Mfcttrf

What's the connection between Mr. Nancy and fried chicken?

Protagonist's race is hidden - should I reveal it?

Like totally amazing interchangeable sister outfit accessory swapping or whatever

Are Flameskulls resistant to magical piercing damage?

Weaponising the Grasp-at-a-Distance spell

How to mute a string and play another at the same time

How to create a command for the "strange m" symbol in latex?

What helicopter has the most rotor blades?

How can I introduce the names of fantasy creatures to the reader?

Continue tikz picture on next page

Recursive calls to a function - why is the address of the parameter passed to it lowering with each call?

Why these surprising proportionalities of integrals involving odd zeta values?

How is an IPA symbol that lacks a name (e.g. ɲ) called?

Converting a text document with special format to Pandas DataFrame

Determine the generator of an ideal of ring of integers

Is the Mordenkainen's Sword spell underpowered?

Marquee sign letters

Compiling and throwing simple dynamic exceptions at runtime for JVM

Does the Pact of the Blade warlock feature allow me to customize the properties of the pact weapon I create?

Why do people think Winterfell crypts is the safest place for women, children & old people?

tabularx column has extra padding at right?

Why does my GNOME settings mention "Moto C Plus"?

Does traveling In The United States require a passport or can I use my green card if not a US citizen?

Lights are flickering on and off after accidentally bumping into light switch

Why is one lightbulb in a string illuminated?

.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty margin-bottom:0;

3

1

$begingroup$

I noticed that in various strings of lights only one was illuminated. It seems implausible that all but one out of several hundred blew. What caused this and why did this particular light turn on?

parallel lighting

share|improve this question

asked 4 hours ago

dothyphendotdothyphendot

1161

New contributor

dothyphendot is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

$endgroup$

• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  $begingroup$
  I think there is too less information to answer this question without speculation, and there is probably neither no way to validate an answer in order to accept it.
  $endgroup$
  – Huisman
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  $begingroup$
  Never seen serial streetlights on cables from street-corners before. But if there enough mutual coupling to power 1 bulb out of say 30 in series. The bulb with the fastest warm-up time draws all the induced voltage ( e.g. 240/30) due to 10:1 PTC effects
  $endgroup$
  – Sunnyskyguy EE75
  2 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  $begingroup$
  Looks a lovely park not far from the Welsh coast
  $endgroup$
  – Sunnyskyguy EE75
  2 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

3

1

$begingroup$

I noticed that in various strings of lights only one was illuminated. It seems implausible that all but one out of several hundred blew. What caused this and why did this particular light turn on?

parallel lighting

share|improve this question

asked 4 hours ago

dothyphendotdothyphendot

1161

New contributor

dothyphendot is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

$endgroup$

• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  $begingroup$
  I think there is too less information to answer this question without speculation, and there is probably neither no way to validate an answer in order to accept it.
  $endgroup$
  – Huisman
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  $begingroup$
  Never seen serial streetlights on cables from street-corners before. But if there enough mutual coupling to power 1 bulb out of say 30 in series. The bulb with the fastest warm-up time draws all the induced voltage ( e.g. 240/30) due to 10:1 PTC effects
  $endgroup$
  – Sunnyskyguy EE75
  2 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  $begingroup$
  Looks a lovely park not far from the Welsh coast
  $endgroup$
  – Sunnyskyguy EE75
  2 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

$begingroup$

I noticed that in various strings of lights only one was illuminated. It seems implausible that all but one out of several hundred blew. What caused this and why did this particular light turn on?

parallel lighting

share|improve this question

asked 4 hours ago

dothyphendotdothyphendot

1161

New contributor

dothyphendot is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

$endgroup$

share|improve this question

asked 4 hours ago

dothyphendotdothyphendot

1161

New contributor

dothyphendot is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

share|improve this question

asked 4 hours ago

dothyphendotdothyphendot

1161

New contributor

dothyphendot is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

asked 4 hours ago

dothyphendotdothyphendot

1161

New contributor

dothyphendot is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

asked 4 hours ago

dothyphendotdothyphendot

1161

2 Answers
2

active

oldest

votes

2

$begingroup$

Figure 1. The intriguing light bulb has caught the attention of Smokey the Bear too.

