Portable Landscape-Light Tester
Use cordless-tool batteries to test low-voltage landscape light fixtures and reveal poor electrical connections before the cables are installed.
I was installing and wiring low-voltage landscape lighting and I wanted to test the dozens of connections as I made them rather than waiting until everything was hooked up to the transformer. The fixtures work from 12v to 24v, so any cordless-power-tool battery within that range works for testing.
All of my tool batteries show the positive and negative terminals. I used those for testing the lights. The other terminals allow the battery to communicate with the charger or tool and are not used for light testing.
Testing the fixtures one at a time eliminates finding poor electrical connections later, many of which will be buried, making them hard to find. And of course, the testing also shows if the fixture works or not.
— Nathan Badgley; North Bend, Wash.
From Fine Homebuilding #302
“Landscape-Light Tester”
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