If a bulb goes out, will the rest of the light string operate?

While you shouldn't expect your Tru-Tone bulbs to fail prematurely, if you do have a bulb die, the rest of your lights will remain lit.

All modern threaded base bulbs (including our C7, C9, and S14 bulbs) are powered with the light strings wired in parallel, not in series, so each will receive 120 Volts AC from the light string regardless of how many other lights may or may not be on the string, or if one experiences a failure.

Tru-Tone covers premature failures, so be sure to reach out to us if you find yourself in this situation!

Our Mini Lites, due to their different voltage requirements (24 Volts DC), are wired differently than our threaded bulbs and thus require a bulb in each socket so that each Mini Lites can receive the proper voltage.

However, because of how power is carried down the length of the string, removing a bulb from its socket for replacement may not cause the entire strand to go out. Likewise, if a Mini Lite on your strand burns out, the rest of the strand should stay lit. You should not leave empty sockets or burned-out bulbs on the string long-term, however, as each Mini Lite on the strand depends on its neighbors to take an equal share of the voltage coming from the power supply. If too many bulbs are missing, this can cause the remaining bulbs on the strand to receive too much power, causing premature failure of the entire string.

Our Mini Lites come with 2 spare bulbs in the small wax paper bag on the end of the string and can be used for replacements.