LANDSCAPE LIGHTING WORLD® FORUMS

Voltage Drop at First Fixture

Discussion in 'Ask the Landscape Lighting Experts' started by David M, Oct 20, 2024 at 8:47 PM.

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  1. David M

    David M New Member

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    I am installing a 4 volt lights in a in my backyard: a floodlight and three pathlights, all using 3 watt bulbs. They are all set up in a chain, using drycon connectors and 14 gauge wire. The first light is about 20 feet from my transformer, and the lights are about 6 feet apart from each other.

    After I connected all the lights, I hooked up the wire to the transformer (12v output) and only the first light came on
    When I checked the voltage with a multimeter, the first light was only receiving 6 volts (I removed the bulb and tested where the bulb was), and the next light in the chain is only receiving 3 volts. I tested the wall outlet, and it is pushing 121 volts, and the transformer is pushing 12 volts from the 12 volt output, and 14.9 volts from the 15 volt output.

    1 troubleshot by removing all the other lights ( so that it was just the flood light) and then it only was getting 3 volts. I also changed out the transformer with an older one I had and I got similar results.

    I changed out the wire from the transformer to the first light, and redid the connector for the first light. Before I redo the entire setup, I was wondering if there is something else I should try. Any help would be appreciated.
     
  2. Mesodude2

    Mesodude2 Well-Known Member

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    Fellow landscape lighting enthusiast here. Voltage drop is a common problem with the daisy chaining method. If you are confident you've connected the wires properly and you're confident you've used the wire connectors properly, I'm stumped. I'm also biased, as I've used hubs without any voltage drop issue since I installed my fifty plus lighting system several years ago. If you want a foolproof approach that guarantees your fixtures are all powered similarly, the hub method is what I recommend.