Every year I end up with a strand of Christmas lights that only light up half way. Why is this?
Why do the lights come on again after shaking the whole thing or adjusting a bulb?
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The string has a number of lights connected in series A failure in a contact makes more than one light go out. A small dim bulb requires a low voltage, otherwise the filament would be so thin and long that it would break from vibration. To avoid a series connection, a step down transformer would be required and thicker wires to carry the current, which would increase the cost.
Because they are made cheaply.
A string of Christmas lights is wired in series so electricity passes through each bulb on its way to ground. Unfortunately this means that if any bulb isn’t functioning correctly (such as a filament breaking, or a contact not making good connection) the circuit is broken and none of the lights will light up.
A lot of lights means a lot of cheaply made connections and bulbs that need to all work. With that many points of failure it is easy for something to go wrong.
They are made cheap so you buy them and they only last one season so you have to buy them again next year.
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