peg@psuecl.bitnet (PAUL E. GANTER) (12/27/89)
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