low voltage wiring embedded in deck rail
markledbury
| Posted in General Discussion on
I’m thinking about adding low-voltage lighting to my deck railing. the posts are pressure treated and the handrail is cedar. My plan is to put a low-voltage light at each post and want to embed the wires in a dado slot under the top part of the railing and drill a hole into the post to hook up each light. I’ve heard that low voltage wiring can heat up in confined spaces. What should be the minimum dado dimensions for the wire and what should the minimum hole size be for the posts? I was thinking about using 1/2″ by 3/8″ dado and 1/2″ diameter holes. Does that sound about right, or do I need to go larger? or smaller?
Thanks,
Mark
Replies
Greetings Mark,
This post, in response to your question, will bump the thread through the 'recent discussion' listing again which will increase it's viewing.
Perhaps it will catch someone's attention that can help you with advice.
Cheers
Let's run this by one more time.
bump
I was thinking about using 1/2" by 3/8" dado and 1/2" diameter holes. Does that sound about right, or do I need to go larger? or smaller?
Will probably work. The wire heats, as all cble does as a function of length, voltage, and amp draw. The cable is probably less of a problem than the connectors.
What you may find handy, though, is to make the cable as unbroken as possible, which means you may want to wallow out a hole in the post top for the connector to the actual lamp.
So, it can come down to the desing of post and cap, really. Sometimes you need a good mortice hewed out ofthe post, and a skinny hole bored up to where the cable comes under the rails. Sometimes a decent-size (5/8-3/4") hole augered through the post works. Depends on the fisture, how it attaches to the post, and how it connects to the LV cable
God, I love this country. We all knew what you meant when you used the word "wallow," even if it was the wrong word. If we can keep this up, we can create a code that'll baffle any insurgents from outside the US using English classes in their home countries. Insurgent asks for directions -- "Well, go about three malls straight 'til you get to the whoop-de-doop, then take the next road past the holler, careful for the crick bed, cross the Santa Fe, then the second road after The Crawford place." I think that any born American could follow these directions, if they knew the Crawfords -- the ones with the two deer statues in their yard.
The correct Kentucky name for that is waller.
In the Illinois countryside and in Missourah we say WALLER.....
We give directions by "by the old Kroger", and on the other side of town "where the old Kroger used to be".
Forrest
I'm installing low voltage in my front yard soon. Are you saying that each light fixture or set of them should be a home run? I'm only going to have 4-5 lamps or strings going.
Ok so maybe a few more now that I think about it. All of the low voltage I'm thinking of in this circuit will be low wattage as well. More like little night lights here and there.
I bought my first fixture for this a few days ago. It's string of lights 48" long with 24 12V bulbs in it. Not sure of the wattage.
Edited 7/7/2008 9:13 pm ET by popawheelie
Edited 7/7/2008 9:19 pm ET by popawheelie
Are you saying that each light fixture or set of them should be a home run? I'm only going to have 4-5 lamps or strings going.
The best results I've obtained were by wiring like to like. So, all the flush riser fictures go together, post caps go together, and so on. Mixing wattages on a single cable seems to give the least predictable results.
Any high draw fixtures, like spots, I always try to home run, sometimes using a second transformer (depends on the load, fixture count, etc.)Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)