Landscape Lighting Tune Up

Pond in Back Yard

You've got to be kidding me.  Wasn't I just bragging on Facebook the other day that all my landscape lighting were working?  I'll never do that again.  I stepped out the back door one night last month, and I'm staring at ONE light that is working.  Yes I said one.  It's supposed to be the other way around.  If I were a professional photographer, I'd take a picture so you could laugh too.  No bad language this time, I just started laughing.

Tools:  Channel locks, voltage meter, screwdrivers, electrical tape.

Time:   3 hours (I'm embarassed, but truthful)

Investment:  About $40

Results: All the lights work now

I picked up the tools and headed with my son to the back yard.  He was going to help out, but the wheelbarrow had water in it, cups, and a bunch of squirt guns.  The lure of money wasn't going to be enough for him, so I settled for conversation instead. 

Let's face it.  Landscaping lights get rained on, frozen, kicked, and otherwise mistreated.  They need a tune-up every couple of years.  Let's take a look at the basic issues.

POWER SUPPLY

First thing I did in the back yard was put the voltmeter on the power supply outputs.  Most models I've worked on are 12 volt AC.  You'll need to either put the power supply in test mode to get the lights on, click the timer around so they think it's night time, or put a small piece of electrical tape over the sensor.  My power supply was fine, so I continued to the next step.  An earlier tune-up on my mom's lights this year turned up a bad power supply.  I'm also pretty sure that the outdoor outlet isn't GFCI, so we're calling in a pro before we blow up another one.

BULBS

By far the easiest part to troubleshoot.  Pull the top off the light and give it a wiggle.  Sometimes a wiggle is all you need, and the light comes back on.  Today, I had my new bifocals on, and I could actually see that 5 of the bulbs were burned out.  Weird.  I guess they just decided to all go at the same time.  A trip back to the garage turns up 2 spare bulbs.  My wife is close to Lowe's, so I call in a lifeline for some spare parts.

POWER CONNECTOR

Connector

This is the pain-in-the-butt part of landscape lighting.  You would think that after millions of years of evolution, we'd come up something more high tech.  Not so.  Dirt, water, and roots get in these suckers, and you just need to pop them off and put them back on.  Put some electrical tape around the cord in the old spot.

 


Not a good reading

To test this part, put the voltmeter leads in the light socket.  Anything less than 12 volts means you need to undo the connector and try again.  Most of the lights that were not working read 3.5 volts, which was odd.  The one in the picture was a bit less.

One spotlight in the back yard was beyond my skills to repair.  I got 12 volts all the way up to the wiring before the socket.  I could probably fix it in 2 hours with a soldering iron, but I went to Lowe's and bought one instead for $18 (smart move).

The toughest part of the day was in the front yard.  I broke the connector on the one light that wasn't working.  Darn roots.  The lifeline to my wife also included a new connector.  I'm wishing I'd gone the "new light" route on this one, too.  Replacement connectors stink.  I had to splice in heaver gauge wires to the light to make it work, and the whole process took way to long.  Just get a new light if you break one these guys. 

"How's it going Daddy?"

Well, my hands are half frozen, but all the lights are working but one.  How is your project?

"Great, I have lots of extra ammo."

I look over and see that my son has 5 cups on the table full of water and 3 fully loaded squirt guns.  We ended the day with a little target practice.

Click here to read about how we overwinter the goldfish in the pond.
Interested in how we built the waterfall?  Click here.