Is 119' of lampcord acceptable?


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Old 12-23-10, 04:46 PM
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Is 119' of lampcord acceptable?

I found a string of lights on the internet using 119' of lampcord and 100 intermediate sockets. No fuse. Is this acceptable? It had 99' 0f lights and a 20' cord. I have had lamps burn out and instantly trip the breaker. What if this is the last bulb? Will it pop the 20a breaker or will it just smoulder?
 
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Old 12-23-10, 04:58 PM
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Do they say it is lamp cord? What wattage bulbs?
 
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Old 12-23-10, 05:52 PM
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It is 18awg spt-1 zipcord. I bought just the wire from them and it looks exactly like lampcord. 7-watt lamps.
 
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Old 12-24-10, 05:31 AM
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700 watts brings you dangerously close to the ampacity limit of 18-gauge zip cord, especially over that distance. The breaker is probably popping when a lamp burns out because there's a direct short for a short duration. I wouldn't rely on a 20-amp breaker protecting that wiring. It's probably running warm to begin with.

Can't you split it into two runs of 50 lamps? I would also add a 5-amp slo-blow fuse to each string.
 
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Old 12-24-10, 06:14 AM
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I didn't buy the set, I was just asking if it was acceptable. I had bulbs on a single lampholder, with no other load trip the breaker while I was testing bulbs.
 
 

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