I was at the Mart of K last weekend with a friend; they had LED Xmas light strings. They had ~35 LED's and were priced at $10.
Got up front and found out they were half-off. He went back and got the other 9 boxes of multicolor ones. Got back in line, and adjacent cashier passed us an instant coupon just left behind; 20% off.....
Between that and the power saving...
They appear to be in series; with a lump in the line at each end. The instruction sheet talks about there being no shunt, but the LEDs are removable and they give you extras.
So if we have a rectifier in one lump, and series R in the other, some things come to mind. One failed-open LED brings down the string, and it has full line voltage across it. Hmm, is there a sparkgap in each LED that seals closed when so abused? How'd they get UL/FM approval with such?
We plan to do some measuring/testing after they are not needed, but until then, has anyone beat us to it?