How to Check for a Short in Electrical Wiring in Landscape Lighting

Landscape lighting can add dramatic effects to your outdoor landscaping design as well as enhance the safety of the area by eliminating dark spaces. As with any lighting design, landscape lights are connected to the main electrical board through a series of wiring. While landscape lighting wires are designed to be subjected to the elements, occasionally you may experience a short in the electrical wiring. You need to determine if you’re experiencing a wire short or a light fixture short.

Instructions

- 1
  Locate your circuit breaker. Examine the breaker and look for tripped switches. A tripped circuit breaker switch will appear to be in the “off” position when it was previously in the “on” position.
- 2
  Unplug or turn off all electrical components attached to the outdoor lighting circuit breaker switch.
- 3
  Reset the circuit breaker by flipping the switch to the “on” position. If the breaker successfully resets, which means if it does not return to the “off” position, the short is in one of the lighting elements you unplugged. However, if the breaker trips after all fixtures have been unplugged, the short is in the electrical wiring.

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