Many people throughout the world will dig boxes of holiday decorations out of their attics, basements, or garages and discover strings of burned-out Christmas lights as a time-honored tradition. The last thing you want to deal with is unlit Christmas lights as you hang your Christmas decorations and prepare for guests. We at Peterkin Electric would like to offer some tips and suggestions to help you find the bad bulbs on your Christmas light.
Christmas Lights Repair Tools
– Outlet
– Correct voltage replacement bulb
– Christmas light tester tool or voltage detector
– Strand of non-functioning lights
– Safety glasses
Christmas String Lights Troubleshooting
A pro tip is to start at the easier solution first and move on to the challenging problems for starters. Before you start looking for the burned-out bulb, loose bulbs, damaged or frayed wires, and/or damaged outlets or electrical plugs should be checked.
How to Tell Which Incandescent Bulb is Out on a String of Lights
Designed in series, incandescent string lights, a single bad bulb can make the whole string go dark since the electricity must pass through each bulb to complete the circuit. There can be two circuits in some larger strings of lights. With a Christmas light tester, incandescent Christmas lights’ faulty bulb can be found easily. The tester’s indicator will light up once you bring the light tester close to each bulb if the bulb is functioning. Be sure to bring the detector close to the wire section between each bulb to test for voltage should you opt to use a non-contact voltage detector. Once the bad bulb is found, the dead section will be following the bulb. Consider switching to LED lights if you are concerned about light safety or constantly frustrated with incandescent bulbs burning out. Making LED lights more beneficial, they use less energy, and produce less and last longer.
How to Find Bad LED Bulb in Christmas Lights
To keep the circuit from failing from a single burnt out bulb, LED Christmas lights are made without removable bulbs usually. Troubleshooting process is similar to incandescent bulbs should you have LED Christmas lights with removable bulbs. Use your voltage detector or light tester to locate the faulty bulb or dead length of wire starting one end of your strand, beginning one end of your strand, or in the dark portion of your strand. If you do not any voltage detectors or other tools, switch out each bulb if you do have a replacement bulb you can go down the whole length of the string.
Christmas Light Bulb Replacement
With the correct voltage rating and color, be sure to have replacement incandescent or LED bulbs. Prior to removing or replacing any bulbs, unplug your lights. Though you still experience problems the issue may be bad wiring and if that’s the case, you are better off replacing the strand should you have replaced the bad bulbs on your Christmas lights.
Lighting Consultations, Fixture Installations & More in Laguna Woods, Santa Ana, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Aliso Viejo, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Irvine, Lake Forest & Orange County, California
You may discover you simply do not have enough outlets, call Peterkin Electric and our certified experts can install more outlets for a safe and efficient holiday lighting should you find that as put up the interior or exterior lights.