In message <Q31vd.3598$eO5.3489@trndny08> "Thomas G. Marshall"
. com> wrote:

> Similar to how Christmas tree light companies warn against having too
> few bulbs working. The rest blow quickly.

Surely the problem with Christmas tree lights is thet the bulbs are
wired in series. In the olden days, as soon as one filament burn out,
the whole chain goes open circuit and all the lights go out.

The bulb manufacturers came up with a cunning ruse (probably designed to
sell more bulbs). Now when a filament goes, the bulb automatically goes
short circuit, increasing the voltage (and hence, current) on all other
bulbs. Now all of those bulbs are under greater stress, so the next
weak one burns out .........

Of course, each set of bulbs should include one 'fuse' bulb (identified
by a blob of white paint on the end) - effectively an ordinary bulb
which doesn't have the 'short circuit' feature, but this requirement is
not always adhered to.

--
Peter Bell (Note Spamtrap - To reply, replace 'invalid' with 'bellfamily')