The series string of LEDs is inter-wound, but is separate from, the extension cord except at the very ends where the LED string and the canister join the circuit, across the two hot leads. You can see in the schematic, the wires across the very top and bottom connect the plug at one end to the socket at the other. The center portion, the string of LEDs, can then be separated from what I've called the extension cord portion. I clipped the wire at the bottom of the canister. I found it was desirable to remove the insert on those where corrosion was seen in the socket. The inner (insert) portion of the socket can be removed and that will be described below. The terminals are a potential point of failure so while the LED was out of the socket I took a look at the joint with the wires and the condition of the terminals before dabbing the grease and re-inserting the bulb. They seem securely crimped into the terminals but I thought it best not to pull too hard on them. Throughout all this pulling on the socket, I tried not to pull on the wires. Here also, a bit of lubrication from the dielectric grease helped with subsequent removals. I used my fingernails inserted in a small groove between the LED and socket and just pulled. Pulling out the LEDs was sometimes problematic. After a couple years outside, some are harder to get apart than others. With ideal plastic that did not weather or change dimensions or properties with UV and temperature, these would be really nice parts. There was no flash and the parts fit together very exactly and securely with a snap. I admired the first class molded parts that made up the socket assembly including the LED holder, the cap and the base. The caps are keyed and only fit on one way. I dug out the debris from the socket and discarded those caps and replaced them with spares from the scrap strings. Some of the caps broke when I pulled them off, usually a part of the sealing ring was left in the socket. I dripped the lubricant onto the joint between the cap and the socket. I found that a drop of WD40 helped free some of the stubborn caps. Some of the caps come off easily, others do not. There are 25 LEDs in each string so that is 25 decorative caps to pull off and then 25 LEDs to pull out. Any one of the LEDs could be open circuit. Since they are wired in series, I need to check every LED bulb if none of the string lights. Series wiring is back with LED lights! It turns out that there is a technical reason why LEDs need to be wired in series and this will be discussed below.

From then until now, the advent of LED lighting, most of our filament bulb lighting strings were wired in parallel. He had spent many a time finding a failed bulb in a dead string so he knew the advantage of parallel wiring. I can remember my dad back in the day proudly showing off a new parallel wired string, with which one failed bulb would not darken the whole string. I thought that we had abandoned series wired light strings back in the 60s? Series wiring is back with LED lights! This meant that each bulb had to be pulled and a working bulb inserted (according to the manufacturer's instructions). The failed bulb could not be seen since it kept all the others from lighting. Not one or two bulbs that weren't on while the rest worked. The worst part about my two failed strings was that none of the bulbs lit up. They come with instructions (the full copy, a pdf) and spare LEDs. My GE strings are supposed to be repairable. Fortunately I had tried them before putting them up! I spent part of the day exploring why those had failed and putting up the rest. Yesterday, while getting ready to put up the Christmas lights, I found that two out of eight strings did not work. I threw out the old filament bulb outdoor Christmas lights and bought new GE branded outdoor LED string lights. Like most of us, I bought into the LED low power and eco friendly thing a couple of years ago. I had the kind of failed bulb that prevented the whole string from lighting. This corrosion failure of LEDs due to water can be completely and easily stopped with a dab of grease, if caught early.įailed bulbs that you can see should be replaced promptly since they cause the rest of the string to be under more stress and may lead to more failures. The water causes the LED leads to corrode and fail. Water gets into everything, including supposedly sealed outdoor lighting. **NEW** Please see the Addendum for some updates and new pictures.Īpparently not, particularly when used outside. Keep these strings running and out of the landfill. These strings could last much longer if the manufacturers did this for us at minimal cost. Often it is not easy.Įarly preventative maintenance, a dab of grease into each socket when new will help prevent corrosion caused failures. It can be as simple as replacing one failed bulb but can be more complex.

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