All I want for Xmas is some good quality solar powered LED long strings.

S

Salthegal

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Dec 9, 2019
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I think this site is way out of my league! I always take the grandkids to see the awesome houses with the Xmas lights but I just want to light up a couple of big frangipanis :)
I would like to leave them in the trees - partly because they look lovely and partly because it's a big job getting them up. In the past, I have bought the lights from Bunnings and they fail quickly.
I have spent so much time searching on line but most of them don't even have specs. And there's some big price differentials too........ I reckon about 25-30 metres in length.

I would very much appreciate some advice. I am in Perth so no shortage of sun and not much rain at all.

Cheers
Sally
 
I don't know that you'll find much in the way of solar strings that will last a long time. The strings themselves usually degrade within 6-12 months and the solar panels cloud over within 2 years.

I've used some 24V LED strings that were purchased from China as part of a group buy a few years back. They've been up for a couple of years now. I run them from a power supply in my garden shed that has a timer.
 
David_AVD said:
I don't know that you'll find much in the way of solar strings that will last a long time. The strings themselves usually degrade within 6-12 months and the solar panels cloud over within 2 years.

I've used some 24V LED strings that were purchased from China as part of a group buy a few years back. They've been up for a couple of years now. I run them from a power supply in my garden shed that has a timer.
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Thankyou so much! Do the strings degrade visually? I've never noticed that. I would be happy to get a year. Would I be better off with the tube lights? I have also seen copper wires instead of the plastic wire. Would that be better do you think?
 
None of the ones for sale in the usual shops lasted very long in my experience. Choosing something with thicker wiring should (in theory) yield better results.
 
I've had solar powered lights fail within a couple of weeks.... I've even had a set fail the day after I clambered over a tree to put them up, a lightning strike somewhere within a few kilometres killed it.
 
Sorry to be tedious - so does thicker wiring mean the globes within tubing?
 
I find that 'seed lights' last better outdoors. The design has the LED fully immersed in epoxy which prevents water ingress. I keep solar panels healthy by adding silicone around the edges (water gets underneath otherwise) and a clear coat of nail polish.

Edit: Solar 'rope light' should also have no/very little water ingress.
 
David_AVD said:
No, I mean the actual wires are thicker. Most of the cheap and nasty light sets have very thin wires that break far too easily.
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I would LOVE to buy thicker wires and not cheap and nasty believe me. However, I cannot find a source of better ones than KMart or Bunnings. Can you tell me where to go please?
 
David_AVD said:
Are you still only wanting solar? I don't think you'll find anything decent in solar.
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Solar panel, battery and mains inverter to commercial christmas lights. ;)
One way to drain the budget......

Still..... all I can recommend is seed lights, they have lasted well for me.
 
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