Vintage LED Christmas lights - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

cmjones01 · 6th Feb 2024, 11:11 am

I know the vintage Christmas lights thread on the forum has long since been closed, but I'm posting this because the decorations in Poland are only just coming down, with the end of carnival season. So I'm putting away my vintage LED Christmas lights.

They've taken a bit of a preservation effort. They date from, I think, 2004 (20 years ago!) when white LED fairy lights were new and very expensive. They're from Habitat in the UK, when that still existed. I like the groovy shaped diffusers, that modern cost-optimised lights don't have.

The promise of 20,000 hour life was not kept. The white LEDs are rubbish and many have failed early, and the remaining originals are now very dim. LED life was not helped by the lack of current limiting resistors in the 4 parallel chains of 8 LEDs straight across the DC supply, so if an LED fails in one chain and increases its forward voltage, the others get overrun and there's a cascade of failures.

I've added 470 ohm limiting resistors in series with each chain and replaced the dead LEDs (though the instructions say I can't do that

). So they're usable again and the remaining original LEDs should last a few more Christmases. I suspect not many lights of this era will survive - if they failed early, they'll just have been thrown away, making this string a curiosity from the early days of a new and immature technology.

Chris

toprepairman · 13th Feb 2024, 7:37 pm

Dzien dobry.
Can't help thinking 'vintage leds' is a bit of an oxymoron.
I have been using vintage filament xmas lights for some time, always wind them up gently with the workshop variac and run them around 20% below max mains.

G6Tanuki · 13th Feb 2024, 7:56 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by toprepairman

Dzien dobry.
Can't help thinking 'vintage leds' is a bit of an oxymoron.

Considering that the likes of Texas Instruments' TIL209 LED hit the market some time in the early-1970s I think LEDs certainly have a claim to 'vintage' history!

toprepairman · 13th Feb 2024, 8:00 pm

Only 50 odd years, fair enough.

Cobaltblue · 13th Feb 2024, 11:41 pm

Well past the season here in the UK so putting to away in the loft till December (at Least)

Cheers

Mike T

6th Feb 2024, 11:11 am	#1
cmjones01 Nonode Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Warsaw, Poland and Cambridge, UK Posts: 2,682	Vintage LED Christmas lights I know the vintage Christmas lights thread on the forum has long since been closed, but I'm posting this because the decorations in Poland are only just coming down, with the end of carnival season. So I'm putting away my vintage LED Christmas lights. They've taken a bit of a preservation effort. They date from, I think, 2004 (20 years ago!) when white LED fairy lights were new and very expensive. They're from Habitat in the UK, when that still existed. I like the groovy shaped diffusers, that modern cost-optimised lights don't have. The promise of 20,000 hour life was not kept. The white LEDs are rubbish and many have failed early, and the remaining originals are now very dim. LED life was not helped by the lack of current limiting resistors in the 4 parallel chains of 8 LEDs straight across the DC supply, so if an LED fails in one chain and increases its forward voltage, the others get overrun and there's a cascade of failures. I've added 470 ohm limiting resistors in series with each chain and replaced the dead LEDs (though the instructions say I can't do that ). So they're usable again and the remaining original LEDs should last a few more Christmases. I suspect not many lights of this era will survive - if they failed early, they'll just have been thrown away, making this string a curiosity from the early days of a new and immature technology. Chris Attached Thumbnails __________________ What's going on in the workshop? http://martin-jones.com/

13th Feb 2024, 7:37 pm	#2
toprepairman Tetrode Join Date: Jun 2021 Location: Leatherhead, Surrey, UK. Posts: 73	Re: Vintage LED Christmas lights Dzien dobry. Can't help thinking 'vintage leds' is a bit of an oxymoron. I have been using vintage filament xmas lights for some time, always wind them up gently with the workshop variac and run them around 20% below max mains.

13th Feb 2024, 8:00 pm	#4
toprepairman Tetrode Join Date: Jun 2021 Location: Leatherhead, Surrey, UK. Posts: 73	Re: Vintage LED Christmas lights Only 50 odd years, fair enough.

13th Feb 2024, 11:41 pm	#5
Cobaltblue Moderator Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Exeter, Devon and Poole, Dorset UK. Posts: 6,880	Re: Vintage LED Christmas lights Well past the season here in the UK so putting to away in the loft till December (at Least) Cheers Mike T __________________ Invisible airwaves crackle with life or at least they used to Mike T BVWS member. www.cossor.co.uk