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Links: 
www.LightFlurries.com |
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Troubleshooting Just like net lights, icicle lights, or regular mini-light strings, Lawn Lights may require some troubleshooting from time to time if they fail to light up. Fortunately, the problem can be identified very quickly and easily if you follow the procedures I describe here or in the User's Manual. In my experience, the majority of the time the problem is caused by a damaged or displaced bulb. Sometimes a lamp will get twisted in its base causing the wires to be torn off of the bottom of the glass bulb. This cannot be seen without physically removing the bulb from the base (tedious). Sometimes a lamp will burn out and stop conducting electricity to the rest of the lamps even though it has been designed to continue conducting electricity. Sometimes condensation, moisture, and dirt will cause the contacts to slightly corrode, causing an interruption in the flow of electricity. Sometimes a bulb has been broken or has become dislodged from its socket. Sometimes a wire has been accidently pulled from a socket. All of these cases are very easy to fix, but may be very difficult to find without the proper tools and procedure. The most important thing I can recommend to troubleshoot a set of Lawn Lights (and other Christmas Lights) is to use a proximity type light string tester. I cannot stress this enough. I have seen 2 kinds of testers - one has a blunt end and the other is relatively new and has a pointed tip. Both are very readily available at retail/hardware stores (your local Wal-mart or Lowes, for example) for only $4 to $8. Trust me - this is money very well spent. I also sell them when I have them in stock.  The User's Manual already gives a detailed explaination of how to use the blunt end style of proximity type light string tester, so I will not repeat that procedure. You can view the User's Manual by clicking on the User's Manual link. I do want to explain how to use the new pointed tip type proximity light string tester. These testers are quite handy once you understand how they work. They can be very confusing and frustrating if you don't understand how they work, so let's begin there. The pointed tip type proximity light string tester is designed to check the 2 wires exiting the socket of the lamp. You slip the tip of the tester between the 2 wires exiting the socket and push a button. What the tester essentially does is determine which of these two wires has electricity in them. If there is electricity in both wires, you will get a solid green light. If there is electricity in one and only one of the two wires, you will get a solid red light. If there is no electricity in either of the two wires, you will not get any lit indicator. If you have one of these testers or acquire one, follow the procedure below to troubleshoot your Lawn Lights and you can identify the problem in well under 10 minutes. What we will be doing is using the tester to test the wire between the lamps, not the wire exiting the lamp sockets. First, plug your Lawn Lights into an outlet that you know is supplying power (i.e. - the breaker has not tripped). I suggest you temporarily plug something else into that outlet to confirm that it is indeed supplying power. Next, take your pointed tip type proximity light string tester to a point halfway between the plug and the very first lamp and use it to test the wire there. You do this by slipping the tip of the tester between the two wires there and pushing the button. What you want to see is a solid red light (i.e. - NOT GREEN). If you see a solid green light, the problem resides in the plug itself, and you should check to be sure the fuses are seated properly in the plug (please read the User's Manual for more detailed instructions). If the tester does not give you a solid red or solid green light (i.e. no indicator), then the problem either resides in the plug itself or there is no power at the outlet you are using. Please check the power and the seating of the fuses (again, please read the User's Manual for more detailed instructions). Once you have confirmed that the plug is good and that you have power (indicated by the solid red light), advance to a point halfway between the next 2 lamps and test the wire there. Again, you want a solid red light (i.e. - NOT GREEN). If you indeed get a solid red light, continue advancing to a point halfway between the next 2 lamps and repeat this test until you no longer get a solid red light. If you do not get a solid red light, then the problem resides somewhere between the point you are currently testing and the last place you successfully tested. In that case, start working your way back toward the plug, testing the wire and inspecting the lamps as you go. One tip to make this procedure even faster is to skip a number of lamps between each test. For example, instead of testing the wire between each and every lamp, test the wire between lamps 5 and 6, lamps 10 and 11, lamps 15 and 16, etc. Once your tester indicates that there is a problem (i.e. - no solid red light), start working back toward the plug. If you would like to use the tester to test the lamps (like it was originally designed to do), simply slip the tip of the tester between the 2 wires exiting the lamp socket and push the button. Be aware though, the indicators will mean something different when you test the 2 wires exiting the socket. In this case, you want a solid green light, not a solid red light! If you get a solid red light, you have identified a problematic socket/lamp. In summary, if you are testing the wire between lamps, you want a solid red indicator. If you are testing the wire exiting the socket of a lamp, you want a solid green indicator. This procedure will not fix the problem, but it will certainly quickly identify the problem, which is generally the hardest part. Good Luck! If you do not wish to use a proximity type light string tester, the User's Manual describes a procedure for troubleshooting without a tester. It is generally more tedious and time-consuming, and sometimes unsuccessful. |