Monday, November 5, 2007

Stapled through Christmas lights

So, I have been stringing blue LED icicle lights under the train track today. Then, I hid the wires with green garland. It's slow going. I thought about doing the stringing before I raised the track, but I thought this way would be easier. It will sure turn out better than if I did it upside down, then flipped it. I'm using those 3M adhesive hooks. They're under $4 per package; each package contains 24. I used one package today and estimate I'll need another 5-6 to finish the project.

I hesitated to staple the stuff because I want to be able to resuse the track for years to come and not have to worry about staple holes. Plus, staples are much cheaper than adhesives. So, on my third staple, I shot one right through a strand of lights. Great. At least I was smart enough NOT to have the strand plugged in. So, can I pull out the staple, and continue? Or is the strand trashed now? If it does work, will it be dangerous? I dont know these answers, so I've posted the questions on Planet Christmas. Two people have replied saying the same thing:
Make sure the set is unplugged. Pull out the staple. Look at the wire, is it damaged at all? If the coating is damaged but nothing else, use electrical tape. If the wire is damaged, cut out the bad part, reconnect, cap it, and apply electrical tape. Even better is heat shrink tubing the same size as the wire if you happen to have any. Basically you want to make it waterproof.
Since, this is an indoor strand (which I failed to mention in my original post), I think it will be OK if I just put some tape on it and continue on.

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