Jumbo Novelty 'C9' Bulb to String Light Adapter

thingiverse

We had gotten these fun oversized 'C9'-like Christmas lights to hang from the string lights on our deck. Each one took 4 AA batteries and the components within didn't survive more than one season. To eliminate the excessive quantity of batteries needed with several of these lights (at 4 AA a piece) and also the cheap electronics and construction it occurred to me that it would be nice if these jumbo lights could just be lit by the string itself. I set out to create an adapter that would allow me to put the deck string lights inside the jumbo bulbs and this was the result. The string we have is actually a very old set from Costco (it won't die) but I think it should work on the newer LED-based ones also as long as the 'bulbs' can be removed. Put the socket through the top of the base and slide the socket cord through the slot on the cap and then screw all the things together. I made the inside have a 45 degree taper at the top so as to eliminate the need to have a large amount of support within the stricture. I did print it with supports for the large threads for the jumbo bulb, but it might print well without those (haven't tried). One thing I did discover is that water will collect inside the bulb since the plug isn't 'water tight'. So I drilled a little drain hold at the bottom/tip of the bulbs and problem solved.