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

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
 

David_AVD

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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.
 

Salthegal

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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.
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?
 

David_AVD

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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.
 

bpratt

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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.
 

Salthegal

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Sorry to be tedious - so does thicker wiring mean the globes within tubing?
 

David_AVD

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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.
 

Mark_M

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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.
 

Salthegal

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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.
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?
 

Mark_M

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Are you still only wanting solar? I don't think you'll find anything decent in solar.

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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