Electrical Plugs installation for custom LED light strings (socket stringer cord). 

Thank you. I strive for accuracy because there is so much wrong info out there. Many "expert" videos I've seen on RU-vid are actually dangerous.

+brian163utube Thanks for your nice comment. Yes, you are right. People don't understand that alternating current doesn't mean that all wires are equal because the electricity goes back and forth. Hot is hot, neutral is neutral and must not be reversed. No one will notice until they are electrocuted by a miswired outlet or plug.

Thanks for your nice comment! I appreciate it.

+Andrea Quiet Thanks for your kind words. I appreciate it.

Thanks for your nice comment.

You're welcome! Thanks for watching and commenting.

Thanks for the question. It is Easy. Use an inline female plug that fastens just like on this video. Then, plug in your next cord using a male plug. Contact imaginarycolours to order plugs and inline plugs. They cost less than $2 each

Thanks for the nice comment!

Yes, "Vampire" plugs is a common slang for these. Don't feel alone. I made this video because I was receiving professionally-made items with the plugs incorrectly installed, so I realized there was a real lack of training out there.

Right.

You're welcome. Glad it was beneficial.

Thanks for your kind words. If I were you, I'd just buy socket stringer with sockets already on them from the factory. (Message me and I can hook you up with several options of stringer cord). It will save a lot of time, and I believe that a factory-installed socket will fit tighter and be more water-resistant than reusing an old socket. That being said, I can't tell you which way the wire will lay in the sockets. I have not seen an indicator on the snap-on replacement sockets we sell. The important thing to remember is that the Neutral wire needs to be the SIDE terminal on the socket. The Hot wire needs to be the BOTTOM terminal. Think of it this way--if someone is screwing in a bulb into a live stringer, and they accidentally have their finger on the metal threads of the bulb, you want the wire they touch to be the safer Neutral wire, or the dangerous Hot wire?

Thanks for writing. For household purposes, the ribbed side is Neutral, and as the name implies, it is neither negative nor positive. The Neutral conductor (wire) should be connected to the wide blade or wide slot on the plug. If you are not comfortable with working with electricity, please hire an electrician.

Thanks for writing. For household purposes, the ribbed side is Neutral, and as the name implies, it is neither negative nor positive. The Neutral conductor (wire) should be connected to the wide blade or wide slot on the plug. If you are not comfortable with working with electricity, please hire an electrician.

@@LEDRavecom I am comfortable working with electricity. My father was an electrician but he has passed away. I am doing something different than you are doing. I am wiring something else that is why I was trying to figure out if you had two wires which would go where. By the way, I have installed ceiling lights, replaced plugs and line switches on lamps. I also have rewired wall scones to plugins and many more. I have an idea of what I am doing. Please don't assume.

@@tinascarpaci6631 OK. Stay safe.

Ohio Digger Thanks for the question. This video is only for socket stringer, not for premade light strings. The cord here is 18 gauge spt-1 zip cord (aka lamp cord). The reason you can make this different lengths is because the sockets are wired in parallel. Premade Christmas light strings are typically wired in series or series-parallel. Don't mess with them.

+Jenna Harmon Thanks for your question. I can't really help you, unfortunately, since I can't be certain of what you've done (for one, I don't know what "cinuious" means), or of how your sets of lights were originally wired. My best GUESS is that you've wired them all in series, and the more you add to the end, the dimmer they become. This is due to voltage drop. The way around this is to wire in parallel or series-parallel blocks. But again, I don't know what your situation is. I would suggest you contact an electrician or visit your local university--someone in Engineering would likely understand and be able to help you. Good luck!

Thanks for the question! The light string pictured is C7 (properly called E12). This light stringer may be used with either LED or incandescent lights (or both, if you like a unique look). These particular plugs are designed to fit SPT-1 lamp (zip) cord only. When properly connected, they are watertight. Using them on separate conductors, like for a store-bought premade light string, would not be safe. If your premade Christmas lights need a new plug end, don't forget that a factory set of Christmas lights will have a couple fuses in the plug, and I don't know if you can buy a replacement plug with dual fuses. It would be safer to buy a new set of lights.

