How to change the fuse in Christmas lights
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It's December, which means it's time to choose a Christmas tree and decorations. Have you noticed that the string of Christmas lights doesn't light up when you turn them on?
This could mean that the fuse in the Christmas light socket has blown and needs to be repaired.
Keep reading to learn the step by step process of changing the fuse in your Christmas lights so you can join in the celebration.
How to change the fuse in Christmas lights
Locate and unplug the Christmas lights socket from any power source that is a plug with pins, not holes. Access the fuse either by sliding the door on the socket or by opening the entire plug, then simply remove the faulty fuse and replace it with a new one of the same rating.
We will explain each of these steps so that you understand them better and know exactly what to do.
- Disconnect the light from the power supply
The very first thing you want to do is remove the lights from the tree and unplug them to eliminate any possibility of electric shock.
This is where you unplug all the Christmas light from the point where it plugs into the socket.
To avoid electric shock or damage in doing so, turn off the switch in the outlet, then turn off the light by pulling the plug, not the cord.
- Find a male socket for a Christmas light bulb
The fuses that protect Christmas lights are usually located in pin sockets.
In case you don't know what they are, power sockets are Christmas lamp plugs that come with pins, not holes.
A string of Christmas lights that have gone bad has its own socket and it either plugs into the socket of another string of lights or directly into the wall.
If your Christmas light bulbs are connected in series, all the bulbs will not light up and you are usually only dealing with one pin socket that goes into the wall socket.
When the lamps are connected in parallel, i.e. some strings work and others do not work, you will have to deal with the plug of the faulty strings of light bulbs.
Follow the chain of lights to see where it connects. Once you've done that, pick up the forks of all the broken strings and move on to the next step.
- Open male sockets
Opening plug connectors to access bad fuses is a simple process.
Christmas light pin sockets are usually marked to show where the fuse is located.
This marking is an arrow on the sliding door pointing away from the cord and indicating where the door should be slid.
For plugs with this marking and mechanism, simply slide the door to open the fuse.
Locate the grooves on the sliding door and open it with a flathead screwdriver or perhaps a small knife.
Just be careful with the amount of pressure you apply so you don't damage the socket or injure yourself.
If your Christmas outlet doesn't have one, accessing the fuse might be a bit more difficult.
You may need a screwdriver to open the plug, or a thin sharp object to open it.
- Remove old fuses
After you have opened the socket, the fuses should be visible to you.
While most outlets come with a set of two fuses, it's not uncommon to see some outlets with only one fuse. This may be the case for you as well.
Using a small screwdriver or the tiny sharp object you used to open the plug, carefully pry the fuses out without damaging them.
You don't want to damage them as they may work correctly in some cases and your lights may have a different problem.
Make sure the sliding door is well open to make it easier for you to reach and remove the fuses.
You should also check if the fuse kit is bad, but this is covered in the later parts of this article.
- Install replacement fuses
Sometimes Christmas lights come with replaceable fuses, but in most cases you will have to buy a new one from the store separately.
If you have to do the latter, make sure the store-bought fuse is exactly the same as the blown fuse.
By "exactly the same" we mean that the fuse must be the same size, type and, more importantly, rating.
The rating of a fuse is an important element of its protection characteristics, and buying a fuse that doesn't look like the old one puts your lamps at risk.
After obtaining new fuses of the correct type from the store or replacement parts supplied with your headlights, insert them into the fuse holder.
You must be careful when replacing them, as fuses are very fragile and you don't want them to break even if they have not been used.
- close up christmas light plug
Once you have placed all the fuses in the fuse slots, simply close the fuse slot the same way you opened it.
Make sure the fuse compartment door is tightly closed so that the fuses do not fall out.
- Experience Christmas Lights
Now that you're done with all that, here comes the final and easy part. You must plug the light back into the socket to test them.
Do this by plugging the plug into other outlets and then all the Christmas lights into the outlet. If the light comes on, then your mission is a success.
If not, the fuse may not be the problem with your headlights.
How to Tell if a Christmas Light Fuse Has Blown
Your Christmas light bulb fuse is most likely blown if it has dark burn marks. If you have a transparent fuse, it is definitely blown if the metal link in it melts or breaks. Multimeters can also be useful for determining if a fuse is blown or not.
It is very important to check if the fuse is blown or not. You don't want to spend money on a replacement when the original fuse kit is still in good condition.
Visually inspecting the fuse for dark markings or physical deformation is the easiest way to diagnose fuse failures. What makes this even easier is that your Christmas lights use a clear fuse.
Fuses have internal metal links that conduct current from one end to the other and melt when overcurrent is passed through them.
A blown fuse means that this metal link has melted, so when you have transparent fuses, you can easily see if this is the case or not.
The melted link stops the flow of current to other parts of the circuit. When the fuse blows in your Christmas light's plug, the bulbs don't get electricity, so they don't light up.
If the fuse is not transparent, you check it for dark marks. They signal that the fuse has blown and is no longer used.
Sometimes it can be a little hard to see these dark marks. In this case, you are either trying to take a closer look at the ends of the fuse, or, more reliably, diagnose the fuse with a multimeter.
With a multimeter, you set it to continuity and check for continuity between both ends of the fuse. Follow our complete guide to testing if a fuse is blown in order to properly understand everything you need to do.
You can also follow our guide to checking a fuse without a multimeter if you don't have one. Some of the tools you'll need here include a light bulb or a non-contact voltage tester.
If the fuse is still good, your problem is probably with another part of your Christmas lights, like the bulbs themselves.
Luckily, we have a complete Christmas Lights troubleshooting guide for you to follow. You can find the fix and necessary tools here.
Be sure to use this testing process to fuse any strings that don't work.
More about fuses with parallel and series connection of Christmas lights
Parallel garlands are independently connected to the main power source, and when one garland stops working, the rest continue to work.
When connected in series, all lamps draw current from the lamp that comes before them, which means that a fault in one lamp causes all subsequent lamps to fail.
We usually have a setup that combines these two types of connections, and this is where the string of lights comes on.
Here several chains have lights connected in series while these strings are parallel to each other.
Each garland of light independently receives energy from the source through its own plug, then each garland in the garland depends on the light in front of them. This greatly simplifies diagnosis.
You can find much more useful information about fuses here.
F.A.Q.
How to remove the fuse from a chain of Christmas lights?
The fuse in the Christmas garlands is located in a plug socket that is connected to the power supply. You simply slide the door on the plug to expose the fuse and pull it out with a small object.
Why do Christmas lights suddenly stop working?
The cause of faulty Christmas lights is a blown fuse, which happens when extra strings are connected to the Christmas lights chain. Also, the cause may be a burned out or incorrectly twisted light bulb.
