Outdoor & Security Light Repair in Kent

Common outdoor light faults

Outdoor and security lights live a hard life. Rain, frost, and sun work away at seals and sensors, and a fitting that was fine for years eventually starts to misbehave. The faults we see most often across Kent are a security light that stays on all night, a PIR sensor that ignores you, a floodlight that trips the circuit the moment it’s switched on, and corroded fittings that have simply reached the end of the road.

We diagnose the cause rather than just swapping the fitting and hoping. Sometimes the fix is a setting, sometimes a sensor, sometimes water that’s found its way into a terminal. We sort the actual problem and weatherproof it properly so it doesn’t come straight back.

When a security light won’t switch off

A light that won’t go off is usually one of three things: the PIR is set to a very long on-time, the daylight sensitivity is set so it thinks it’s always dark, or the sensor itself has failed and is stuck on. Heat from a nearby flue, a road, or even another light can also keep retriggering it.

We check the settings first, because the cheapest fix is always worth trying. If the sensor has genuinely failed, we replace it or the fitting and set the timing and range so it does its job without lighting up every fox that walks past.

When a PIR won’t trigger

The opposite problem is a light that never comes on. The usual causes are a daylight setting that’s too low (so it won’t trigger even at night), a sensor aimed at the wrong area, a blown lamp, or a wiring or supply fault upstream.

We work through it methodically: confirm there’s power, check the lamp and the sensor, and adjust the aim and sensitivity. If the sensor is dead we replace it. The aim is a light that comes on when you want it and stays off when you don’t.

Tripping circuits and water ingress

An outdoor light that trips the RCD almost always means water has got in somewhere: a perished gasket, an unsealed gland, or a fitting that was never rated for its position. Water across the terminals drops the insulation resistance and the RCD does exactly what it should by cutting the power.

We find the point of ingress, dry or replace the affected parts, and remake the terminations with proper weatherproof glands and seals. Where a fitting was the wrong type for an exposed spot, we’ll recommend one that’s correctly IP-rated so the problem doesn’t return with the next downpour.

How an outdoor light repair works

Tell us what the fitting is doing and when, and the make if you know it. On site we diagnose the sensor, wiring, or water ingress, then repair or replace with weatherproof terminations throughout. We test it, set the sensor time, range, and daylight level, and confirm it holds before we leave.

Most repairs are a single visit, and everything is quoted before we start.

Related work

For new outdoor lighting rather than a repair, see our outdoor and garden lighting page. For weatherproof power outside, see outdoor sockets, and if a whole circuit keeps tripping see electrics keep tripping. To book a repair, get in touch.