Outside Christmas Lights

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One Handy guy

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West Chester, Ohio
Does anyone have any ideas on how to test outside Christmas lights to determine if they are about to fail or to determine if they are prone to a ground fault? Of course rain on Xmas lights will make lights more prone to ground faults. Does electrical tape on the plug connections help or cause moisture to be retained? Should plastic be loosly wrapped over multiple electrical connections? Any information on improving the reliability of outside Christmas lights would be appreciated.
 
I've never seen three prong Christmas lights, so I'm not sure where the ground fault would come into play. I suppose that if they were hung along your aluminum gutter, you could megger between each prong of the attachment cord and the gutter.

Sometimes you can just worry too much. Feed them with a GFCI and a bubble cover like you're supposed to and quit fretting over nothing.
 
One Handy guy said:
Should plastic be loosly wrapped over multiple electrical connections?
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When I was a kid I used to put up a big display and I always put the plugs and connectors in a bag. After a good rain the bags would fill up with water. To my amazement I remember seeing one of the bags filled right up while it was energized. No gfci of course. :)
 
Some of the bigger displays I see around here, the people just put a pail, upside down, over top of the power strips and so fourth. That makes pretty good sense. On a personal note, I'd love to see a couple of those gigantic inflatable snow globes go up in flames on YouTube.
 
mdshunk said:
.........Sometimes you can just worry too much. Feed them with a GFCI and a bubble cover like you're supposed to and quit fretting over nothing.
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And if you get the cheapo kind at Walfart's that are made in China and assembled in Lower Slobovia using Bangladeshan children migrant workers then you're not supposed to call them Christmas lights after Christmas...they're "Seasonal" lights good for ninety days if, in fact, they work right out of the box when you get them. :D:D
 
mdshunk said:
Some of the bigger displays I see around here, the people just put a pail, upside down, over top of the power strips and so fourth. That makes pretty good sense. On a personal note, I'd love to see a couple of those gigantic inflatable snow globes go up in flames on YouTube.
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I had a good laugh at that one!


Id say, like Marc, Just plug ther stuff in a GFCI that you just did a test on and dont worry about it.

~Matt
 
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