Found the bad bulb at a wedding last weekend by licking my finger

I was helping my cousin set up fairy lights for her backyard wedding and a whole strand went dead 20 minutes before guests showed up. I remembered an old trick about touching the base of each bulb with a wet finger to feel for voltage, and found the dead one on the fifth try. Anyone else got weird last-minute fixes they swear by when you're in a pinch?

2 comments

2 Comments

juliawalker28d ago

Yeah the wet finger trick is solid for finding dead bulbs fast. I had a string of Christmas lights go out last December and did the same thing. You just wet your thumb and run it along each bulb base until you feel a tiny buzz. That buzzing means the bulb is still getting power. When you hit a dead one the buzz stops completely. I replaced that one bulb and the whole rest of the string lit right back up.

harper_murphy28d ago

I had a whole set of patio string lights die on me last summer and did the exact same wet finger thing. Found the dead bulb in like 30 seconds flat and the rest lit right up as soon as I swapped it out. That trick has saved me from tossing so many light strings over the years.