Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!psuvax1!psuvm!psuecl!peg
From: peg@psuecl.bitnet (PAUL E. GANTER)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: the rest stay on when one goes out
Message-ID: <74384@psuecl.bitnet>
Date: 27 Dec 89 02:12:36 GMT
References: <8282@pixar.UUCP> <25304@cup.portal.com>
Organization: Engineering Computer Lab, Pennsylvania State University
Lines: 27

In article <25304@cup.portal.com>, mmm@cup.portal.com (Mark Robert Thorson) writes:
> Look very carefully at the bulb.  Below the filament, just above the glass
> bead, there should some fine wire wrapped around the wires which hold the
> filament.  That's where the electricity is conducted.

I just recently figured that one out, too!  What is really nifty is
leaving the lights on with a few bulbs burned out.  It seems like the time
between burn outs falls off very rapidly!  I left a string on, and one
evening they went:

  pop...............pop...........pop.....pop..pop.poppopopopop

and the string went out.  I later checked all the bulbs in the string, and
only 5 of 50 were still good.  Why were these still good?  I don't know.
I should sit down and think about that, and think about what happens to
the voltage drop on each bulb when some start going out.  But I have more
mail to catch up with so I will defer it.

Finally, another interesting note:  Ever notice the "fuses" on the plugs
of these light strings?  Some of them are actually removeable, and they
contain a very crude little fusible link.  Of course, there is nowhere
on earth to buy them--but they are there!! (some are molded inside).  Be
careful, the fusible links are kind of delicate--but Xmas is over, so
you should be safe for 364 days!

Happy Holidays!

Paul