Garden Lighting

[Trw144]

Does anyone have any experience of Techmar plug and play garden lights (or similar)? Looking to add some uplighters around my garden and liked the simplicity and ability to add more in future to these kits.

Don't think voltage drop should be too much of an issue on runs of 30 ish meters with 6 or so 2w lights.

 

https://www.lyco.co.uk/techmar-plug-and-play-alder-led-garden-spotlight-kit-6-lights.html?customer_tax_visibility=2&msclkid=30923df3a720176ba4d966f05b11da19&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping - LY - Bing - All Products&utm_term=1101500971365&utm_content=Shopping - LY - Bing - All Products

 

 

[Trw144]

I ve just ordered a bunch of transformers, lights and cables from the Techmar range. Need to pick up some ducting later this week and will start laying the cables this week - I ll report back on the product for anyone else interested.

 

[daiking]

13 minutes ago, Trw144 said:

I ve just ordered a bunch of transformers, lights and cables from the Techmar range. Need to pick up some ducting later this week and will start laying the cables this week - I ll report back on the product for anyone else interested.

 

 

Yes please

[Trw144]

So, some help needed from the sparkies out there.

 

The techmar lighting uses a 12v ac transformer. There seems to be no issue on the polarity in these light fittings as you can fit them into the two pronged connector either way around, and they still work.

However, I have a couple of non techmar lights which also need 12v ac, but they do have a marked positive and neutral wire, suggesting they can only be connected one way? If this is the case, how do I determine which is the 12v live and which is negative coming out of the transformer?

 

Hopefully this makes sense, if not I ll add some pictures which may help.

Edited May 25, 2018 by Trw144

[Onoff]

If something's marked + and - then it's DC or cheap crap marked wrong!

 

There is no positive and negative coming out of an AC transformer, it's alternating current.

 

Pictures pls and close ups of anything written on the lights or connectors.

[Trw144]

@Onoff

Looking at the lights they are actually marked 12v ac/dc. Is this possibly why it is marked up and on an ac circuit just does nt matter?

Pics following

 

 

Edited May 25, 2018 by Trw144

[Trw144]

[Trw144]

[j_s]

I can't help with the AC/DC thing but we've just fitted a bunch of techmar stuff and first impressions are that it's great so far. Went for 11 deck lights in our composite decking, that has 3 terraces, 5 uplighters and 2 waterproof rock lights for our little stream. I want a pond now so may get another rock light.

[daiking]

Any updates @Trw144?

 

what do you do with the cable? Just tuck it somewhere tidy?

 

Does it not need any conduit or protection as it’s LV?

 

(I am looking for alternatives to my abortive brick lights idea)

[Trw144]

Hi @daiking I have nt finished them yet - been gradually installing them over the last two weekends now that I ve planned what is going where. Should be finished sometime next week if my sparky turns up to wire in the transformer for me. I ve been burying my cable in small conduit under the lawn and edging. I m not sure its necessary, and they do offer a thicker rubber cable if you wanted to run it through gravel etc. The nice thing is they do offer a wide range of lights so I m going to put some uplights into my front door step, and a wall light by my front gate. I would say its not the cheapest system - the lights are nt too badly priced, but the cable and branched connectors certainly add up - they only come in 1,3,6,10m lengths so for instance I have quite a few places where I needed 3.5m of cable and therefore had to buy the 6m cable.

[SteveDSL]

I too bought Techmar as I was fed up with cheap solar packing up. Put it in around the time you did, unfortunately now it is giving trouble. Water getting into the connections and lights, ants making homes in lights. Anyone had experience of waterproofing this sort of stuff, and sealing it up against ants. Cables mostly shallow buried, maybe 50mm, just enough to hide the cables.

Details: One of the Deimos eyelid lights popped most of its LEDs, www.gardenlightshop.com, the Techmar subsidiary,  sells the LED PCB but not cheap.

Some of the Atera post lights get ants in, I think I'll try squirting mastic in the cable entry. Some of the LD bulbs in the Atera post lights are failing, seems water is getting in, anyone found a way to waterproof them? Water seems to get in at the join between the glass and the post.

Some connectors, single or triple are wet when you undo them, they were fully tightened because when I tightened a bit more the sleeve let the connector slide out. Anyone tried self amalgamating tape on connectors? might be too fiddly on the triples, the singles might work but I worry the tape won't seal around the figure 8 cable.