Can we talk about how weather kills fairy lights faster than bad bulbs?

I see everyone focusing on finding that one bad bulb in a string. But in my experience, leaving them outside through one full winter is what really does them in. I hung a set on my porch in October and by March the wires were brittle and snapping off at the solder joints. The bulbs tested fine but the corrosion and freeze-thaw cycles wrecked the connections. Has anyone else noticed the outdoor rating on the box is a lie for anything below freezing for months?

2 comments

2 Comments

patel.daniel18d ago

Wait, you actually left them out for a whole winter and expected them to work?

patriciaellis17d ago

Oh totally, I did the same thing with a set of solar lights I bought on clearance... thought they were "weatherproof" so I just stuck them in the ground and forgot about them. Come spring, they were cracked and full of water, not a single one worked. Learned my lesson the hard way, for sure.