Testing Christmas Light Bulbs

[Speedskater]

All of my (Holiday) Christmas Decoration Lights use the small 2.5Volt bulbs. I can check which bulbs still light, but it seems that different brands of bulbs need different amounts of current to reach full brightness. Any thoughts on how to build a tester. One idea was to use a 1.5Volt battery and measure current.

[gmphadte]

Buy all the bulbs of the same type and replace.

[Speedskater]

That's what I try to do. Most are GE or Phillips. Don't want to replace the strings, because string length is part of the set-up. So I buy new strings, take all the bulbs out and throw the string away. But things don't always go according to plan.

[jackinnj]

Put candles on the tree.

[Pano]

Now, now Jack. We don't want Speedy burning down his house.

I like matching the current idea. Would be great if you could do it at or near 2.5V, but 1.5 might do. Maybe 3V and a ballast resistor?

[Speedskater]

The tree is a different story. It runs on a color organ that I built in about 1969 from an Electronics World magazine article. It was the first big circuit I ever made from just a schematic and it still works. It's so old that it has SCR's and a DC supply. For a while in the early 1970's it was in a night club running small stage lights (not my club). I came in one night and the band had laid their coats on it and it still worked.

[Conrad Hoffman]

Stupid bulb problems drove me crazy for years. Tossed 'em all and went to LED.