Vintage Christmas Tree lights

[mark_in_manc]

Not vintage - but a lot of Christmas light recycling here this afternoon!

My 80 (3v bulb) set turned out to have blown half the bulbs. So I worked out what ones still worked, kept them, and ordered another set. But what to do with the dead parts?

I had a cheap 20 (12v bulb) set bought last year which was short, bulbs close together, wires a bit stiff, didn't match the other 20 set I hang it with.

So...I took the bulbs out, pulled their plastic bases off, put the bases on off the dead 3v bulbs, cut the 80 string down to 20...no, 22 to make the bulbs last longer, found 2 more 12v bulbs, and made a new string.

I should get out more.

[sp10mk11]

Each year I like to alternate between my riot of colour Pifco lights about 8 sets and some Disney etc screw in lights and my favourites the Osram candles I now have 8 sets of these which I will use this year
Gary
Sorry the pictures are not that good

[broadgage]

Has anyone tried the new LED E10 lamps that are available as replacements for incandescent ?

Though by definition not vintage, they do IMHO look vintage enough.

A most unusual feature of these lamps is that they are said to work on any voltage from 10 volts to 55 volts and to draw a constant and very low current over that voltage range.
Any number of lamps from 5 up to 24 may be worked in series from standard mains voltage.

They may only be worked in series with other lamps of the same type, and not in series with filament lamps.

A search on ebay or amazon for "LED E10 Christmas bulbs" will reveal the type of lamp to which I refer. Numerous vendors offer them, but the specifications are so similar that I suspect that they all originate from the same factory.

I propose to purchase some AFTER Christmas when they might be cheaper, to use next year.

[PencilMatt]

I'm glad I found this thread while searching for spare lamps as I've just spent a very nostalgic afternoon, remembering my family's lights in the '70s & '80s.

We had some of the Pifco Cinderella coach lanterns, which carried on being hung on the tree long after all the wheels had broken and fallen off (the kids' fault, of course). We also had some of the Pickwick flower type shades, some of the Jack Frost icicle lights and some multi-coloured glittery flower ones, I think they were Noma or Pifco. We may still have some of them in the loft, I'll post pics if I find any.

I also remember that some of the plastic light shades melted due to the heat from the bulbs and ended up fused to the holder. Not surprising that they overheated, the way our tree was usually choked with tinsel! I bet modern health and safety execs would have a heart attack between that and my dad's 'creative' outdoor light wiring (extension lead in a cereal packet).

[Station X]

No discussions about the HSE please.

[andrewn]

I have a set of Pifco mini-lights model 1220. I use them every year as they add a nice warm glow to the room. They have white wire so more suited to being strung around the room rather than on the tree.
It used to have a couple of dodgy bulb holders that kept going s/c so I'd have to keep tweaking the bulbs to get them illuminated again. Last year I managed to fix the holders, the centre contact was just a lump of solder on the end of the wire. When the bulb was screwed in it would displace to the side and short out the bulb. Some careful filing of that and the bottom of the lamp gave a reliable connection. I'm using the set this year all has been well. Hopefully they'll last for many more years. Regards Andrew.

[steptoesyard]

I`m not using any of my vintage lights this year, got all my family coming to my house over xmas and they all prefer the plain (sorry, modern!) stuff. Next year will be somebody elses turn to entertain so I will get my house to myself, and can have a load of vintage lights brightening the place up again, just the way I like it!

[Brigham]

When visitors come to MY home, they get what I prefer!
If they want BBC2, they can go elsewhere!

[broadgage]

I have confined the vintage look to the dining room this year, most of the lights are in fact new or relatively modern, but are vintage in style or appearance.

Lots of very cheap sets of 20 lamps each 12 volt, connected in long chains so as to give 200 or more lamps in one string.

A few sets each of 13 series wired lamps, each 20 volt 3 watt (assorted colours). And some similar sets of 20 lamps each 14 volts, 3 watts (clear lamps with a ridged or corrugated finish)

The total loading is approaching 1KW which I consider excessive for long hour use, but fine if only turned on when the room is used. The relatively high loading precludes any back up power supply for these lights.

