3 ms·
Interesting: That would suggest that if you let enough bulbs on a strand go out, you reach a cascading-failure threshold at some point, where the voltage across
by raldi 12y ago
Interesting: That would suggest that if you let enough bulbs on a strand go out, you reach a cascading-failure threshold at some point, where the voltage across the remaining filaments is higher than their rating. And then I guess the breaker trips.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- raldi 12y agoThe parent comment claimed that's not the case.
- vonmoltke 12y agoYes, if you shunted enough of the bulbs in the strand you would get a cascading overvoltage down the line. It wouldn't trip a conventional breaker, though. Those bulbs can't pull enough power, even in over-voltage conditions. Might trip an Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter, though.
- mindslight 12y agoHigher voltage on the remaining filaments really just shortens their life. So yes it's a type of cascading failure, but it's not catastrophic (each set has a fuse in the plug anyway, otherwise that 28AWG wire would function as the filament of last resort, if you get my drift). This means you want to replace burnt out bulbs when you notice them, rather than waiting for the whole segment to go dark.
- steadicat 12y agoThat's not how parallel circuits work. The voltage is independent of how many devices are connected. That's how your wall plugs always provide 110V. Edit: Sorry, I misread, I thought this subthread was about parallel circuits.
- raldi 12y agoIt's not a parallel circuit. It's a series circuit. If you have 100 bulbs in series, each is getting 1.1V across it. If half of them burn out (and, as the article explains, become a short-circuit), then you have 50 bulbs, and each is getting 2.2V across it.