There can only be a few possibilities:

• The lamps are spread across several phases or split phases, the other phases are off and all but this lamp has blown. This is very unlikely.


• Some joker has installed a battery powered lamp. This too seems unlikely.

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." Sherlock Holmes.

• The impossible has happened and all have blown but one. This could happen with an overvoltage - by lightning, for example. Some combination of poor contact, tough filament, arcing in another lamp (which would limit the voltage), etc., may be enough to let it survive.

---

Another possibility is that the power is on and that each bulb has its own light sensor (like some streetlights) and this one is the first to switch on. Again, unlikely.

share|improve this answer

edited 3 hours ago

answered 3 hours ago

TransistorTransistor

89.4k786192

$endgroup$

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  $begingroup$
  I'd go with the battery powered hypothesis, there are available lamps that include a battery back-up
  $endgroup$
  – Jasen
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  $begingroup$
  Are these lamps connected in series or parallel? Or several series strings in parallel?
  $endgroup$
  – Toor
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  $begingroup$
  looks like parallel festoon fittings to me
  $endgroup$
  – Jasen
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  $begingroup$
  Then the o/v has my vote. Someone may have fitted a single 275V (very likely 260V) globe as a spare. We had these in Western Australia for a long time and they lasted forever back when we were 250V and the rest of the country 240V. (almost always higher in both cases).
  $endgroup$
  – mckenzm
  6 mins ago
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

0

$begingroup$

I'd go with the implausible explanation. All the bulbs are blown except the one.

Most festoon lights use a screw-in socket so all the lights are in parallel:

I'd suggest that the string was perhaps hit by a truck (or a surge) and a bunch of the lights broke.

share|improve this answer

answered 3 hours ago

Jack CreaseyJack Creasey

15.4k2823

$endgroup$

add a comment | 

Your Answer

StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function ()
return StackExchange.using("schematics", function ()
StackExchange.schematics.init();
);
, "cicuitlab");

StackExchange.ready(function()
var channelOptions =
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "135"
;
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
createEditor();
);

else
createEditor();

);

function createEditor()
StackExchange.prepareEditor(
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader:
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
,
onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
);



);

dothyphendot is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.

draft saved

draft discarded

Sign up or log in

StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);

Sign up using Google

Sign up using Facebook

Sign up using Email and Password

Post as a guest

Name

Email

Required, but never shown

StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2felectronics.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f433920%2fwhy-is-one-lightbulb-in-a-string-illuminated%23new-answer', 'question_page');

);

Post as a guest

Name

Email

Required, but never shown

2

$begingroup$

Figure 1. The intriguing light bulb has caught the attention of Smokey the Bear too.

There can only be a few possibilities:

• The lamps are spread across several phases or split phases, the other phases are off and all but this lamp has blown. This is very unlikely.


• Some joker has installed a battery powered lamp. This too seems unlikely.

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." Sherlock Holmes.

• The impossible has happened and all have blown but one. This could happen with an overvoltage - by lightning, for example. Some combination of poor contact, tough filament, arcing in another lamp (which would limit the voltage), etc., may be enough to let it survive.

---

Another possibility is that the power is on and that each bulb has its own light sensor (like some streetlights) and this one is the first to switch on. Again, unlikely.

share|improve this answer

edited 3 hours ago

answered 3 hours ago

TransistorTransistor

89.4k786192

$endgroup$

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  $begingroup$
  I'd go with the battery powered hypothesis, there are available lamps that include a battery back-up
  $endgroup$
  – Jasen
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  $begingroup$
  Are these lamps connected in series or parallel? Or several series strings in parallel?
  $endgroup$
  – Toor
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  $begingroup$
  looks like parallel festoon fittings to me
  $endgroup$
  – Jasen
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  $begingroup$
  Then the o/v has my vote. Someone may have fitted a single 275V (very likely 260V) globe as a spare. We had these in Western Australia for a long time and they lasted forever back when we were 250V and the rest of the country 240V. (almost always higher in both cases).
  $endgroup$
  – mckenzm
  6 mins ago
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

2

$begingroup$

Figure 1. The intriguing light bulb has caught the attention of Smokey the Bear too.

