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I need a simple wiring diagram to switch low voltage garden lights between one another ??

Hi guys. I have a set of 3 garden lights. They all run off a 12 volt transformer and are simply connected using low voltage garden light wire. Now, my question is, I want to be able to wire in a simple switch, which when thrown one way, it lights up 2 lights, and when thrown the other way, simply lights up the other light and turns the original 2 off. I tried to wire a switch in but it didn`t work for some reason. Please note: there is no negative or positive wire with this garden light wire, just 2 cores which can be split or twined with one another and it doesn`t matter which way any connections are conncted. I hope what I want is achievable. Thank you heaps in advance. Neil.

Public Comments

  1. smoke a blunt
  2. You need to put the switching in before the low voltage transformer. If the lights are all wired together, there is no way you will be able to preform this task. You will need to put the two lights on one transformer and have the switched with or by the feed wires to the transformer. The last light will need to be on its own transformer and switched also with the 120 volt feed. I woul hire an electrician a good one, A union guy on the side or somthing. Not your girlfrinds uncle chuck..
  3. what do you mean by simply connected?they could be connected serial or parallel and in both cases you can put a swich after the first lamp to connect the other 2 lamps and disconnect itself. use more wire to lead the tension to the 2 groups-1 lamp at one side and 2 lamps to the other side. Important is to make 2 separate groups of lamps.
  4. Get yourself a extra low voltage two way switch, the same kind you would use for inside at 110v or 240v but in a weather proof low voltage version with a weather proof enclosure, your local electrical wholesaler will be able to supply one, they may have to order it in though. If they can't supply one a switch rated for 20amps at 110v or 240v will handle the small load you want to run. Take one 2 core cable from the transformer and put one core of it into the common terminal of the switch leave the other unconnected at this stage. Then take one core from the cable from the pair of lights and wire it into the first switch terminal, take one core from the cable from the single light and wire it into the second switch terminal. now take the three remaining wires and join them together with a screw connector. You should now be able to switch between the two. Alternatively, you could just split the output of the transformer to two separate switches and have the option of running the single light, the pair or all three together. Just make sure your switch is rated for the load you want to run i.e. a 50w light at 12v is about 8amps otherwise your switch will melt.