The rest of the house, and outdoors is lit with modern LED lights in the interests of fuel saving and increased safety.
The very modest loading permits of battery back up for the merry Christmas power cuts.

[Magic Eye]

I took down the outside Christmas lights today and one of the sets was these lanterns inherited from my parents, they are about 40 years old. I quite like them as they are "back to basics". None of the other members of the family do though!
When we were clearing my parents' house a few months ago I came across the Christmas and candle bulb. The Christmas one I remember from when I was quite young and still works. It was in a box of other decorative and olive cone bulbs from a 12 lamp set but sadly the string itself no longer exists. The candle bulb also still works but I never remember it being used by my parents. Both bulbs seem a bit unusual!

regards
Jon

[MrElectronicman]

Originally Posted by Magic Eye

I took down the outside Christmas lights today and one of the sets was these lanterns inherited from my parents, they are about 40 years old. I quite like them as they are "back to basics".

My parents had some Christmas lights like the ones shown in the first picture, don't know what happened to them however.

I do remember as a child after the war that my dad made his own set of lights with some sheet metal rolled into tubes with bulbs soldered on the top, I guess due to the shortages he had no choice. However I don't remember how they were powered, but I hope it was not the mains

[Dinahmyte]

I have had this string of 20 clip-on candle-type lights for a long time. I've just used the last spare fuse bulb and I'm not sure if the other 'replacement' bulbs I've got are correct, as the fuse bulbs didn't last very long this year after I changed an ordinary bulb.

They have a flat white base.

Can anyone tell me please what voltage I should be looking for, including fuse bulbs?

PS I had hoped to post a couple of photos but can't find out how to do it; the 'candles' are 2" long and the bulbs push in the top.

[steptoesyard]

You need 12V, I think they are rated at 1W

[broadgage]

12 volt, yes presuming that they are series wired for operation on UK mains.
Wattage varied a bit, but 1.1 watts was very common. Modern sets of 20 lights tend to be of lower wattage, often about 0.9 watts.

Lamps for series burning must all be of the same wattage. It MIGHT be cheaper and simpler to buy a cheap modern string of lights and re-use the bulbs in your old lights.

[Herald1360]

Originally Posted by Dinahmyte

PS I had hoped to post a couple of photos but can't find out how to do it; the 'candles' are 2" long and the bulbs push in the top.

Scroll down a bit before you Submit Reply- there's an "Additional Options" pane. Click on Manage Attachments and follow through from there.

[steptoesyard]

Yes they should all be the same @1.1W, but the fuse bulb is always very slightly less to make it the weak link in the chain

[nicam49]

Lamps for series burning must all be of the same wattage. It MIGHT be cheaper and simpler to buy a cheap modern string of lights and re-use the bulbs in your old lights.[/QUOTE]

Hi, around here last Xmas, all the usual outlets were selling led only sets; that's progress for you.

[emeritus]

Strictly speaking, all lamps should have the same current rating. After I had used the last remaining spare for my old 20V Pifco set, I couldn't find any new replacements, but did find some 12V MES bulbs of the same current rating in my local Robert Dyas, intended for some garden lights I think. I still had the remains of a second string that I had been using for replacements, so I extended the main string by four extra lampholders to ensure that the bulbs would not be over-run, and fitted the 12V bulbs. When I later got some more proper bulbs from a scrap set, I fitted them instead of the 12V bulbs. That was over 20 years ago and I haven't had a bulb fail since. The 20V bulbs still give more than adequate brightness on 15V.

Both LED and traditional sets were available locally this Christmas, but with a reduced range of traditional types. Outdoor sets were only available with LEDs. I did buy a couple of sets of traditional bulbed indoors sets to put by, as they were not expensive.

[Station X]

Thread reopened in time for Christmas!

[IanNVJ35]

I will say that when walking past houses with bulb lights they are very different from LED in that they have 'sparkles' coming out - LED never does that. Its nice to see, and very Christmas-y.