Twinkle Light Question

Debbie

Debbie

Well-Known Member
Come on everyone :) Keep talking about lights and decorations so I can get in the mood! It's so hard to think about putting lights up right now and my flower beds are neglected since Tropical Storm Cindy. I usually have these huge ferns hanging from my porch that I need 200 lights each. So lets keep it coming. Let's solve the mystery. And let's get me in the Christmas spirit.
 
1disneydood

1disneydood

Active Member
My tubs of lights survived Katrina so I brought them back with me to NLR. I'm going to Griswald the FEMA house I'm in now. :king: Seeing how this house is 1/2 the size of my previous house, I'm going to use all the lights which managed to cover the whole front of my previous house.
 
Lovecraft

Lovecraft

Member
Lovecraft said:
...Information I got from some of the people I talked to is that the lights on main street are C7 base globe lights on a standard C7 outdoor string but that the bulbs are 12 or 24 volt rated (rather than the 110/220 normal christmas lights)...
Click to expand...

Sorry to quote myself here but I think I may be on to something.
On my last visit to WDW (EPCOT) I was looking at the lights again and watching how they twinkled-- At least at EPCOT, they twinkle and do not fade. They just twinkle slowly and it kinda looks like a fade (at least in memory).

Someone else mentioned that they have some twinkle lights that are similar to the WDW lights but twinkle too rapidly for the same effect.

This got me thinking, maybe the company I spoke to led me in the right direction, Action Lighting, and the twinkle lights are the ones -- maybe -- I haven't tested this yet -- but maybe stepping down the voltage from 110 to 12 (or 24) will cause them to twinkle more slowly -- if so, then it will be pretty easy to set up the same lights -- we could just use an outdoor transformer designed for toro lights or somesuch and wire a standard Wal-Mart outdoor light string to it with the round twinkle bulbs that I found before.

As soon as I can I will try this and will let you guys know what happens.

--Lovecraft
 
Main Street USA

Main Street USA

Well-Known Member
Lovecraft said:
Sorry to quote myself here but I think I may be on to something.
On my last visit to WDW (EPCOT) I was looking at the lights again and watching how they twinkled-- At least at EPCOT, they twinkle and do not fade. They just twinkle slowly and it kinda looks like a fade (at least in memory).

Someone else mentioned that they have some twinkle lights that are similar to the WDW lights but twinkle too rapidly for the same effect.

This got me thinking, maybe the company I spoke to led me in the right direction, Action Lighting, and the twinkle lights are the ones -- maybe -- I haven't tested this yet -- but maybe stepping down the voltage from 110 to 12 (or 24) will cause them to twinkle more slowly -- if so, then it will be pretty easy to set up the same lights -- we could just use an outdoor transformer designed for toro lights or somesuch and wire a standard Wal-Mart outdoor light string to it with the round twinkle bulbs that I found before.

As soon as I can I will try this and will let you guys know what happens.

--Lovecraft
Click to expand...
Interesting idea. My initial guess here is that a lower voltage wouldn't affect the speed of the twinkle, but let's hope I'm wrong. Thanks for trying it, can't wait to hear what happens. And, by the way, you're right about the WDW lights not fading. I don't remember anyone posting that they fade in and out, but if I'd seen it, I would've pointed it out that that wasn't the case. Some people see that beautiful, slow twinkle and just assume it's a fade without really looking closely. Good eyes.
 
GoofyMagic

GoofyMagic

Member
Ok Folks,

I bought a set of these lights, they're a bigger size bulb, but I'm quite sure these are the right manufacturer, since I heard from Disney guest relations themselves that these are them...They too suggested nelson but they're out of business.
 
surfsupdon

surfsupdon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
BRER STITCH said:
OK....so which ones did you buy???....and from where???

:veryconfu
Click to expand...


And how is their twinkle speed???! I need to know, I started this several years ago, haha.:xmas:
 
SlusherGusher

SlusherGusher

Member
Here's a lead to check out- Fiancee bought a 9 foot tall prelit tree from Target today (gotta love the after Christmas sales- $300 tree for $30), anyways, the tree has Staylit brand twinkle lights on it (1100 of 'em), a few of the lights actually twinkle- same speed and random effect as the ones at WDW, just a smaller bulb, but magical nonetheless. Haven't checked this out yet, but here's my thought- does Staylit sell boxes of lights with the twinkle effect, or maybe buy a box of the regular Staylit lights and a couple packages of replacement twinkle effect bulbs to intersperse among the non-twinkle effect bulbs in the string?
 
