Troubleshooting Landscape Lighting 101 | Sanford, Florida

It can be frustrating to experience problems with your landscape lighting after you’ve spent so much time and money investing into a high-quality landscape lighting design to help boost your curb appeal and improve the safety and security of your property.

It’s especially frustrating when you’re not sure what’s wrong with your lighting. The following are some of the common reasons why some or all of your landscape’s lights may not be functioning properly:

Burned Out Bulbs

If one of your lights simply isn’t working, there’s a good chance it’s just because the bulb is burned out and needs to be replaced. You might want to consider upgrading to an LED light since they will last much longer.

Connection Issues

If some of your lights aren’t working, but others are, it may be a connection issue. This is often the case if the project was DIY and a professional technician didn’t install your lighting. Generally speaking, if your lighting connections consist of copper crimps, grease tubes, or heat shrink, then the connections shouldn’t be the problem. If connections are sliding together and are pricking the wire, then the connections should be replaced, even if they aren’t bad yet. Prick connections often loosen, allowing moisture to come into contact with the copper wire, thereby causing corrosion.

Failed sockets

If some of your lights aren’t working but your connections are fine, it may be because the seals on your socket have been compromised, causing the socket to fail.

Tripped Circuit

If an entire section of lighting isn’t working, then you should check your transformer as the circuit may have been tripped. If it keeps tripping after you’ve turned it on, then a severed wire may be the issue.

Short Circuit

If none of your lights are working, it may be the result of a short. Try resetting the breaker. If this doesn’t do it, check your GFCI outlet and reset that. If your outlets are working, then check the voltage and amperage of your transformer. If you’re not receiving power, the transformer may need to be replaced.

Improper Voltage

If your lights are dimmer than they should be, then it may be the result of improper voltage. Inspect the light at the end of your grouping to identify the voltage. If the voltage is less than 10 on any halogen bulbs, then the bulbs won’t fire properly. Halogen bulbs should be between 11 volts and 12 volts. If you’re using LEDs, then it should be between 9 volts and 15 volts.

Non-Waterproof Connections

If you’re not using waterproof connections, it could cause your lighting to become dim as well.

Too Many Lights

Your lights may lose some of their lighting quality if you have too many lights on a single run. You should be able to increase the brightness by removing one of the lights since this will increase the voltage to the other fixtures on the run.

These are just some of the reasons why your landscape lighting may not be working properly. However, to get a proper diagnosis and to make sure that the problem is properly fixed, make sure to have a professional landscape lighting technician take a look at it. To schedule an appointment to have your landscape lighting inspected, be sure to contact us at Snyder’s Landscapes in Central Florida today. We offer services in Sanford, Florida.