Cutting down a 200 string of minis

[cubbieco]

I bought some spools of 200 mini lights.  I already know these are made up of 4 strings of 50 and I can find the portions where there are only two wires between the strings instead of three.  These aren't LED but they are energy efficient minis.  I have a couple of questions:

#1 - Do other people cut mini lights like this or is it an all around bad idea.  It seems like a cheaper way to get 50 light strings out of the 200.

#2 - I'm guessing that people use those plugs for SPT-1 wire when they do things like this.  What's the best (cheapest) place to get it?  Another post mentioned CDI but unfortunately I don't know what that stands for or what the web site is.

#3 - Do mini lights really have a polarity that they need to follow or can they go either direction?  Hopefully they colored the inner wires so I know which is hot and which is not.  If not how could I find out which is the hot wire (a safe way anyway)?

I'm not a pro electrician or anything but I have added circuits to my house myself and done enough household wiring.  I know how to respect electricity and what kinds of things are really bad ideas so I'm not afraid to modify the strings of Christmas lights. 

Thanks in advance for the answers.

[chrisatpsu]

I bought some spools of 200 mini lights.  I already know these are made up of 4 strings of 50 and I can find the portions where there are only two wires between the strings instead of three.  These aren't LED but they are energy efficient minis.  I have a couple of questions:

#1 - Do other people cut mini lights like this or is it an all around bad idea.  It seems like a cheaper way to get 50 light strings out of the 200.

A lot of people alter the strings. expecially, when they want just a few portions to be on it's own channel for a specific thing

#2 - I'm guessing that people use those plugs for SPT-1 wire when they do things like this.  What's the best (cheapest) place to get it?  Another post mentioned CDI but unfortunately I don't know what that stands for or what the web site is.

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#3 - Do mini lights really have a polarity that they need to follow or can they go either direction?  Hopefully they colored the inner wires so I know which is hot and which is not.  If not how could I find out which is the hot wire (a safe way anyway)?

the included plugs are generally not polarized (one side wider that the other) so i don't believe it matters much, unless it does have a polarized plug, then follow that line through.

I'm not a pro electrician or anything but I have added circuits to my house myself and done enough household wiring.  I know how to respect electricity and what kinds of things are really bad ideas so I'm not afraid to modify the strings of Christmas lights.  

Thanks in advance for the answers.

I would just add to obviously not work on them while plugged in, and to make sure any "loose end" is covered to keep from being exposed. once you cut a line, you now have 2 more ends to cover. Also, almost forgot, It would be a good idea to include a fuse of similar type in the new string you're creating.

[jnealand]

If you were like me you would have at least 100 6" pieces of wire with a plug on them.  I use HD, Lowes, Walmart, etc 6ft cords for the sockets on my LEs and I cut the first 6" off and throw them in a box.  I think using the vampire plugs would not work since they are designed to go on a piece of spt and minis are typically just 2 or 3 single wire strands coming out of the plug.

[inzeos]

If you were like me you would have at least 100 6" pieces of wire with a plug on them.  I use HD, Lowes, Walmart, etc 6ft cords for the sockets on my LEs and I cut the first 6" off and throw them in a box.  I think using the vampire plugs would not work since they are designed to go on a piece of spt and minis are typically just 2 or 3 single wire strands coming out of the plug.

I agree.  I think you would be best using the male ends off whatever cords you might have used for your Lynx Express outputs and solder on the string ends.  Make sure to use some shrink wrap.

[cubbieco]

Awesome.  Thanks.  Yeah I was wondering if the monoprice (or whatever I can get for cheap) cables would be easier for the ends.  I guess so.