<p>OMG, I’m about to lose it. We have a strand of icicle lights that we usually hang from the top of the front porch. Approximately 1/4 of the strand does not light when I plug them in. Do I really have to go through each little bulb, pulling them out and replacing them to see where the bad one is? Surely there is a quicker way. Right now, I’m thinking the quickest way is to buy a new strand. I know that patience is a virtue … it’s just not one of my best. Help!</p>
<p>After 5 years you really should try a new look and toss the lot.</p>
<p>Sadly, we are blow molds on the lawn people. I have a great nativity and I love putting it up with the straw on the lawn, wisemen, etc. But thinking it’s time to move on as the kids are nearly grown and selling the whole lot on ebay.</p>
<p>Yes. The only surefire way to fix a light strand is to go bulb by bulb, replacing each one with a known good lamp. Usually the problem involves multiple bad bulbs.</p>
<p>It is a major pain the you know what.</p>
<p>Same problem here except it’s the lights on the tree. Lowe’s had them on sale Friday for .88 a box. This year, if half the strand doesn’t work, we wiggle them (sometimes that works) once or twice and if they don’t come on, then into the trash they go. Life is too short to hunt down bad Christmas bulbs.</p>
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I agree. I’m tossing the old strand and buying a new one tomorrow. I do think I may invest in something called the Lightkeeper Pro, though, especially since we have a pre-lit tree. It is a tool that helps to locate bad bulbs, etc.</p>
<p>First off, I also used to be an icicle light guy. They got to be unmanageable last year and I tore them down in frustration in January. Not putting them up this year. No way. I’ve had it.</p>
<p>Secondly, if you are into regular bulbs like I am, I saw LED bulbs advertised in a Lowe’s ad. The LED technology is quickly replacing traditional incandessants everywhere. Your traffic lights may have been upgraded (the new ones have little dots that make up each light). Supposedly these traffic lights last ten years as opposed to one or two years per bulb in the old ones. Given that most people only have Christmas lights up for a month, I’d imagine these would last for a lifetime. They’re much more expensive than regular ones (I think they’re about eight bucks for a string of 50) but worth the investment.</p>
<p>Also, does anyone have a prelit artificial tree? Best thing that ever happened to me. Got mine up in about 30 minutes.</p>
<p>Last year, my husband and I agreed to say goodbye to tangles of lights. When we buy lights at less than $2.00 for a string, it is just not worth it to save them only to have them malfunction the next year. THEY ARE DISPOSABLE! We tossed out the tree with the lights still on it…yea!</p>
<p>lkf- Wow! My fantasy every year, and you actually… do it! I bow to the master!</p>