Hi everyone, I have an outdoor Christmas light which is Santa on a bike. Got home the other day and half of it wasn't working. I opened up the wee filter box that was inline with the part that wasn't working and found this mess. Google tells me that the yellow bit is an x2 safety capacitor but what is the wee resistor thing in front of it?
I have found a replacement cable that has the filter, but I'm wanting to have a go at repairing it since I'm not too bad with a soldering iron.
Or is it just not worth the bother!
Thanks!
Smoothing Capacitor and fuse. Behind are 4diodes making the bridge rectifier. RS or CPC for spares. Maybe Amazon.
Looks very much like a glass fuse.
That board also looks like a bridge rectifier, (makes AC into DC). Doesn’t look well made.
Odd, the post above my almost identical post wasn’t there when I posted it. Oh well, glad someone agrees with me
Have you identified the fault that caused it to draw too much current in the first place? I mean possibly that's had water ingress and shorted. But maybe not, in which case you are wasting your time.
It looks pretty shoddy either way.
Insert anecdote about cheap Christmas lights burning people's houses down.
Thanks everyone, this is all very useful information. I will look to have a go at repairing it.
I can't imagine it being a high quality construction, but it has lasted for three Christmases so far. We have had some pretty horrific rain recently, so perhaps there was a wee bit water ingress (or more likely it was just crap).
For reference, here is me and (some of) the lights last year. Santa on the bike is my favourite though.
I'd be asking myself why it's already had a good go at setting itself on fire... Not sure I'd be repairing it.
It’s good to have a before and after picture for the insurance!
When you've fixed it, put a smaller fuse in than the one it has now...
I would not use that again. Either the cap has exploded or the PCB shorted due to inadequate track spacing... Or something else due to poor quality or construction....but this all looks dangerous and it should go in the bin in my opinion.
Quick safety moment.
What voltage is that rectifying?
If the answer is "don't know" then I suggest binning the lot and forget about repairing it.
That looks like it's been cooked for a long time before something went pop. Without knowing why it went pop in the first place I'd be reluctant to just replace the components.
For example, the sheath on the wires in the foreground has been toasted nicely, you can see the change in colour on both, along with the sooting/charring, and is probably now rather brittle and not doing it's job very well.
So... just bin it...
Or if really want to keep the lights working, find out what voltage it is supposed to run at and buy a new power supply.
It might be worth finding out if there is a local repair cafe or men's workshop type club around near you, it'd be something they could help with.
Insert anecdote about cheap Christmas lights burning people's houses down
A house did this a few doors up from where I used to live in godalming.
Guy left tree up for an extra week as family were visiting and it dried up more than usual , it somehow caught fire.
The dad got one son and wife out of the house but went back in for son 2. Neither came out