Replacing Scary china bay transformer with something low voltage?

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MichaelF5

Apprentice elf
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Nov 23, 2016
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West Hoxton
So, while putting a somewhat safer plug and removing the scary extension plug which is all 240v from a Chinabay light set I had the thought that maybe the whole string that actually runs the fairy lights is 240v?


surely they would not do that?


I have the EK-04 thing 8 function blah, any idea of an easy way to find the running voltage?


just want to throw something like a 24v plug pack of whatever will get it running
 
Cheap Chinese lights that run straight on mains voltage are common on eBay and AliExpress.

They are usually poor construction, somewhat dangerous to even handle while powered and should be binned.

Unless they come with a plugpack (that you can replace with something safer) you're probably out of luck.
 
what I'm considering is that I don't really need the full length of these, so I might see if I can cut them down to shorter lengths and then throw them on 48v power supplie (s)


the Resistors are 300 Ohm in series with each LED
 
They sound like the crappy mains versions. The ones I saw has wires and insulation way thinner than I'd be comfortable using at high (lethal) voltages.
 
if you reduce the number of LED's in series you reduce in required input voltage though, so you can bring it down to somewhat within the insulation's capabilities?
 
This thread might help but yeah you're right. Don't plug them in without using a decent quality low voltage transformer.
https://auschristmaslighting.com/forums/index.php/topic,1887.0.html
 
You definitely want to either reduce the voltage used by cutting them down or not use them. If you do plan to use them as they are then make sure your RCD in your switch board is in good working order (many people never check their RCD to see if it trips) and never turn your lights on when its raining. Also place them so people cant handle them as kids always have a tendency to want to pull and tug on light strings
 
those crappy lights from China that run on mains 240V, they are deadly dangerous. Simply not worth the risk. In my early days when I started buying lights, I bought some, and was almost electrocuted from a set when it blew up in my hands when I realised it was 240V on the wire, and it's sooooo thin.
 
I know it's an old thread, in the end I threw them out rather than starting to fight with them using a soldering iron
 
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