How much can christmas lights run?

[zahc]

I need my soldering iron outside tomorrow, and there is no energy. I don't have an extension cord either but we have christmas lights out there with a nice convenient plug on the end. Could I run a 25W soldering iron on that you think?

[crt360]

LOL

If it does work, you'll look pretty festive out there.  A lot of those strings have little fuses in the plug.  You might blow one trying, but that's about it.  Most light strings are way more than 25W and I've seen people plug quite a few together, so I'd guess it'll work.

[Azrael256]

Uh, no.  Don't even try it.  Avoid 120v hack jobs like... well, like an electrical fire.  It will probably work just fine one time, but mucking about with household current is a REALLY risky proposition.  Run down to Radio Shack and get yourself a butane-powered soldering tool.  It looks like a fat pen, and it's a handy thing to toss in the toolbox.

Strictly speaking, it's a bad idea to plug a soldering tool into an extension cord anyway.

[crt360]

I agree with Azrael about avoiding it if possible.  Depending on what you are using, you could burn your house down.  I was under the impression that you have some urgent soldering need and can't get to a store to get the proper equipment.  I also assumed you would be very careful and not repeat the activity in the future.  I should have said it'll probably work, but you should seek a better alternative.

[Guest]

How did you put up Christmas lights without an extension cord?

You need to have one around anyways, so you might as well pick one up for the future.

[Harold Tuttle]

electricity is like water...

think of the wire diameter like a pipe

christmas lights have tiny wires
soldering irons have fat wires

you should not drain a pond thru a drinking straw.