Joevn

Joevn

Member
SlusherGusher said:
Here's a lead to check out- Fiancee bought a 9 foot tall prelit tree from Target today (gotta love the after Christmas sales- $300 tree for $30), anyways, the tree has Staylit brand twinkle lights on it (1100 of 'em), a few of the lights actually twinkle- same speed and random effect as the ones at WDW, just a smaller bulb, but magical nonetheless. Haven't checked this out yet, but here's my thought- does Staylit sell boxes of twinkle lights with the twinkle effect, or maybe buy a box of the regular Staylit twinkle lights and a couple packages of replacement twinkle effect bulbs to intersperse among the non-twinkle effect bulbs in the string?
Click to expand...

I saw that tree at Target and you're right, it is very similar to the trees at WDW. I tried to find just the lights at the store, but unfortunately, it didn't seem that Target had it as a separate product.

This article mentions the twinkling lights:

http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/10-4-2005-78157.asp

"A beautiful twinkling effect can be accomplished by inserting several flashing type bulbs in a Staylit string. When a flashing bulb is placed in the socket of an ordinary light string, the entire string flashes on and off. When placed in a Staylit light string, the individual bulb flashes on and off in a random manner. Several flasher bulbs placed in a string generate a pleasing twinkle effect."

And says that:
"The Staylit product line is sold in the U.S. and Canada at many major retail stores nationwide including Target and BJ's Wholesale. The 100-light strings stretch almost 40 feet and retail for around $7.99. The lighted trees sell for $100 and up depending on tree height. For more information go to the "Products" page of the website:

http://www.inliten.com/staylit.html "

I went to the website and unfortunately they only sell to retailers. Has anyone found a store that carries (or given the date now, carried) these lights?

Joe
 
Master Yoda

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
I am coming in very late to this thread but they are or at least were available at CVS pharmacy of all places. They were called random twinkling lights and were available in both string and icicle form. I got several strings for the tree and 8 icicle for the house. If you are lucky they might still have a few lying around. If not they will probably be available next year.
 
Woody13

Woody13

New Member
Lovecraft said:
Ok, NOW I think I have found the bulbs.

Here is the link:

http://www.actionlighting.com/item-detail.asp?ID=70&MainCategory=Bulbs&Sub=G-6%20E17%20Blinking

These are the 12 volt blinking individual bulbs.


:D

I think I will order some now and FINALLY get my tree the way I want it.

Hmmm.. if we order in quantity we can get a MUCH better price. Anyone interested in getting some of these?


--Lovecraft
Click to expand...
Those aren't the bulbs. The blinker bulbs used by WDW are 120 volt. :wave:
 
Woody13

Woody13

New Member
Lovecraft said:
You sure they are 120V?

Everything I found out is they are on a 12 (and sometimes 24) volt system.

--Lovecraft
Click to expand...
I have the bulbs and they have a candelabra base that screws into a normal light string, which plugs into a typical 120 volt outlet (without a transformer). :wave:
 
Lovecraft

Lovecraft

Member
The bulbs I listed above are like that. You technically could plug them into a 120v string-- they have a standard candelabra base-- but they are rated 2.5 watts at 12V --- meaning they will actually work in a 12 volt system (some 120 volt lights won't light up or will do so poorly in a 12 volt system.)

I think these are the ones.
 
C

clarkstallings

New Member
The E17 blinking bulbs are the ones used by Disney. It would be very expensive for them to use high voltage bulbs in that amount. E17 are them I know for a fact. All you need is a transformer to take 120 to 12 volts and handle the wattage of the number of lights on the circuit.
 
C

clarkstallings

New Member
Low voltage lighting is far more efficient. The filaments are smaller, thus harder to manufacture, but they burn brighter with less power (wattage or what you are ultimately charged for when you get the powerbill.) It's like a star in astronomy. A big red giant is putting out more power than a smaller white dwarf star. But because all of that power is spread out over the larger star, the white dwarf appears more luminous because it is a fraction of the size of the red dwarf. You are basically concentrating energy. In the case of the bulb, you get more punch with the smaller low voltage filament. Anyway, those are the bulbs. I talked to people in the know on this issue, not a bus driver. Furthermore, have you ever examined the condition of the stringers in the trees? They are often cut off at the ends and simply wrapped in electrical tape and easily within reach of a guest. There is no way disney would have line level voltage in such easy reach of guests with such a deficient cover (ie the tape.) These are the lights. Get a transformer and a stringer and go to town!

I'm sorry for the lighting designer comment! That was rude of me.
 

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