Consumers Warned Against Using Faulty Christmas Candle Lights

PRODUCT: Holiday electric candle lights (single bulb). Affected units have light bulb sockets with tab contacts (gold or brown colored metal tabs or strips about one-half inch long) inside the socket and both tabs extend up the sides of the socket. (A non-defective unit has a longer contact extending up the side of the socket and a shorter contact that is bent so that it lays across the center of the socket bottom.)

PROBLEM: The lights have defective light bulb sockets that will immediately short circuit, posing a fire, thermal burn, or electric shock hazard to anyone nearby or anyone holding the product or its cord. Defective lights will immediately short circuit.
WHAT TO DO: Do not attempt to repair defective units. Take them back to the store where purchased. Consumers may disregard this warning if their electric candle lights have been used without incident, since a defective unit will cause an immediate failure.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) urges consumers who have recently purchased holiday electric candle lights (single bulb) to inspect their units for a defective light bulb socket before use. The unit is defective if the light bulb socket has tab contacts (gold or brown colored metal tabs or strips about one-half inch long) inside the socket and both tabs extend up the sides of the socket. This defect will cause the product to short circuit when the bulb is screwed in and the light is turned on. According to Underwriters Laboratories (UL), some defective candle lights may bear counterfeit UL labels.

Consumers who have purchased electric candle lights should inspect the plastic light bulb socket (where the bulb is inserted) for the defect before use. Defective units should not be used. Defective lights will immediately short circuit. If the household branch circuit breaker or fuse does not interrupt (trip) the circuit, the short circuit could create a fire, thermal burn, or electric shock hazard for anyone nearby or for anyone holding the product or its power cord. Consumers may disregard this warning if their electric candle lights have been used without incident, since a defective unit would cause immediate failure.

A non-defective unit will have a longer contact extending up the side of the socket and a shorter contact that is bent so that it lays across the center of the socket bottom. Consumers should not attempt to repair the units themselves and should take the units back to the store where purchased.

Typically, these holiday electric candle lights have a seven-inch tall plastic candle attached to a metal base, a single light bulb, and a six-foot long power cord with an on/off switch connected to the cord. They were sold by a variety of retailers under different brand names for about three to seven dollars each. CPSC has not yet determined how many affected units were distributed or sold this year.

The Commission has learned of incidents with defective candle lights involving hand burns, an electric shock, and a burned power cord. There have also been reports of defective lights being returned to retailers because of tripped household circuit breakers or blown fuses.

The Commission continues to investigate the issue and will take appropriate action based on its findings.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is announcing this warning as part of its mission to protect the public from the unreasonable risks of injury and death associated with consumer products. The Commission's objective is to reduce the estimated 28.5 million injuries and 21,600 deaths associated each year with the 15,000 different types of consumer products under CPSC's jurisdiction.