Luke,was it not you that here a while back was installing yard lights??? Low voltage, and wired I believe rather than solar......if so please give me a few details, please.....type, place of purchase, pros/cons, etc...
This place had low voltage lights when we moved here....non LED, that you could change out...walk way and spot lights, etc.....the system must be at the end of it's life span, having numerous problems.......but to move on, looking to replace...not really wanting to go solar....Have seen several LED lights that you could not change the bulb..Don't really like that....if one goes out down the road, may not find the same style to replace....Cheap, or anyone else got any input ....???????
Yep, that was me.
This is the base set I picked up:
Light Set (6 lamps, 2 flood)
I then picked up an additional matching flood light. Gave me a total of 6 path lights, and 3 flood lights.
These are low voltage, LED.
I then picked up the following (also from home depot, just sayin), but not linking since they're common and easy to find.
- 150 watt low voltage transformer
- transformer stand (so I didn't have to screw it to the house
- 12ga landscape wire
- medium size silicone grease filled wire nuts (need 2 per lamp, plus any additional connections)
- heat shrink tubing, just bigger than the wire nuts
- heat shrink tubing, just big enough for 2 or 3 12ga wires to fit
Your list may need some additional stuff, but easy enough to figure out.
So those lights come with their own little cheapass connector that you're supposed to push together and sandwich the main line. I cut those stupid things off, stripped the wire back, and made my own connections. (Hence the wire nuts and heat shrink. If you don't have, or can't borrow, a heat gun, add one to the list.)
Anyway, I laid out where I wanted the lights, then laid out the cable and made sure there was enough slack. Then hooked up the transformer, but didn't plug it in yet. Then I went to each fixture, cut and stripped the main line, and twisted the wires together. (Note, at this time I did not use the silicone nuts, or anything. I left them bare so I could hook it all up, check connections, and then go back.
After all the lamps were done, I plugged in the transformer and checked to make sure all was in working order. (Of course it was, I did it.) Then I went back and put the smaller heat shrink over the connection and slid it back, then put on the silicone wire nut. I then slid the smaller piece up to the wire nut, heated it up, and shrunk it down nice and snug. Then I put the larger piece over the wire nut, placing the bottom of the wire nut about in the middle. Shrunk, snug, next.
Note: You'll want to cut the heat shrink into about 2" lengths. I think the pieces I got were 6", so I was able to get 3 pieces out of 1 tube. Tubes were 2 in a pack for the big, 3 in a pack for the smaller. (This was the nice, thicker stuff, not the thin stuff.)
After that, I used one of those little trenching spade/hoe things. The one that looks like a hoe, but is straight and not at a 90* angle. Whatever they're called. Buried the cable, all is well.