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Houston Home improvement

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What could be causing my Christmas lights to be dim when I plug them into a GFCI plug?

Charlie: Here’s one from Ryan. He writes all the way from Fulton, New York, Tom.  He says, “I have outside Gfci plugs and I plugged my Christmas lights in but they’re really dim. What could be the problem?”

https://media.blubrry.com/homeshow/homeshowradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/AskTom_Ryan-GFCI-Lights.mp3

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Tom: They’re really dim?

Charlie: Yeah, he says the Gfci-

Tom: I think, yeah-

Charlie: The Gfci outside. He says they’re dim.

Tom: I would tell him the first thing I would check is get a different new string of Christmas lights, plug it in to see if they’re not dim. Christmas lights, people hold on to them for a lot of years.

Charlie: Yes, they do.

Tom: A lot of them don’t … aren’t supposed to last that long. And there’s a reason behind it.

Charlie: They’re family heirlooms.

Tom: Yes. So they get bought every year.

Charlie: That’s a good-

Tom: The other thing is it could be a bad Gfi, Gfci, excuse me.

Charlie: Okay.

Tom: And you can replace it with a new one. It’s going to be one of those two things. I put $1 on the Christmas lights themselves. But you try them in another socket somewhere.

Charlie: Betting $1 on Christmas lights.

Tom: Yes.

Charlie: That’s like the old-

Tom: It’s about what they should cost.

Charlie: Like the old joke of the ramen delivery 18 wheeler rollover. Got hundreds of dollars in damage.

Tom: Nice.

Charlie: So, all right. You could also just take those lights and plug them into a regular outlet.

Tom: That’s what I … yeah.

Charlie: See if works there.

Tom: I was getting that. See if it works there.

Charlie: Sure.

Tom: But if it’s dim in about 10 different outlets-

Charlie: Yeah.

Tom: Chances are it’s the Christmas lights.

Tagged With: christmas lights, dim lights, GFCI, plugs

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