Hi, this Josh with Peterson Electric. We are here in Centennial for a customer. I came in the evening for this because they have a lot of lights that go out. It is nice to know when the photo-eye kicks on what is going on. Basically, this is called a low voltage fixture. It runs on 12 volts. It has a transformer and the transformer is rated at a certain wattage. Then you can have, if you do your math, 80% of that circuit in order to not over load it. What we see go out sometimes is the halogen. Sometimes it is the bulbs in the socket, but a lot of the time it is the connection points. A lot of guys will go in there and put the wrong splice connectors in there. You have to get it rated for outdoor weather and wet proof use. It has to have the compound in order to keep those connections clean. 12 Volt AC lighting is a lot like your car battery at home with a 12 volt DC. Same principle, vaseline on the connection point will help your battery from corroding its ground cable with the frame of the car. It is the same thing with all these connections underground. You are going to want to wrap it with some good 3M tape, making sure the moisture stays out. The one thing we call it in the field is a cherry point, we want that perfect voltage to be a right at 12 volts or 11 1/2 at the fixture. Anything less than that, the bulb will not light. If you go to high at 14 volts, it will blow your bulbs. Keep it in mind, where you start this is the last light on the circuit, we are going to have a lower wire, but over there we will have a higher gauge. We do simple stuff like that for your outdoor lighting. We install it adn repair it. Give us a call!
