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That cheap bulb tester finally paid off after 3 years of guessing
I spent an hour last night swapping bulbs in a 50-light string from Target until my hands cramped up, then remembered I had a $12 tester from Amazon sitting in my junk drawer. One quick pass through each socket and it pointed to a cracked bulb right near the plug that I'd skipped five times. Anyone else find themselves overcomplicating fixes when the simple tool is right there?
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adam_anderson61mo ago
Man that Target 50-light set is exactly what got me too. I spent two hours last Christmas going through each socket with a multimeter, testing continuity, checking for voltage drops, the whole thing. Turns out it was just a loose wire crimp where the plug meets the first socket. My $5 Harbor Freight tester found it in 30 seconds flat. Now I keep that thing clipped to the side of my toolbox so I don't have to dig through the junk drawer every December.
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simonmoore1mo ago
The cheap testers are a trap though. I bought one of those little green ones years ago and now I use it for everything, including stuff it was never meant for. Last summer I was chasing a short in my camper wiring and busted that thing out before I even grabbed my actual multimeter. Found the bad splice in the brake light circuit in like two minutes. But then I got cocky and tried using it on a ceiling fan at my buddy's place and smoked the fuse in it. Still works though. The thing is basically indestructible, which is more than I can say for any of my expensive tools.
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