I need Help in connecting Christmas lights!

[Jodi1980]

I put up lights outside last year but can't remember how I connected the plug on the lights to the thick orange extension cords! The plug on the lights has two prongs but the orange extension cord has three! Help Me!!!

 

[TigerBear]

Sorry, I won't be of any help. I have a prelit Christmas tree and for the last two years the only way I could get all the lights to work is to put a surge protector in the tree. At least they do all work!

 

[KathyTX]

Want me to send DH over to help? He's good at this stuff...

 

[elgerber]

It's fine to leave the 3rd hole on the orange cord unused. We do this every year, with about 800 lights, and we use a ton of orange 3 hole cords. Just plug them in and they will be fine (and I bet your house will be beautiful!)

Erika

 

[GeorgeG]

If the plug on the lights is hard to plug into the cord, just reverse it. You will notice that of the two prongs, one is wider and that should match up to a wider hole on the cord. If they're both the same, it doesn't matter.

 

[Pebblszzz]

Yeah, what George said. He knows his electricity!!

 

[Jodi1980]

Thanks, I figured it out! Now I don't understand why on some stings of lights, 1/2 are working and 1/2 are not!

 

[GeorgeG]

Jodi,

If half the string isn't working, you probably have a bad bulb in that half or it may just be loose. There's no easy way to find it except trial and error. Some strings will have tiny fuses in the plug and along with a spare bulb or two they will include a spare fuse. You might look at that, too.

 

[Pop Daddy]

just take it all down, and watch some tv

 

[crazyforgoofy]

After days of putting up lights we finally tried to light up the house (icicle lights around the whole house) this evening just before dark. I guess we overloaded the cord or something because they came on for a flash and then .....darkness. So tomorrow when the weather is supposed to turn very cold I'll be back on the roof trying to find the teeny fuses we blew. Watching tv sounds like a great idea to me, Pop.

 

[GeorgeG]

crazyforgoofy,

If you're trying to run the lights around the whole house off one plug, you're overloading at least the first set and possibly one or more others. Even though these things have sockets at the end to add on more lights, they are usually only good for about three sets. Unless you have a very small house, I'm guessing you've joined a lot more than that together. You will need to find alternate places to plug into about every three or four strings of lights. The box they came in should tell you how many you can string together.