+Nancy Stelmach thanks for your question. I mean no offense, but you apparently do not know enough about electricity to be doing this work yourself. You are not alone, though. MOST people do not understand electricity and electrical work. Doing it wrong can be hazardous. That being said, on mini Christmas lights, there won't be a white or black wire. They will both be green (and it is the jacket color, not the actual wire color that is important). And you are right--there will not be a ribbed wire on mini-lights. You will see this feature mainly on zip cord like you see in the video. When the wires are not color-coded, it's important to note which wire goes to which terminal before you remove the wires from the old plug. Reversing the polarity on the new plug can be hazardous. I am curious about why you would want to switch a female plug with a male one? Isn't that going to give you two male ends on the string?

hahaha - no problem. I did it and had it checked by an electrician before I plugged it into anything. He said I did it perfectly and everything has worked perfectly.

My company, ImaginaryColours.com, can make custom lengths for you. Message or email me and we can discuss your needs. Thanks! -Tom

+Premierjet855 thanks for the question. If your stringer cord is zip cord, like the one in the video, you just need to use an inline connector. Watch your polarity (make sure the ribbed side of the wire connects with the ribbed sides in every case).

Thanks for the quick response! Do they make an inline connector with dual sockets for biplane? Not sure how to make the Y branch in two directions. Thanks!

+Premierjet855 I'm sorry, I don't know anything about biplanes. However, I can show you how to make the wire connect so it can branch in two directions. Please PM me with your email address.

Ugh...sorry. Stupid computer auto corrected zip cord to biplane somehow. PM sent! Thanks!

+Premierjet855 Zip cord and biplane are so very similar! LOL

UL recommends fused plugs on decorative lights for temporary or seasonal installation. That being said, if you make your own stringers or buy custom ones, there generally won't be a fused plug. I don't know which LED bulbs you're planning to use, but 200 Imaginary Colours C9 LED bulbs will use less than 100 watts. I can't recommend what you should do, but I, personally, use at least that many lights on my projects.

Sounds good another question that you recommend how many c9 led light bulbs can I use in a single outlet and thank you for your answers there are not many of these contents on youtube to create your own christmas lights

I'm not an electrician so I can't give you an exact answer, so please consult your electrician. You might want to consider this information as a guideline. For common premade decorative light strings (Christmas lights), UL recommends that the wire not be thinner than 22 ga in the USA, and that the user connect only a few light strings so that electrical consumption does not exceed 210 watts. So, you also should know the gauge of the lights you're using. Heavier gauge can handle more electricity. Electrical formula is VxA=W You have to know the rating of your bulbs in either watts or amps. You have to know your household power (probably 110-125 volts in USA) and amperage rating (probably 15 or 20 Amps).

@@LEDRavecom @Jonathan Vega When it comes to Christmas light strings that are sold in Canada, fused (male) plugs weren't a thing until recently in time, and so fused (male) plugs on Christmas light strings are still somewhat a rarity in Canada.

+Cameron Swadley, thanks for writing! I'm not sure I understand your question, but I'll give you an answer that might be what you're after. By "Quick connect female slide" I assume you are talking about the plug style featured in this video. So, I will start by saying that our store sells slide-on inline plugs as well as the end ones shown here. Inline plugs are typically male, for safety reasons. If you look at the video above at 3:30, it talks about a "gateway." The inline plugs have a gateway on both ends of the plug. It is IMPERATIVE that you pay attention to the Neutral and Hot wires when connecting the zip cord to the plugs, even the inline plugs. Please PM me with your email address and I'll send you photos and instructions on adding a male inline plug (female is the same process).

+LEDRavecom Yes that's exactly what I was talking about. I'm tinkering with doing a few houses Christmas Lighting this season and they are usually high end huge houses with tons of peaks and eves. After I saw this video I searched around and saw that they do make the inline plugs like you referenced above. A lighting company out here references them on their page but didn't really explain it. I knew you could add the inline plug to the SPT 1 wire for lamp cords but i wasn't aware you could run inline on the actual light stringers. That would be a hugeeee help when dealing with eaves. I PMd you my email address. I'll send you the picture where it appears they branch off the stringer on their website. thanks!!

+Cameron Swadley I sent you a reply via your email a couple days ago. Did you receive it?

+fish bowl If you think I've said something incorrect in the video, please state your correction here, so everyone can discuss it and learn.

@@LEDRavecom Fish bowl is right. It's your channel, you should look into it and provide the correct info. Just a heads up....Alternating current alternates polarity many times per second.

