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Landscape Lighting Maintenance

3K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  chrisjacob 
#1 ·
I'm taking over an LED landscape lighting job that is less than a year old. 8 of 24 bulbs are out (25%). Should I do maintenance (changing all the bulbs) once or twice per year?
 
#3 ·
The whole point of LED bulb is the life of the bulb. There should be no maintenance to a LED system besides cleaning the lights. I would look for other problems. If you have a multy tap transformer make sure all wires are taped on the 12 volt lug. No need for higher voltage taps unless you are using Halogen light bulbs. I bet this is an old halogen lighting system with LED bulbs put in and has some runs that are higher taps. If the bulbs that are failing are the furthest from the transformer then they are on higher tap. Most LED will run on seven volts or less. Too much voltage burns up drivers. This is a common problem when changing from Halogen to LED. Better than a new LED job and the homeowner puts a 50 watt Halogen bulb in and wonders why it is not working.:hammer: Other problem LED not made for outdoor use.


Not all led light bulbs are meant for outdoor landscape lighting. Do your homework when it comes to landscape LED. Heat, moisture, drivers, lifetime and color rendering all need to be explored. Choose carefully or you will get burned. Here are a few that I know that have a good line of outdoor landscape lighting LED lights. Kichler, Halco and Illumicare . Illumicare are the only ones that I know that have been designed, manufactured and tested by a guy that knows his trade.
There is a very good forum for landscape lighting it is called Lawnsite Architectural & Landscape Lighting.
http://www.lawnsite.com/forumdisplay.php?f=117

Look for a guy named INTEGRA ~ Bespoke Lighting Systems. AKA James Solecki.

Here is some info on timers.
The Intermatic EI600 or the ST01 are a good choice. I have hundreds of these timers installed. The only problem with these timers is they will gain time. It will gain about 10 minutes in 6 months. Need to be reset every year to stay reliable. If are government decide to change daylight saving days again you can change the days with these timers. The cr2 batteries that come with these timers are not the best and will last about a year. Buy a better CR2 battery for longer life (about 5 years).

The Intermatic EJ600 requires a neutral and has lower amp specs but has a better battery, rechargeable lithium battery. The directions say” Do not use to control receptacles”. Also states “Do not use with appliances, radios, televisions, stereos “.

Aube makes a good timer. I have about 10 Aube 1035 out there. The only problem with the 1035 is you have to manually change the daylight saving time. The 1072 will change the daylight savings time automatically but have lower amp specs.

Leviton reviews have not been good. Mainly due to power outages and not holding the programming. I have never installed one because of the reviews.

Hope that helps, good luck.
 
#4 ·
Thanks a lot for the very informative reply. I have suspicions about the original installation. I wasn't sure if the bulb issue was manufacture, design or installation. I installed the Intermatic ST01 and it went well. It is a conduit system and the previous timer had the neutral tied to ground instead of pulling a neutral. Some guys are special. It helps that the ST01 doesn't need a neutral. I hope the landscape lights don't need any fixture replacements. I can't find a manufacturer stamp anywhere but they look like good fixtures.
 
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