Ohms Law

[kwired]

In a related story...

I use white Christmas (series) minilights as general lighting in my studio. As the lights burn out they short out; this was a development many years ago to make the rest stay lit when a bulb fails. The result is that the 120VAC gets distributed over fewer lights. With a 100 bulb set the difference is negligible when the first one fails, but as more fail the rest get brighter. This continues over time, and at some point the voltage across the remaining lights gets so high that they all burn out at once, and it's like a flashbulb going off. The first time it happened it startled the heck out of me.

A 100 bulb set likely has more than one series set of lamps within it, but yes when one goes out the others in that series will see a rise in voltage.

 

[ggunn]

A 100 bulb set likely has more than one series set of lamps within it...

Two, usually.

 

[kwired]

Two, usually.

For simple set, if it has an electronic control that can do "chasing" and other effects, probably more than that.

 

[ggunn]

For simple set, if it has an electronic control that can do "chasing" and other effects, probably more than that.

Sure, but those aren't the lights I was talking about.