​@@twowheelz10 Thanks for your comment, and giving me the chance to clarify for you and other viewers who may be confused. While you are correct that Alternating Current switches many times a second (60, in fact), you are making the popular mistake of thinking, therefore, polarity does not matter. But it does, and it is one of the most important safety factors in electrical wiring. A modern, typical, Household circuit box has a hot wire which attaches to the circuit breaker and runs to the Hot contact on receptacles and light switches; a Neutral, which attaches to the Neutral Bus in the box and runs to the Neutral contact on receptacles (it does not connect to light switches); and a ground which attaches to the Ground Bus in the box and attaches to the Ground screw on receptacles and light switches (when available). The Hot is always hot. It contains the electrical potential and is the "dangerous" wire. Yes, they system is still alternating current, but the Neutral is never Hot. Hot is Hot. Neutral is Neutral. Mix those up and you have a greater risk of shock or fire.. Do not think of Alternating Current as having Positive and Negative wires like in Direct Current. AC in US is usually 60 cycles. A sine wave shows half the cycle is + and half -, but these oscilloscope readings do not represent the Hot and Neutral wires. Do not mix up the Hot and Neutral wires.Wire everything correctly. Always. I have potentially saved your life. You will thank me later. ;)

Jeanette, thanks for the question. I can't answer accurately without further information. Please email me. tom@ledblimp.com. I will need photos of the plug, and any information from the box or instruction sheet that came with your angel. This is so we can hopefully learn what voltage the angel requires.

Thanks for your question! I would not do that for a couple reasons (safety, and convenience). I'd just run the lights to the next roof line then black out the bulbs you don't want. For blacking out, I suggest using high-quality electrical tape--the 3-M low-temperature tape if you're in a winter climate. Follow the instructions for proper stretching of the tape so that it doesn't unstick itself.

@@LEDRavecom Your heart may be in the right place but you're giving wrong information. You shouldn't cover sockets with any tape. You're only creating no way for water to get out. Most C9/C7 sockets have weep holes in the bottom. They were created for water to flow in and back out. If you close the top with tape, now you just made a trap for water and water conducts electricity.

@@twowheelz10 I think you have a valid point which is subject to differing opinions. Me, personally, I rarely use tape on plugs, but I do try to position them with he open slots down so that water does not easily flow in. I also use drip loops when hanging wires and cords. As for weep holes in the sockets, I believe they are more to relieve condensation, and not made to "let water in, then out." But your point is well=made and I do not disagree in the principle of letting the water out. Thank you for your contribution.

@@twowheelz10 I might also add since I may have addressed your comment incorrectly a minute ago, that in the example of electrical tape to black out lights, I would put the tape over the bulbs; not remove the bulbs from the sockets.

@@LEDRavecom I have unused sockets on my E17 commercial grade stringer. I bought socket cap covers but they are loose, apparently they are only seal tight on standard non-commercial stringers. I was going to put tape around the caps but am worried water might still get through and cause issues. Would you recommend I just put the bulbs on and use electrical tape over the bulb to black them out?

Yes, and you would be wrong. Way wrong. This was at Imaginary Colours in Belleville, KS. And I will thank you to never offend us again by comparing us to any big box store. Like most small businesses, we are far better. Higher quality, better customer service, knowledgeable and caring employees, and the owner works right in the store. :)

@@LEDRavecom it was a fucking yes or no and thats it no need to take it to the dam heart .

@@LEDRavecom Yeah, all of the Christmas light strings in which pretty much *_ANY_* brick-and-mortar store (aside from thrift stores and antique shops) carries nowadays are just cheap, made-in-China knock-offs; they are *_NOT_*_ _*_*REAL*_* Christmas light strings!!! 😫😫😫😡😡😡😡😡😤😤😤😤😤😫😫😫

@@gabrielsalazar8857 Our customers are also polite and do not cuss at us.

@@StevenVillman It is amazing, isn't it, how Grandma and Grandpa's lights they bought in the 1960s are still working! Replace a few bulbs every year but the strings and sockets are still solid. Of course, the bulbs would burn your fingers and triple your light bill in December, but in the '60s, electricity rates were not all that expensive.

+Natasha Hawkins Thanks for writing! Please message me your email address and I'll send you our email address. Meanwhile, take some photos of the plug and the tree topper so you can email those to me. --Tom

+Natasha Hawkins I have emailed you.

LEDRavecom I have the same problem!!! I just bought an angel tree topper & it has a weird plug that doesn't plug into a regular plug!! Can you help me please??? Thanks, Jeanette

Well, you took 29 words to complain when you could have just clicked the thumbs-down icon. ;) Seriously, though, thanks very much for watching and taking the time to comment.

Thanks for the detailed explanation.

LEDRavecom right on. ..I totally agree. .and he probably took 29 minutes to write his sentence.....LOL

LEDRavecom LEDRavecom right on. ..I totally agree. .and he probably took 29 minutes to write his sentence.....LOL