Nice (but inefficient) LED lamp plus experimental mods
I'll start by saying that in the UK the term "festoon lighting" means a cable with lots of lamps spaced along it. Very popular for ambient outdoor lighting in gardens and at outdoor events.
I've since realised that the seemingly inefficient design may actually be to allow this lamp to operate from 100V to 240V. In fact, on a 100-120V supply it will run so cool (0.5W total) that it will have a massively long lifespan. I've also proven once again that just because you buy something from an eBay listing doesn't mean the same product will arrive next time. I bought some of the cold white versions of this lamp and they use minimalist circuitry that flickers!
This lamp is a very golden white 1W single LED filament globe and looks visually very pleasing, with no flicker and a soft glow. It turns out that the filament is only passing about 2.5mA and dissipating 0.3W, so the bulb should last for ages. (There - I've managed to say, lamp, globe and bulb to please everyone.)
The circuitry is entirely as expected, but disappointing in that the lamp could have run two filaments for double the light for the same power dissipation on a 220-240V supply. On a plus note, the hideously inefficient design means that these lamps will handle a wide voltage range.
My resistor hack would have made it less suitable for the wider voltage range, although it would still have lit, albeit at a much lower intensity on 120V.
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