Hi, I just recently had a total of 14 Volt lights installed and then added an additional 4 to that configuration. The problem I'm experiencing (after 5 days of working flawlessly) is a "Load" error on the transformer. Here's the breakdown: Two Salty Dog well lights @ 5W each One All Star spot light @ 5W All are connected to a Pro Junction hub (P/N VAC-HUB3-PBK) and are home run wired via 12 gage low voltage wire back to the 100 W transformer (P/N CTR-100E-SS) The next set of lights are also connected to a separate hub (hub #2): Four pagoda path lights @3W each Four All Star spot lights @ 2W each All are connected to a Pro Junction hub (P/N VAC-HUB3-PBK) and are home run wired via 12 gage low voltage wire back to the 100 W transformer (P/N CTR-100E-SS) Two pagoda path lights @ 3W each are connected to hub #2 on a separate run Five All Star spot lights @ 3W each are connected to hub #2 on a separate run I ended up splicing in the 4 new spot lights with a higher gage wire (<100') As I mentioned, this all worked fine for 5 days. I left for several days and when I came back home none of the lights worked. When I turned the lights on at the transformer they would come on for several seconds and then shut off. As a troubleshooting effort I disconnected the 5 spot lights that had the two different gage wires spliced together and got the same result of an load error on the transformer. Just a random thought - could the mismatch in wire gage have caused the transformer to fail? Any thoughts on remediating the problem or steps to troubleshoot would certainly be appreciated. Thanks very much.
A 75-watt bulb will “work” in a 60-watt max light bulb fixture...until it doesn’t. You want to use the same wire gauge when splicing between fixtures. That should resolve the issue.
Tom: Before yanking up all of your buried cable, try disconnecting each main line separately and pulling bulbs from fixtures one at a time to see if one specific main line or light is causing the transformer to trip. You should also check the voltage at each fixture to see if any specific fixture is reading well below 12 volts. I’m having similar issues with my system, due to a combination of a nearby lightning strike a few weeks ago that shorted out a couple of my light bulbs and some main line copper oxidation wherever I used Dryconn connectors rather than the better Volt Pro Nano-Junction connectors. A little investigative effort first should help narrow down the issue and minimize needlessly replacing viable cable, fixtures and bulbs. Bob
Thanks. As a best practice I plan to replace that segment of wire anyway to ensure continuity. In retrospect I agree that it was probably worth just replacing it rather than splicing in new. Live and learn...
Thanks Bob. I had the thought of disconnecting the other lines going into the hub to see if I could narrow down where the problem was. Great idea about checking each bulb and voltage at each light. As an aside. thanks for the info about the Volt connectors. I'm using waterproof connectors - might be worth investing in the Volt connectors. Thanks again for the input.
I was able to isolate it to the one run so, thankfully, I didn't have to pull up a lot of wiring. One other lesson learned on my part. All the other wiring is 14/2 low voltage. I bought 12/2 thinking the thicker the gage the better off I was. I was wrong. As soon as I added the 2nd light I received a load error. I had some leftover 14/2, added the 2nd light and all was fine. Again, lesson learned.
Hey Tom, If I'm reading everything correctly, it sounds like you have (15) lights total wired to the second hub? [4] Pagoda [4] All-Star + [2] Pagoda [5] All-Star In addition to the different gauges and lengths of wire being spliced together on the same hub, this run in general is doubling the amount of fixtures recommended for use with one of our pro junction hubs. [7] fixtures is the max for these hubs, and the runs off the hub generally shouldn't exceed more than 25ft in length. The system may have operated for a few days, but it sounds like the transformer was running in overdrive per se to compensate for the overloaded run with various wire gauges. For the hub, if you haven't already, I'd recommend narrowing down the amount of connections at the hub to (7) fixtures, and decreasing the length of the runs off of this hub to about 25ft. Input voltage ranges are more flexible with LEDs compared to halogen systems, so there is a little bit of flexibility to this but typically you want to stay around 25ft (which is why 25ft is the 'hub-ready' lead wire option we offer). We also have live experts available via telephone if you wanted to chat with us directly to help troubleshoot and make sure everything is setup to be operational for years to come - (813) 978-3700.
Hi Evan, that's great advice. I wasn't aware of the recommended distance and number of fixtures per hub. Would I benefit at all by using the pro nano-junction connectors in place or in conjunction with a hub? Otherwise, I'll call into your experts and see if they have advice on how to reconfig the system to be more compliant. Thanks again for all your help.
Our direct burial junction connectors can be just as handy as the pro junction hub. They help accomplish the same goal and use the same gas tight, clamp style wire connectors inside - but the direct burial connectors are more low-profile for those areas you may not want a hub above ground. We wouldn't recommend using these together in the sense of adding a hub directly on to another hub - it can lead to voltage issues and unpredictable results. Also, you typically want to keep each run from the transformer at a max of 8-10 fixtures or about 80W; whatever threshold comes first really. As far as your current hub, I wouldn't recommend completely removing the hub if its still a convenient connection spot for you. I'd try to connect as many nearby fixtures to it as possible (up to 7, max range around 25ft); possibly slightly relocating the hub if it makes that easier. Then, for the remaining fixtures that were connected to this hub prior, you could plan for new, separate home-run wire(s) directly back to the transformer, and if possible, you could plan to use a hub or set of junction connectors on this new, individual run. Please feel free to give us a call as well - we're definitely always happy to chat! If you wanted to take a picture of the area and roughly mark out the fixture spots, or make a rough drawing of the positions of the lights - you could email that in to our support team or even post it here on the forum and we could advise on ideal options for convenient wiring.
Thanks Evan. Is it OK to run a separate 12 gage run back to the transformer with a dedicated hub and up to 7 fixtures on it? I know it’ll be more than 25’ but it lessens the burden of having too many fixtures on one hub. Also, I’ll work on a diagram with how the lights are laid out and possibly a proposal on how I’d like to add a couple of fixtures. Thanks, again, for all your help. I really appreciate it.
You can absolutely do that - the homerun from the transformer doesn't need to be a max of 25ft (apologies if I made it sound that way). The length of a run from the transformer to the hub would be more dependent on the wire gauge used - 12 gauge for example is generally recommended for uses up to 150ft. 25ft is recommended for the wire connections stemming directly off a pro junction hub (the lead wires to the fixtures).
