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chiefneil

Low voltage wiring/transformer questions

chiefneil
17 years ago

I'm trying to figure out lighting for a wall unit, the transformer in particular. I'm looking at about 75W worth of bulbs on 15' of cable, using a 12V system.

The electronic transformer I'd like to use is rated at 150W but says not to use more than 10' of cable due to voltage dropoff. Since I'd be at 50% of the rated wattage, would I be ok with the 15' of cable?

Alternatively, the guy at the lighting store said I could use two runs of shorter cable, so I could use a 10' run and a 5' run, and splice them together at the transformer (basically putting the transformer closer to the middle of the wall unit than at the end). Is that correct, and if so could I do the splicing with simple wire nuts?

My other option is to use a magnetic transformer. What are the downsides of a magnetic transformer - I have heard that they might hum and run hotter than the electronic version?

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