I have a string of battery powered Christmas lights which run on 3v. Just screwing around I decided to use a diecimila that i'm not currently using to make them blink. I assumed the basic blinking program would suffice but I'm dumb and missing something. Thoughts?
So if im understanding it right... you connectected the whole strand to one arduino pin? This is probably the problem. Try a transistor or seperate the leads to a few more pins.
Yup, if that's what you did that's way too much load. The 3V regulator supplies around 500mA and the 5V supplies 1A, less the draw from the arduino itself.
As mentioned, throw a transistor on there and you're ready to impress friends and family with your disco tree.
The 3V regulator supplies around 500mA and the 5V supplies 1A
NO it doesn't if you try that it will overheat and will thermally shut down.