Exterior light fixture problem


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Old 05-20-17, 07:57 PM
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Exterior light fixture problem

Hi I have an external light fixture by my garage with three candelabra bulbs. When I bought the house, it had 3 regular bulbs rated at 60W. I switched to three led bulbs that are 60W equivalents. This worked fine for all of last year.

This week I noticed all three bulbs are very dim. I tightened one and the other two became even dimmer. Loosening it, they brightened up again.

One other bulb, I tightened and then loosed and now it doesn't work anymore. I tried another bulb in its spot and it doesn't work at all.

Lastly, I got an incandescent bulb and tried it in one spot (first one above). Upon tightening , the line remaining 3rd bulb completely went out.

What is going on? Seems like a wiring issue ?

Thanks.
 
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Old 05-20-17, 09:26 PM
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Is there a timer or photocell on the light? If not is it a regular switch?
 
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Old 05-21-17, 04:44 AM
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Yes actually there is an old Intermatic timer that controls it.
 
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Old 05-21-17, 06:31 AM
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Unless the timer has a neutral it probably isn't compatible with LEDs. You could try bypassing it and see how things work out.
 
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Old 05-21-17, 07:49 AM
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Hmmm but it worked all of last year though. Actually based on your advice I tried to manually turn on the fixture using the timer and all three bulbs worked. I'll report back at 6pm when the timer is set to go on. Thanks.
 
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Old 05-21-17, 09:03 AM
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Also i should mention that the same fixture and same bulbs and timer are at the front door and have been working without a problem. Not sure what is causing this other one at the garage to fail.
 
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Old 05-21-17, 11:03 AM
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the same fixture and same bulbs and timer are at the front door and have been working without a problem.
As a test swap the timers. If the problem moves with the timer then you know the timer is the problem.
 
 

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