LANDSCAPE LIGHTING WORLD® FORUMS

Lights randomly turning off and on

Discussion in 'Ask the Landscape Lighting Experts' started by Ponchamni, Jun 29, 2018.

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  1. Ponchamni

    Ponchamni New Member

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    Hello ... I bought a volt outdoor lighting system from Costco last fall. Since then the system has worked flawlessly. Recently I have noticed that the pathway light will go on and off inexplicably. This is not a flicker as the light will go off for a minute or longer then come back on. This doesn’t happen to all lights at the same time either.

    Thoughts?
     
  2. Joe Garrick

    Joe Garrick New Member

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    Most of the time when I have lights start acting wonky it's bad connections. If you're using connectors that clamp onto the line that would be the first thing I'd check. If you connected everything with waterproof wire nuts, then I'd add up the wattage on the system, divide by .7, and see if you're getting in the neighborhood of the transformer capacity. If you are, try lower wattage bulbs. If that's not it, check the length of your runs, or better yet, the voltage at the ends. If it's a multi-tap transformer, you may need to connect to 15 volts instead of 12. If that still doesn't fix it, I'd try different bulbs. The ones sold by Volt I think have a lifetime guarantee, so they may replace them (don't know for sure, I'm just another customer, not a Volt employee). I know shopping on Amazon for LED bulbs they seem notoriously flaky in terms of build quality. You can find stuff at a fraction of what Volt charges, but tons of them have ratings under four stars, so it's quite possible it would be cheaper in the long run to just buy guaranteed bulbs.
     
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  3. Lumiscape

    Lumiscape New Member

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    If you have photocell, make sure a light isn't shining on it. Most photocells have a few minutes delay, which would would account for the on, then off, cycle.
     
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  4. Ryan Staples

    Ryan Staples New Member

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    I am having the same issue with my lighting system purchased at costco. Worked amazingly and now have a lot of flickering at one path light and others will randomly go on an off at different intervals. Used the hub system.
     
  5. t76turbo

    t76turbo New Member

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    I know I am a little late to this but I had the same issue and it was the bulb. I am using the LED spotlight bulbs and one would just randomly start flashing. On a couple seconds and off a couple seconds.

    I got a replacement bulb and found that this specific bulb had a crack in it and probably got moisture in it. Not water as it is in a housing and never submerged in water. But probably humidity.

    Replaced with new bulb and everything is perfect.

    My advice is try switching bulbs from one that works as normal to the one that flashes and see if the issue goes away. That will eliminate housing and/or wiring issues.
     
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  6. CAL

    CAL New Member

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    I have the same issue with my path lights (Costco purchase). I called the 866 number, and the gentleman suggested I make sure the bulbs are firmly plugged in to the fixture. I tried to do this on one of the lights, but I found I was unable to do so. He said I should hear a click. I pushed as hard as I could, but it is still wobbly. I think the suggestion made sense because it is a wobbly connection, but it didn't work. Anyone else figure this one out?
     
  7. A Phillips

    A Phillips New Member

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    I am having the same issue. I have reseated the bulbs and checked for moisture. Any other thoughts?
     
  8. Evan K

    Evan K Community Admin Staff Member

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    If you have checked all of your wire connections and made sure that the bulb was completely inserted, the next step would be to test a different bulb in the same fixture (one that you are positive is currently working). This will tell you whether or not the issue is related to the bulb itself or possibly the fixture. If you think it may be the fixture, the best thing to do would be to test the fixture directly at the transformer using the fixture's lead wire. If your transformer is working and other lights are receiving power, testing the fixture directly at the transformer with a working bulb will let you know for certain.