How to Reset your GFCI Outlet

Categories: Troubleshooting

gfci reset buttonHave your exterior lights stopped working and you can’t figure out why?  As part of your troubleshooting, you should check your GFCI outlets.  A tripped outlet is often the cause of lighting issues and it is a simple fix.  To reset a GFCI outlet, you just press the red reset button on your outlet.

Here is the tricky part of the troubleshooting…you should check ALL of your GFCI outlets in your home.  Just because the outlet your transformer is plugged into isn’t a GFCI outlet, doesn’t mean it isn’t being protected by another outlet in the house.

One device will usually be protecting several normal-looking outlets downstream from it.  So if outlets have gone dead outdoors, there is a very good chance that a GFCI somewhere else has tripped off.  The search to find all possible GFCIs can be frustrating as the outlet may not be in a logical place or one you use often.  It maybe that the outdoor outlets are dead from the GCFI in your bathroom or an outlet never used behind a pile of boxes in the garage.

If you have checked all your outlets and/or you have found one but it won’t reset, it may be time to call in a professional to take a look. Landscape Lighting Guru does do service calls – just give us a call at 210-710-7737 to schedule an appointment.