So I spent a week making a platform bed for my grandson, got it to his house and put it all together. Installed these lights, got to the second string, and this is what I found. Yes I plugged them in before, yes I handled them gently. So I have a 13 yr old boy all excited for his cool new room and I had to leave it half-assed. I left it as it was so he could at least get the feel, but now I have to get another set, go back to his house to swap, then see if I can return these broken ones. Not a cool situation. Also, on Amazon, the "Buy these when you buy this" thing, so I took their word for it and ordered the connectors and clips. Well, the lights are 3 prong BUT the connectors were 4 prong, so I had to go back and order 3 prong. Ended up not using them either as getting a good connection on these waterproof lights SUCK . So I designed the bed so I wouldn't need them. The clips helped. I am a 50 something grandmother, I just wanted to give this kid a cool space.