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| How safe are your Christmas Tree lights? |
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On December 24-26, there will be about 10,000 fires from Christmas trees, but the MythBusters specifically wanted to test if it was the heatfrom Christmas lights could be responsible and not some other cause (e.g. electrical short).
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Adam and Jamie wanted to test different types of lights as well as normal versus abnormal numbers of lights. They picked up a bunch of C7 3 amp lights and C9 5 amp lights from Fantastico in San Francisco.
Hot boxes and "Maximum Allowable" lights on a tree
Adam stuck each type of Christmas light in a metal box with foil over the top. These "hot boxes" were then left overnight so that the temperature so that they could be measured in the morning.
They also wrapped up the maximum allowable number of lights to leave overnight. The "maximum allowable" amount was dictated by the fuses on the lights. MythTern Jess had to watch over the tree and hot boxes overnight.
In the morning, there were no tree fires and the C7 3 amp lights showed no signs of damage in the hot box. The C9 5amp lights got up to 350 degrees, which was enough to melt them together. Adam was excited by this result, as it sets up the conditions for a potential wire short.
Bypassing the safety measures: 500 lights
Adam and Jamie wired the Christmas lights in parallel to bypass the safety fuses. They were able to string up 500 of the 5 amp C9 lights on the Christmas tree. After five hours, they were able to get up to 228 degrees with accompanying dryness, but no fire. After 8 hours, still no fire.
Creating a spark
Adam strung a bunch of lights to a scary stack of three-outlet adapters together and then connected them to an old extension cord. This configuration sent double the rated power through the extension cord. The insulation on the old extension cord began to melt, causing a spark and a brief flame.
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Creating a fire
They upped the ante to replicate the results, going with five times as many lights as before -- 2500 -- as well as paper garlands and ornaments. Knowing that they were going for fire, they went out to Pleasanton's fire center and enlisted the help of their fire department. The Pleasanton Fired Department was familiar with Christmas tree fires: in 1997, a child turned on the Christmas lights and the tree immediately ignited.
After 21 minutes, their tree was already at 240 degrees. At 40 minutes, it started getting smoky, but there was no fire.
At this point they decided if 2500 lights hadn't set things on fire by this point, they would go to their standby ignition: a neon transformer that boosts the voltage to 5000-6000 volts. Jamie: "straightforward, always works, way of getting a fire"
With the Pleasanton Fire Department at the ready, they were able to immediately spark the tree. The fire quickly consumed the entire tree.
Adam: "Firemen have the best toys, ever"
Conclusion? The heat from Christmas lights cannot set the tree on fire, but other things can.
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