Christmas Lights frustration. Any advice?
Here’s a question for all my many electrician readers.
The Christmas lights I have outside have one of those “multi function” gizmos so they can flash, twinkle, fade, chase and do all sorts of clever, and frankly unnecessary, things. I just want them to stay on. Here’s the controller:
Easy enough, you say: I can see setting number eight says “steady on“. Well, yes, I’ve noticed that. But I’m not going to just leave them on all the time, and when they’ve been off they don’t remember what setting you had them on last time. No, they may be clever, but they’re not clever enough to do that. They always come on on setting number one – “combination”.
So what’s the problem, I hear you say. Surely it’s not too much of a problem to just press that button seven times when you turn them on? No, no it’s not. But here’s the thing: I have them plugged into a timer that switches them on for me when I’m not there, and off again at midnight. So they twinkle and flash their merry way around that damned “combination” sequence like they’re possessed until I get home to press the button.
So here’s the question. Can I bypass this whole box somehow and just get them to come on and stay on? Shouldn’t be too difficult, I thought.
But can you see the difficulty? There are two wires going off to the plug. And three wires going off to the lights. Oh, and the box is sealed. No screws, no clips, no indication that you’re allowed to get inside.
Any ideas? Anyone? Please?
NEW: If you want to know exactly what I’ve done about this, I’ve posted an update here.
Hi Trevor,
In principle, and so long as these are low voltage LED type lights, what you need to do is identify the return and the two feeds coming out of the box of tricks, snip all the wires around the box, connect the two feeds together, then connect those and the return directly to the two wires going into the box. But you’ll need to check that the voltage on the feeds is the same as that going into the box (my guess it’s 24V), and also ensure that you get the polarity correct when you bypass the box (danger of destroying the LEDs). If you have a simple voltmeter and basic knowledge of positives and negatives you should be OK!
Otherwise, buy a trick dog to work the button…
Good luck,
Phil
Thanks, Phil. That sounds like something I might be confident enough to have a go at. Voltage should be fine, but how do I check the polarity?
Trevor
http://coultart.com/trevor
Just pop your meter on DC volts and measure the voltage between the two box input wires first. If the voltage is displaying as +24V make a note of which wire is on the +ve (red) terminal of the meter. If the display says -24V, the black terminal of the meter will be connected to the +ve wire. (You can just swop the leads to double check). Then you need to do the same for the light feeds. I’d be tempted to cut each wire and then reconnect them through a little electrical connector block. With the lights running, this would make it easier to check which wire is the return and which are the two live feeds. As before, measure the voltage and identify the +ve wire(s). Then when you connect the two lives (together) and the return to the two input wires make sure you connect +ve to +ve.
Sounds a bit complicated, but hope you manage to have a go!
Worst that can happen is you have to buy another set of lights!!
Phil
A final thought.
It is possible that the current rating on the power block might not be enough to work all the LEDs on permanently, it might rely on them flashing which would be a lower average current. It should really be designed for the worst case (all permanently on), but you never know.
So, if you get as far as figuring out the connections, it would be a good idea to make sure the power block doesn’t get too warm, and even better would be to use your meter to measure the current and check it is less than the rating of the power block.
If you’re not completely comfortable with all this, maybe wait for an electro-friend to do the checks. I don’t want to be responsible for burning down your house !!
Phil, I’d suggest the very existence of a “steady on” settings means they must be designed to cope with such a thing. Thanks for your help though. I’ve had three offers of the loan of a voltmeter, and one of actual assistance.
I have the same damn problem with four sets I purchased from B&Q, in saying this I have other push button multi function sets that hold their settings fine.
The idiots who designed the ones that don’t, need a xmas tree inserted somewhere unpleasant!