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Garden Lighting Technical Information
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| Transformer |
Transformer – Devise for changing voltage, usually
from 240v to low voltage commonly 12v. The reason for this is that
when garden lighting it is much safer
and easier to run cables across beds and lawns than to run mains voltage.
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Luminaire |
Current
term for garden lighting fitting |
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| Lamp |
Industry name for
a light bulb |
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| Wattage |
Load required to
power one or a number of garden lighting fittings.
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| Voltage
Drop
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When running distances in
12 volts the cable needs to be matched to the load and distance. Otherwise
you may end up with less than 12 volts at the end of the cable run.
This will not cause damage to the luminaire but if the voltage drop
is large then the light produced will have a slightly yellow effect
and may also seem slightly dim
Click
here to see Garden Lighting Voltage Drop Chart
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| IP
Ratings
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The rating the
garden lighting product (luminaire) is given to show its resistance
to particles in the atmosphere and its resistance to water. The first
number is resistance to particles and the second number shows the
resistance to water. IE IP 67 OR IP 68 for pond or pool lighting.
Click
here to see Garden Lighting IP Ratings Chart
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Low
Voltage
Cabling
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This is the cable used to run out from the transformer
to the garden lighting product (luminaire).
The size of cable depends on the total wattage of garden lights and
length of cable run.
Click
here to see Garden Lighting Voltage Drop Chart
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| Waterproof
Connections
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There are many different ways of making all joints
fully waterproof, this is very important when outdoor garden
lighting as without correct joints when the lamp cools it will
pull in moisture from the ground and also the atmosphere. This will
rapidly deteriorate the lamp and lamp holder and will eventually cause
failure.
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| Heat Shrink
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Commonly used waterproof
joints;
Available in kit form consisting of 2 crimps and an
outer heat shrink seal. Or in large rolls and cut to size. The seal
shrinks when heated from the center outwards thus providing a water
tight seal.
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| Resin
Joint |
These consist of two chemicals that when mixed together
for a hard impervious resin. Very
useful to fill enclosure boxes that are to be buried underground
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| IP
Enclosure
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These are waterproof boxes
that must be fitted with the correct glands to ensure watertight seal
where the cables exit the box. Very useful to run a number of
cables out to each garden lighting product
(luminaire). |
