I follow the RVdreams blog and the authors just posted a cautionary tale about shorted-out rope lights that might have caused a fire but for their early detection. I know many LDers use rope lights often, so this might be of interest.
RV-Dreams Journal: Potential Fire Disaster Averted - (Jacksonville, FL) (http://rv-dreams.typepad.com/rvdreams_journal/2017/01/potential-fire-disaster-averted-jacksonville-fl.html)
--Jon
Thanks, Jon; good caution!
It may not work for everyone, but If I were using rope lights, I'd get the kind that run off a battery pack to keep them isolated from any rig wiring.
Battery-Operated LED Rope Lights | PartyLights (http://www.partylights.com/Rope-Lights/LED-Rope-Lights-Battery-Operated)
Joan
This was a good read.
In the real world the smallest wire size dictates the largest fuse that should protecting the circuit. I saw dad wrap cigarette foil around a burned glass fuse and never though anything about its ramifications 40 years a go. I never even considered this when I added gauges to my first car 30 years ago. After a study of solar for my first RV, and adding tank heaters I really started thinking about fuse sizes.