Light outside the house - HOA Violation

Good Morning! We bought a house @ Broadlands South a month ago. The light outside the house was never working and we got a notice from HOA last week that we need to fix that. I replaced the bulbs, but still no good. Can anybody give me suggestions, what to check for - a loose connection, a wire or a switch somewhere?

 

I am talking about the light-sensitve lights outside the house, which turn on only when its dark.

 

Check to see if a tree or a bush is obscuring the sensor.

 

Thanks for your quick reply Liz. But, there are no trees or bushes around the light pole.

 

There is a light sensor on these poles that activates the light when it gets dark. The sensor can go bad. If its a new house - call the builder s/b under warranty. If its a resale, home depot sells the sensors and they are pretty simple to replace.
You can check the sensor by bypassing the wires in the sensor - if the light works its the sensor, if not something else is wrong.
Also are the plugs on the outside of your house working? These is usually a GFI outlet in the basement that controls the outside (go figure) and if it tripped this could be your problem too.

 

Particular GFI is typically located in the garage or basement.

 

Thank you everybody for your suggestions. I will hunt for GFI today .

 

Not to change the subject, but is it common for the GFI to be located in really odd places? For example the lamp/outlet in my basement closet and the garage outlets are run through the GFI in the top floor master bathroom. Of the 5 GFIs in the house that one is the furthest away.

 

Nothing surprises me about the way our houses are wired!

 

Hmmm, odds are the other circuits were full and the farthest one away was the only one they could run through.

Wire is cheaper than adding another.

 

Also, our pole sensor is not on the pole itself, but on the wall of the garage 4 feet away (go figure).

 

??? Not sure but what I think you are referring to is the junction box. I have never seen a sensor not integrated into the pole.

 

It is in the houses they build around here.

 

Ours is like that too... normal pole light with a photo sensor on a jbox on the side of the house. They prolly got a great deal on the crappy pole lights with no sensor. =)

 

Thank you so much everybody. It was the tripped GFI in the garage. I reseted it and voila, the pole light is working!

I really appreciate everybody's help out here and I am glad to be in the neighbourhood .

 

interesting...hmm I an seriusly conidering replacing the outdoor grage lights and pole top light with something more substantial, but similar. I guess that goes through the HOA?

 

Yes - Brassy - you have to submit an application if its not like kind