# Malibu lighting



## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

I have Malibu lighting throughout my garden railway. Mostly in the trees to help light the area for viewing and foot traffic. Several of the fixtures are spotlights that use a 20 watt lamp. One spotlight, in particular, is located close to the power source, a twelve volt Malibu transformer. The lamps in this fixture burn out much sooner than any of the other spotlight type fixtures. Would it make any sense to experiment with a resistor in the supply wiring to this fixture?


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

You could do that. I do it in some places using high watt resistors used in speaker crossovers. Or you could just use a 2.5 or 5 ohm inrush thermistor to accomplish the task and you wouldn't have to worry about the wattage rating as these are typically rated at 6 or more amps.


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## Treeman (Jan 6, 2008)

Change the bulbs to LED's


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

It's not just the inrush, it's the voltage, these units draw enough current that there is a significant difference in the voltage between the "near" and the "far" lamps. A big resistor of the proper wattage will help. 16 volts at 20 watts is about 1.25 amps, and I suspect even dropping one volt will help. The resistor should then be about .8 ohms, and the wattage about 1-1/4 watts, so maybe a one ohm resistor and 5 watts to keep things cool (and easy to buy). 

Greg 

p.s. or you could do what the manufacturer recommends, add some wire before the first lamp, and keep the wire short between the first and last lamp.


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## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

Thanks for the replies. I thought about changing to an LED lamp, but have too many spare halogens at the moment to use up. I'll go with the resistor idea for now.


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## nkelsey (Jan 4, 2008)

My transformer came with an instruction not to have a light fixture on the first 6 foot of cable.....


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## Polaris1 (Jan 22, 2010)

My Local Fleet & Farm electrical Expert told me Malibu Lighting has been Out of Business for about a year.... They could not make a Profit.... 

Dennis M from GBay, WI


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## Trains (Jan 2, 2008)

They still have a website, and you can buy them all over town. Just about every store here carries Malibu .

Don


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Posted By Greg Elmassian on 13 Jun 2012 09:30 PM 
It's not just the inrush, it's the voltage, 



You are correct that it is not the inrush, but the 2.5 ohms and 6+ amps of capacity. The inrush suppression is just gravy.

BTW,even a 5 watt resistor will get quite hot so mount it accordingly.


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## krs (Feb 29, 2008)

What about one of those cheap 5 or 10 amp rectifier bridges Radio Shack sells? 
http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?origkw=diode+bridge&sr=1&kwCatId=&kw=diode+bridge&pg=1 

Wire it so that two diodes are in series if the extra voltage drop is needed. 
Probably easier to get than a resistor of the right value and wattage.


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## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

Posted By nkelsey on 14 Jun 2012 09:20 PM 
My transformer came with an instruction not to have a light fixture on the first 6 foot of cable..... 


I do remember reading that on an older model. I don't see why it would not apply to the newer ones.


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