several posts in a row to upload multiple pics.



I've had some strings pull apart as well, it seems to be the strings that are not twisted evenly and puts more strain on the wires going into the sockets instead of sharing the pull with the other wires.



For mid season repairs I ended up removing the socket and soldering the tabs together, there was not enough slack in the wire to insert them back into the socket. I will fix them properly this summer.




Tim

[Ben Hopkins]

Thanks Jeff that is exactly what has been happening to my lights, about mid way up or half mark on the on the strings, these were brand new from wal-mart, I will make the strings a little tighter next year and see what happens, the storm that did most of the damage had winds of around 60mph had not seen wind like that in December in a long time, maybe next year it will calmer. Thanks for all of your input guys.


Ben

[Robin]

60 mph?
Well there might be a little problem right there.

Three years ago I had one do ok with 90mph gusts but I think it had a lot to do with my actual pole mount system and a ton of luck.

[randallr]

Depending on the strings.. Some china factories are really crappy and have lots of problems with sockets... Adding any stress to those will cause problems.

At a certain point (don't know exactly where) on taller trees, the stress from weight and wind will be a problem.. On our 70' tree, we used a 14ga THHN wire, with the light strings ziptied to it. Then we can pull it tight and keep movement minimized...

It was a ton of work (and money), but now we have all 128 runs pulled tight with turnbuckles attached to rebar anchors. Also helps keep the tree secure (in addition to the guy lines).