Why Your Christmas Lights Aren’t Working
You retrieve your Christmas lights from the attic, garage, or wherever you store them. You pull them out of the containers and plug them in – and they don’t work! But they worked last year – why aren’t they lighting up now?
There are several ways that lights can become inoperative during storage. Some of them are:
• Improper packing. Perhaps last year the lights were tossed or shoved into a box, which could have broken bulbs or stretched wires enough to compromise the wiring.
• Moisture. If your roof or garage leaked during the year, the wetness may have seeped into the wires and damaged them.
• Insects. Some bugs like to chew on parts of your Christmas lights – which may be enough to keep them from working.
• Animals. A squirrel in an attic or a possum in a garage may munch on just about anything – including Christmas lights.
• Old age. So you bought these lights – when, exactly? They’re not designed to work forever. Maybe it’s time to bite the bullet and purchase new Christmas lights.