Abusing the Warranty

We went to target and then Wal-Mart today.  Wal-Mart for some digital prints and a couple loose ends.  Target for Christmas stuff and the bulk of other items.

We bought a 2.5’ tabletop Christmas tree with fiber optic lights built in, a big $20 for the year or two we can’t have a bigger tree.  We also got some tiny ornaments for it, that would not be too heavy.  Holiday Christmas stuff for your giving Christmas tree and other decorating, wrapping, etc. needs is insanely cheap these days.  Not to mention varied and innovative.  We forgot the hangers for the ornaments, so I’ll have to run to Brooks or whatever for some, or find some paper clips and adapt them.

Meanwhile, I setup the tree.  Plugged it in, flipped the switch, and the switch wasn’t flippable, but more like flappable.  Broken.  Doh!  This after Deb dug for one that had an undamaged box.

I took it apart.  It’s made to be able to do that, because if the halogen bulb dies, it can be replaced.  The whole thing is simply a motor turning a multicolored lens at an offset above a light that shines into the base of the tree and comes out the fiber ends in whatever color is between the bulb and the fiber in question.

The switch is a slider that makes contact between two wire connections on a tiny circuit board.  The board the wires attach to was not connected to the switch mechanism.  Easy enough.  But then it was fussy about making the connection right, and would arc and flicker.  No good.

Determined not to have to return it and deal with the madness, but to have a working pre-lit tree, I ended up soldering it so it’s always on.  It’s controlled by the switch on the power strip or by the state of being plugged in or not.  It’s sitting there, gracing the room as I type.  Go me!

This would not have been possible had my father not given me a used soldering gun and small supply of solder when I was up there for Thanksgiving.  He brought out his good soldering gun to improve my car’s wiring situation, and I remarked that I had always wanted one of those, ever since my older brother got one when I was a kid and I was all jealous.  Sooner or later, I would have bought myself one.  The one I lusted after is big, powerful, gun-shaped, and has a trigger for turning the heat on and off.  You’d not actually want it for smaller, more sensitive electronics.  Strangely enough, most of the soldering I’ve ever done was with a propane torch, doing metal work, not electrical at all.

My father gave me a little soldering gun that is always on when plugged in, better for small electronics, and just needed the tip sanded down a little.  He never needed it any more, with the larger one around.  I stuck it in my toolbox with the thin, solid solder.

Then tonight came along.  Yay!  My father saved our tree.  And me a trip back to Target.  Not that I might not end up there anyway, as I still need to get something for Deb… But I hate returns.

Now to hang Sadie’s stocking under the tree…

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