Led flood lights failure

[HandySparks]

I think the OP has lost interest. In which case, so have I.

 

[martinh89]

Hi sorry for the late reply, for some reason I've received no notification emails.

Anyway the lights are 30w led tamlite, and 3 out of 9 failed.
I've used ip66 boxes to connect the flex from the lights and also the next light down ect..
I've used sy 3 core because it's cheaper that swa and I've used it before for outdoor lighting with no problem.

I discovered that water had been retained in the cable from when the box flooded and this somehow rusted the strip connector in the first box.
I have changed the 3 lights, and about 20 metres of cable, sealed all screw and cable entries with Sealent , tests came back fine dead and live.

No there wasn't any water ingress in any of the lights, I checked (was hopeing there were on grounds of returning them)
The stuffing glands used were just white plastic ones which I also have sealed inside and out.

When you mentioned the driver has gone what did you mean? Sorry if it seems a stupid question?

 

[telectrix]

Hi sorry for the late reply, for some reason I've received no notification emails.

Anyway the lights are 30w led tamlite, and 3 out of 9 failed.
I've used ip66 boxes to connect the flex from the lights and also the next light down ect..
I've used sy 3 core because it's cheaper that swa and I've used it before for outdoor lighting with no problem.

I discovered that water had been retained in the cable from when the box flooded and this somehow rusted the strip connector in the first box.
I have changed the 3 lights, and about 20 metres of cable, sealed all screw and cable entries with Sealent , tests came back fine dead and live.

No there wasn't any water ingress in any of the lights, I checked (was hopeing there were on grounds of returning them)
The stuffing glands used were just white plastic ones which I also have sealed inside and out.

When you mentioned the driver has gone what did you mean? Sorry if it seems a stupid question?

but are they all working now?

 

[ipf]

Anyway the lights are 30w led tamlite, and 3 out of 9 failed.
I've used sy 3 core because it's cheaper that swa and I've used it before for outdoor lighting with no problem.

I discovered that water had been retained in the cable from when the box flooded and this somehow rusted the strip connector in the first box.
I have changed the 3 lights, and about 20 metres of cable, sealed all screw and cable entries with Sealent , tests came back fine dead and live.

The stuffing glands used were just white plastic ones which I also have sealed inside and out.

When you mentioned the driver has gone what did you mean? Sorry if it seems a stupid question?

So, it seems you've used incorrect cable, terminated in incorrect glands for it....and the driver's done a runner.
....just for starters.

 

[telectrix]

LEDs don't have starters. that's for old florrys.

 

[ipf]

LEDs don't have starters. that's for old florrys.

The driver's gone in a lorry......not a florry..

 

[martinh89]

Yes there working now.

As for the wrong cable and wrong glands, I got taught that each job is designed to its surroundings aswel as it's use, and the lights are completely out the way, and there's no possibility of damage therefore I didn't feel the need to over engineer it, the only reason water ingress occurred to begin with is because the ip66 box fitted had a seal missing which caused the cable to retain water via capillary reaction which caused corrosion on the strip connectors this time round.
Thank you for the replys some were helpful others not so helpful

 

[mattg4321]

It's not really a case of over engineering, more a case of using the correct materials for the job.

SY cable is generally not recommended for use outdoors mainly because UV light will damage the sheath and it will crack and eventually fall off. However I have heard rumours of SY cable that the manufacturers claim can be used outdoors. I don't think any decent sparks I know would do so regardless though. Personally I would've considered NYY-J if you thought SWA wasn't necessary.

You should really be using the correct SY specific glands if you're going to use SY - so the braiding is correctly earthed. 'Pig tailing' it is a bit of a bodge in my opinion and leaving it 'floating' worse!

The mention of drivers was in relation to you saying you had wired them in series. It was assumed they were wired via a constant current driver. It now seems clear you got mixed up and you've actually wired them in parallel.

Your last problem is the use of Tamlite. I personally won't use them (or any other CEF brands like Proteus) even if it means a detour elsewhere to get materials. Absolute carp.

Hope that helps for next time and enjoy Christmas!

 

[martinh89]

Cheers for the reply.. A "bodge job" is definitely not my intention, I generally love what I do and pride myself on neatness and reliability.

The point about the sy in uv light is actually a brilliant point, I'll definitely take that on board and anything outdoors from now on I'll just use swa with the correct gland kits. I am aware of sy gland kits but just thought they wasn't needed.

I installed tamlite on the adjacent building well over a year ago and I've had no issues with them (fingers crossed, stays like that).

I'll definitely take it on board for next time, cheers

 

[Midwest]

The piece appeared in a recent publication of PE;
NAPIT | Is non-Standard Cable Acceptable? - http://professional-electrician.com/features/napit-non-standard-cable-acceptable/

 

[Amp David]

Just completed some floodlighting down the side of a factory and used hituff cable with stuffing glands and wiska boxes. Never used it before, always used swa but never again for this kind of job.

No glands to make of, nail in clips and a proper water tight seal. Oh and a doddle to strip and prepare.

 

[123]

Just completed some floodlighting down the side of a factory and used hituff cable with stuffing glands and wiska boxes. Never used it before, always used swa but never again for this kind of job.

No glands to make of, nail in clips and a proper water tight seal. Oh and a doddle to strip and prepare.

Wait to you use some of the slightly bigger sizes, it can be an absolute nightmare to strip...even 6.0mm

 

[HandySparks]

So, did you drill a drain hole in each box?

... the only reason water ingress occurred to begin with is because the ip66 box fitted had a seal missing which caused the cable to retain water via capillary reaction which caused corrosion on the strip connectors this time round.

So, did you drill a drain hole?

I would almost always drill one or more drain holes in an external junction box, irrespective of its claimed IP rating.