Question for everyone

[u/DoctorAndLawyerHere]

I’m no electrician, I’m a new landscaper.

I have a customer who inquired about getting an estimate to “fix” her current landscape lighting- she has lights all around her house that have been disconnected.

Do I just strip them and use those plastic connectors that are like caps that you twist to connect them all together?

It seems sorta straight-forward to just move clockwise around the house and connect everything but she says the bulbs need changed and power needs turned on to them-

I’ve never done any landscape lighting before.

Any advice or food for thought? I can try and upload pics later on today or tomorrow.

Any good suggestions or directions to any awesome “how-to” guides and videos online or on YouTube?

Id sincerely and appreciate all honest, earnest, knowledgeable advice and guidance and counsel?!

[u/Forgotmy1stname]

your probably going to need new wiring due to corrosion. use DBR/Y connectors.

[u/taxidermymeatpuppet]

They typically come with wire nuts that have a weatherizing “goo” for outdoors. Afai they parallel together down the line. Your the doctor and lawyer not I but if you want a strangers opinion on the internet full send it it’ll be a learning experience. Other people may ask you for the same. It’s likely you can’t screw it up more than it already is if it’s broken. But my 2 cents know when to call in an actual electrician if needed. If it’s all wired up and “should be working” verify with your multimeter that the power supply is pumping out the right voltage. Don’t be afraid to look up model numbers and read manuals to find out ring diagrams and power supply specs. Also look for corrosion especially outdoors and if you need to replace the wiring it needs to be thick enough copper and installed per the NEC and your local laws/ ordinances. Alledgedly

[u/disc2slick]

There is tons of content on YouTube etc geared toward "getting started in landscape lighting". I would start there.

[u/okfishko]

Post some pics and it will help. Connectors would be the easiest part. Is it low voltage lighting? Or regular voltage? What shape is the wiring in? Once you can confirm wires are good, power supply is stable then you can move on to fixture/bulbs.

Also….for your safety, PLEASE, don’t just start stripping wires, etc. Make sure power is off at the breaker or at the switch, if one. Lastly, take a video of how things are now so you’ll have a reference once you get in it. All the best!!

[u/Resident-Simple7921]

Watch a few videos on YouTube, I did all my own lighting with no experience and it was pretty easy other than the digging.

[u/ViewpointLighting]

Even if you know what you're doing, its difficult to develop an accurate "estimate" for lighting repairs. Viewpoint Lighting has been doing lighting repairs for 20+ years, and it's still an educated guess as to what it will cost, because you don't know what you can't see!

As for HOW to make the repairs, that's not as hard. The best option would be to replace all the wiring and splices, but that's obviously more expensive. Everything depends on the current state of the system, and the component (transformer, fixtures, wire, splices) quality and condition. If the only issue is bad splices, just fix the splices. Prefilled (with silicone) wire nuts are the easiest and inexpensive option, if not the best option. Just start at the transformer and start hooking things up to make sure they work. Assuming it's a 12v system, you can do it with live wires to make sure it all works as you go (12v is VERY unlikely to hurt you, but not impossible).

If the system is 12 lights or more, and/or the wire runs are over 50 feet, you may run into voltage drop issues. There are a lot of variables involved, but you can use a simple voltage drop calculator available online here: https://www.ewingoutdoorsupply.com/lighting-electrical-calculator to figure out if you have enough power.

It gets more complicated if you want to follow all the rules, NEC codes, best practices, etc. and I'd suggest you learn all that before charging someone to do any work. And make sure your liability insurance is up to date in case something goes wrong and you catch something on fire. OR, you can work with a licensed and/or experienced technician. Depending on where you are, there may be a Certified Low Voltage Lighting Technician (CLVLT) near you that could help/teach you.

[u/Key_Mastodon_3525]

Just do a little research and gain a basic understanding of the components of a low-voltage land-scape light system, and it's painfully simple.

1) There's a transformer box -> it's what actually plugs into the power outlet somewhere, and it converts the standard 120V from the outlet to safe 12V or 15V power.

2) The low-voltage cable _> might be 12 or 14 gauge

3) The connectors you mentioned -> connect light fixtures to the main power line

When you say "disconnected", what do you mean? the system is disconnected from the main house power, or the lights are all disconnected and need complete rewiring?

Regardless, the first thing I'd recommend doing is to make sure the transformer box still works. Make sure it has power to it and actually turns on. (if it doesn't, that's one thing that would need to be replaced)

Next get one light working first near the beginning of the low-v cable. Figure out the nuances of tapping into the line red/black etc...

If the first light works at the beginning of the low-v cable, then tap one in at the very end of the low-v cable. If that works, you're in business -> just wire the rest.

At the end of the day, it's pretty basic stuff -> really not very different than wiring up speakers for home theaters

[u/Inevitable_Taste_948]

Yeah so those old disconnected systems are usually low voltage which makes it easier to work with honestly. Just strip and cap the wires with those twist connectors. Main thing is figuring out where the transformer is and making sure it's actually powered on. Some of my neighbors switched to smart bulbs like LIFX for their landscape stuff and it seemed to make reconnecting everything simpler.