electrical problem

[lew]

Hey guys, I've got 3 lights on my back deck and all of a sudden they no longer work. The switch is inside the house.

 

The circuit breaker for the outside lights also handles the kitchen lights and was the 1st thing I checked and it's fine. I changed the bulbs and their all good so I figured perhaps the switch is gone so I replaced it with a new one and still nothing works.

 

While changing the switch I checked all connections in the box and everything is tight.

 

I don't have a tester and I'm not an electrician.

 

Where do I go from here ??

[DRIFTER_016]

Could they be on the same circuit as your outside outlets?

Check the GFCI outlet outside to see if it's tripped.

[lew]

Outside GFCI is OK Dave, I checked it, this switch is definitely on the same curcuit breaker as the kitchen lights. There's another switch right beside this one on the same circuit and it works fine.

[DRIFTER_016]

Pull the first light in the sequence and check the connections inside the box.

Sounds like an open circuit to me.

[lew]

I think you nailed it Dave, I undid the connectors in the 1st box and re-tightened them and everything is now working as it should. The neighbor down the road is an electrician so I'm gonna get him to double check it.

 

Thanks for the help Dave, muchly appreciated !!

[Tomcat]

First thing I would do is establish whether or not you have power going to the switch that controls your outside lights - lets you know in which direction to look for the problem.

[aplumma]

Beat me to it. Glad it is fixed Lew.

 

 

Art

[DRIFTER_016]

Good to hear Lew.

I would check the connections at the other 2 lights just for peace of mind.

[Whopper]

Well Lew I am glad you got fixed up and you didn't wait until November to ask me lol.

[fishindevil]

Well Lew now that it's all fixed up I think we should all celebrate and meet up on a Kawartha lake for a Muskie fishing GTG !!!!! Lol... Can't think of a better way !!!!! So what lake do we all meet on when the season opens ???

[bigbuck]

Lew, being a retired firefighter, you know about how fires start. I would check all the switches and junction boxes and outlets in the house. A room at a time and you will be done pronto. Just peace of mind.