C7 Twinkle Lights « on: December 08, 2009, 10:06:07 PM » Author: tmcdllr
Here is a video of a string of GE C7 red, green, blue, and amber twinkle lights twinkling. These are by far my favorite type of X-mas lights because of the absolute total randomness of the blinking, which you cannot get on the crappy miniature string lights that are so popular now. Also these are much brighter, obviously, and when they blink they sometimes make a 'ping' noise as the bi-metal strip opens the circuit to the filament, really cool. You get a bunch of these close together and it makes a cool effect. Too bad these are getting harder to find now. And also it is way easier to figure out which one is burned out- I hate tracking that down on the mini light sets. I really like the Noma Bubble lights too but these are my favs.... enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTHb6QaRYac
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	Re: C7 Twinkle Lights « Reply #2 on: December 09, 2009, 03:10:34 PM » Author: Roi_hartmann
I have never seen any kind of twinkle lamp with my own eyes. ofcourse in the films but not in real life. In Finland blinking christmas lights are usually done with a separated controller. and what I have heard many people consider blinking christmast lights very irritating so you dont actually see them allmost at all. There could actually be separated topic about what kind of christmas lights is used around the world. it would be nice to compare differences.
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	Re: C7 Twinkle Lights « Reply #3 on: December 09, 2009, 04:46:41 PM » Author: rjluna2
I have quite a few C7 twinkle light bulb in my collection. Yes, I do like them.  I'll post some of the twinkle bulbs in my collection as soon as I can... My father did not like those lights because it produces radio noise that interfere TV.
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	Re: C7 Twinkle Lights « Reply #4 on: December 09, 2009, 06:09:11 PM » Author: tmcdllr
I have found a few sites that sell them new pretty cheap. They have red, blue, green , amber, and also clear, yellow, orange, purple, teal, pink. I think a box of 25 was like six or seven bucks.
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	Re: C7 Twinkle Lights « Reply #5 on: December 12, 2009, 07:37:36 PM » Author: rjluna2
I now have a page for you to look at Target 25 Multi Pearlized C7 Twinkle Lights . Enjoy
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	Re: C7 Twinkle Lights « Reply #6 on: December 12, 2009, 09:29:55 PM » Author: tmcdllr
Nice! Do they still sell them new? I like how it says 'random twinkle.'
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Nothing like the beautiful cool white light of a coated Mercury Vapor lamp and the soothing hum of it's magnetic ballast.

	Re: C7 Twinkle Lights « Reply #7 on: December 13, 2009, 08:56:34 PM » Author: rjluna2
I don't remember seeing one at any of the store so far lately, but I'll keep my eye peeled. You might want to see Target store, maybe they do sell some of them out there...
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	Re: C7 Twinkle Lights « Reply #8 on: December 14, 2009, 01:24:13 AM » Author: tmcdllr
I just saw at Walgreens of all places they have replacement C7 and C9 multicolored twinkle bulbs. I was surprised to see the C9 as the C7 seems more common.
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Nothing like the beautiful cool white light of a coated Mercury Vapor lamp and the soothing hum of it's magnetic ballast.

	Re: C7 Twinkle Lights « Reply #10 on: December 19, 2009, 09:54:19 PM » Author: tmcdllr
Similar to the mini twinkle bulbs there is a bi-metallic strip in the lamp. It heats up and bends, opening the circuit to the filament. Cools down, and closes, this repeats. The neat thing is each bulb flashes separately from the others, instead of the whole string flashing at the same time, and it's totally random. Plus, sometimes they make a nice 'ting' sound when they twinkle. Unlike the minis, when one burns out it has no effect on the rest of them. And brighter, more vibrant colors.
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Nothing like the beautiful cool white light of a coated Mercury Vapor lamp and the soothing hum of it's magnetic ballast.

	Re: C7 Twinkle Lights « Reply #11 on: January 06, 2010, 12:01:24 AM » Author: Bamaslamma1003
C7 lights rock! I have several sets of them that are about as old as I am (30 years) and still work perfectly. I've been known to use them in the off season for general lighting. Love that warm glow. And when the bulbs burn out, you can replace them with regular 4 watt night light bulbs. Don't have any blinky bulbs though. I always liked the "bubble bulbs." I also bought a few of the "flicker flame" bulbs for them as well. Not to mention, they're parallel wired, so blown (or missing) bulbs won't affect the rest of the set. None of that "one goes out, they all go out" crap.
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	Re: C7 Twinkle Lights « Reply #12 on: January 06, 2010, 01:07:04 AM » Author: tmcdllr
I love the NOMA bubble lights! When I was a kid we had the small and large bubble lights. Now I have a few of the large ones as they live in night light sockets. These are very hard to find now. These are probably the strangest bulbs I have ever seen but they are so cool!
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Nothing like the beautiful cool white light of a coated Mercury Vapor lamp and the soothing hum of it's magnetic ballast.

	Re: C7 Twinkle Lights « Reply #14 on: January 11, 2010, 08:56:16 PM » Author: tmcdllr
You can get them online for cheap. I just bought a multicolored box of 25 for about $6. Plus you can get a box of 25 bulbs in clear or any of the six or seven colors for about the same.
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Nothing like the beautiful cool white light of a coated Mercury Vapor lamp and the soothing hum of it's magnetic ballast.