There can only be a few possibilities:

• The lamps are spread across several phases or split phases, the other phases are off and all but this lamp has blown. This is very unlikely.


• Some joker has installed a battery powered lamp. This too seems unlikely.

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." Sherlock Holmes.

• The impossible has happened and all have blown but one. This could happen with an overvoltage - by lightning, for example. Some combination of poor contact, tough filament, arcing in another lamp (which would limit the voltage), etc., may be enough to let it survive.

---

Another possibility is that the power is on and that each bulb has its own light sensor (like some streetlights) and this one is the first to switch on. Again, unlikely.

share|improve this answer

edited 3 hours ago

answered 3 hours ago

TransistorTransistor

89.4k786192

$endgroup$

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  $begingroup$
  I'd go with the battery powered hypothesis, there are available lamps that include a battery back-up
  $endgroup$
  – Jasen
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  $begingroup$
  Are these lamps connected in series or parallel? Or several series strings in parallel?
  $endgroup$
  – Toor
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  $begingroup$
  looks like parallel festoon fittings to me
  $endgroup$
  – Jasen
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  $begingroup$
  Then the o/v has my vote. Someone may have fitted a single 275V (very likely 260V) globe as a spare. We had these in Western Australia for a long time and they lasted forever back when we were 250V and the rest of the country 240V. (almost always higher in both cases).
  $endgroup$
  – mckenzm
  6 mins ago
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

$begingroup$

Figure 1. The intriguing light bulb has caught the attention of Smokey the Bear too.

There can only be a few possibilities:

• The lamps are spread across several phases or split phases, the other phases are off and all but this lamp has blown. This is very unlikely.


• Some joker has installed a battery powered lamp. This too seems unlikely.

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." Sherlock Holmes.

• The impossible has happened and all have blown but one. This could happen with an overvoltage - by lightning, for example. Some combination of poor contact, tough filament, arcing in another lamp (which would limit the voltage), etc., may be enough to let it survive.

---

Another possibility is that the power is on and that each bulb has its own light sensor (like some streetlights) and this one is the first to switch on. Again, unlikely.

share|improve this answer

edited 3 hours ago

answered 3 hours ago

TransistorTransistor

89.4k786192

$endgroup$

share|improve this answer

edited 3 hours ago

answered 3 hours ago

TransistorTransistor

89.4k786192

answered 3 hours ago

TransistorTransistor

89.4k786192

answered 3 hours ago

TransistorTransistor

89.4k786192

0

$begingroup$

I'd go with the implausible explanation. All the bulbs are blown except the one.

Most festoon lights use a screw-in socket so all the lights are in parallel:

I'd suggest that the string was perhaps hit by a truck (or a surge) and a bunch of the lights broke.

share|improve this answer

answered 3 hours ago

Jack CreaseyJack Creasey

15.4k2823

$endgroup$

add a comment | 

0

$begingroup$

I'd go with the implausible explanation. All the bulbs are blown except the one.

Most festoon lights use a screw-in socket so all the lights are in parallel:

I'd suggest that the string was perhaps hit by a truck (or a surge) and a bunch of the lights broke.

share|improve this answer

answered 3 hours ago

Jack CreaseyJack Creasey

15.4k2823

$endgroup$

add a comment | 

$begingroup$

I'd go with the implausible explanation. All the bulbs are blown except the one.

Most festoon lights use a screw-in socket so all the lights are in parallel:

I'd suggest that the string was perhaps hit by a truck (or a surge) and a bunch of the lights broke.

share|improve this answer

answered 3 hours ago

Jack CreaseyJack Creasey

15.4k2823

$endgroup$

share|improve this answer

answered 3 hours ago

Jack CreaseyJack Creasey

15.4k2823

answered 3 hours ago

Jack CreaseyJack Creasey

15.4k2823

answered 3 hours ago

Jack CreaseyJack Creasey

15.4k2823