Every holiday season, millions of homeowners dig boxes of holiday decorations out of their attics or basements only to discover miles of burned-out Christmas lights! To make things even worse, many people don’t notice their light strands are bad until they’re strung up around the house!
When you’re hanging your Christmas decorations and preparing for guests, the last thing you want to worry about is broken string lights. The experts at Mr. Electric are here to shed some light on the subject and make your holiday a little less stressful by helping you identify bad bulbs on your Christmas lights. And with your lights shining bright, you can concentrate on the fun stuff! So, without stringing this out further, let’s get started!
What You’ll Need to Fix a String of Lights
As with many projects, you’ll need a few tools to do the job. Here’s what you’ll need to find and replace bad bulbs on your holiday lights:
- Voltage detector or Christmas light tester tool
- Safety glasses
- A working electrical outlet
- Replacement bulbs of the same voltage rating
After all of the appropriate materials are in place, you’re ready to identify and fix any bad strings of lights so your holiday display looks awesome.
Troubleshooting Christmas Lights
The key to string light repair is to eliminate easy solutions first and then move on to trickier ones. First, you’ll need to determine whether the problem is a single bad bulb or a wiring issue.
Before you start looking for a burned-out bulb, check for the following:
- Loose bulbs
- Damaged or frayed wires
- Damaged outlets or electrical plugs
If you aren’t sure whether the problem is a malfunctioning outlet, check the outlet with a multimeter. If it’s a GFCI outlet, ensure that it has not been tripped by pressing the reset button located in the middle of the outlet. Also, check to ensure the breaker that powers the outlet has not been tripped. If everything checks out and the outlet is working properly, you can begin checking the light sting for a bad bulb.
How to Find Bad Bulbs on Incandescent Christmas Lights
Incandescent string lights are wired in a series. That means the electricity must pass through each bulb to complete the circuit—and a single bad bulb can cause all the bulbs that follow to malfunction. Larger light strings may contain two circuits. In these cases, you may notice that only one section of the string goes dark.
The easiest way to find faulty bulbs on incandescent Christmas lights is with a Christmas light tester. Simply bring the light tester close to each bulb. The tester’s indicator will light up when it’s near a functioning bulb.
If you have a non-contact voltage detector, bring the detector close to the wire section between each bulb to test for voltage. The dead section of wire will be the section after your bad bulb.
If you’re sick of your incandescent bulbs burning out, consider switching to LED lights—especially if you’re concerned about light safety. LED bulbs use less energy, produce less heat, and last longer.
How to Find Bad Bulbs on LED Christmas Lights
Many LED Christmas lights are made without removable bulbs, so the circuit won’t fail if a single bulb breaks.
If you have LED Christmas lights with removable bulbs, the troubleshooting process is similar to incandescent bulbs. Starting at one end of your strand, or in the dark portion of your strand, use your voltage detector or light tester to locate the faulty bulb or dead length of wire.
If you don’t have a voltage detector or other tools to test the bulbs and wiring, but you do have a replacement bulb, you can go the old-fashioned route, which requires some patience. Methodically go down the whole length of the string and switch out each bulb, checking to see if that solves the problem each time. This approach takes some time. It can also be frustrating, especially when you realize that it’s the wiring and not the bulbs that are the problem with the string.
How to Replace Christmas Light Bulbs
Whenever you’re replacing bulbs, be sure to use replacement incandescent or LED bulbs of the same voltage rating and color. Unplug your lights before removing or replacing any bulbs. Carefully insert the replacement bulbs and plug your lights back in to see if the problem is resolved. If replacing the bad bulbs on your Christmas lights doesn't fix the problem, the issue is likely bad wiring. At this point, it’s best, and less frustrating, to replace the lights.
Need Help With Holiday Lights?
For most people the holidays are one of the busiest times of the year. So much to get done, but too little time. If you’re running out of time and feeling stressed about the big holiday party you’re hosting, reach out for help.
The team at your local Mr. Electric can help you get ready for the holidays by ensuring your electrical system is ready to handle the additional demand. To ensure your holiday display and decorations shine bright, our pros can help by adding GFCI outlets, installing landscape lighting, or making your climate control system more efficient.
Take some of the stress out of your holiday prep, contact your local Mr. Electric or schedule an appointment online today!
