Being an EE it was very disappointing to find out that LED Christmas lights fail almost as fast as the old incandescent lights. I thought paying the high price meant never having to run through a string figuring out what bulb was bad ever again. Unfortunately Phillips/GE must have figured a way to engineer limited life into what should last decades not a year or two.
I have the ones like this
https://www.target.com/p/philips-60...ring-lights-multicolored-gw/-/A-50835380
https://www.target.com/p/philips-60...ring-lights-multicolored-gw/-/A-50839309
Also, surprisingly there are not many replacement LED bulbs for sale, and the ones that are are just as expensive as the string.
I thought I would share my research and findings for fixing blown LED bulbs.
1) catch them before the entire string goes out you can loose a few before this happens but once it happens you are in for a long
test period. Amazon has a LED tester for this but it is not cheap. (relative to the light cost)
2) You are looking for 3mm LED bulbs. Be careful that you get plain LEDs and not ones with the resistor built in. These are the plain
1.8 to 2.3V (depending on color) LEDs. I found this kit on ebay 120 Pcs 3mm LED Light White Yellow Red Blue Green Orange Assorted Assortment Kit. for ~$5. It works great
https://www.ebay.com/itm/120-Pcs-3mm-LED-Light-White-Yellow-Red-Blue-Green-Orange-Assorted-Assortment-Kit/152483523026?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649
3) When you pull the bulb pay attention to the length of the leads and what position the longer lead is compared to the plastic locking
tab. On mine the longer lead was opposite the plastic locking tab.
4) My leads were slightly longer on the new LED than the original ones so I has to let them go down a little longer before bending them upwards. The tip of the wires
should end just below the rum on the top side of the socket. as high as it can go without being able to touch it when installed.
These little replacements work fine and have similar brightness and color to the originals that are healthy
I'm having the most trouble with the blue ones for some reason. They get dimmer before they go out. Replacement ones are nice and bright.
Now that my PSA is done it looks like ACE hardware has answered the call to address this issue. Haven't tried them but the price is now reasonable. Last year it was not.
https://www.acehardware.com/departm...Tt-ac3wIVA7nACh2USwviEAQYAiABEgIum_D_BwE
Merry Christmas yaull!!
I have the ones like this
https://www.target.com/p/philips-60...ring-lights-multicolored-gw/-/A-50835380
https://www.target.com/p/philips-60...ring-lights-multicolored-gw/-/A-50839309
Also, surprisingly there are not many replacement LED bulbs for sale, and the ones that are are just as expensive as the string.
I thought I would share my research and findings for fixing blown LED bulbs.
1) catch them before the entire string goes out you can loose a few before this happens but once it happens you are in for a long
test period. Amazon has a LED tester for this but it is not cheap. (relative to the light cost)
2) You are looking for 3mm LED bulbs. Be careful that you get plain LEDs and not ones with the resistor built in. These are the plain
1.8 to 2.3V (depending on color) LEDs. I found this kit on ebay 120 Pcs 3mm LED Light White Yellow Red Blue Green Orange Assorted Assortment Kit. for ~$5. It works great
https://www.ebay.com/itm/120-Pcs-3mm-LED-Light-White-Yellow-Red-Blue-Green-Orange-Assorted-Assortment-Kit/152483523026?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649
3) When you pull the bulb pay attention to the length of the leads and what position the longer lead is compared to the plastic locking
tab. On mine the longer lead was opposite the plastic locking tab.
4) My leads were slightly longer on the new LED than the original ones so I has to let them go down a little longer before bending them upwards. The tip of the wires
should end just below the rum on the top side of the socket. as high as it can go without being able to touch it when installed.
These little replacements work fine and have similar brightness and color to the originals that are healthy
I'm having the most trouble with the blue ones for some reason. They get dimmer before they go out. Replacement ones are nice and bright.
Now that my PSA is done it looks like ACE hardware has answered the call to address this issue. Haven't tried them but the price is now reasonable. Last year it was not.
https://www.acehardware.com/departm...Tt-ac3wIVA7nACh2USwviEAQYAiABEgIum_D_BwE
Merry Christmas yaull!!
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