Solar outdoor chandelier stopped working.

[oregon_phil]

My preference is to use waterproof wire nuts unless the connection can be made inside of a weatherproof junction box. You have to assume moisture is going to get to your soldered connection. The waterproof wire nuts have a gel inside of them to keep the moisture out. That being said, I have done both soldered and waterproof wire nuts successfully for low voltage.

[trooper1954]

Wire would be completely covered by the deck and so little weather and no sunlight. I was going to solder the connections,but maybe waterproof wire nuts would be better?

[oregon_phil]

Is the wire exposed to direct sunlight? How much in the weather is the wire?

My guess is the 20 awg white wire would be OK, but do some research on how you are going to make the wire connections for outdoor location. If you can make the connections in a place that isn't visible, then you can use some waterproof wire nuts.

[trooper1954]

I do have another question.....to back up, the light was originally moved to put up some white t and g boards underneath a deck. The boards are white, so I'm thinking of replacing the power cord with white so it doesn't clash with the boards. Would 20AWG wire good for 300v be okay to use? The current wire is black and 24AWG.

[trooper1954]

Thanks so much oregon-phil....without your patience I would have had no perseverence...really appreciate the troubleshooting tips, and I'm glad I didn't just take it to the dump weeks ago!
Yes, it's just about 2 years old.

[oregon_phil]

You never answered the question: how many years has this light been in service? I'm guessing it's less than 2 years.

Remember I said this connector is not very suitable for outdoor use. You could try to get a socket connector that at least has a weather resistant cover.

I would measure the outer diameter of the PLUG connector with a pair of calipers. Then you need to know the outside diameter of the SOCKET connector.

You could then find something on line like

5.5 x 2.1 MM 8A DC Power Jack Cord Socket Threaded Female Mount Connector Adapter with Pre-soldered Wires and Waterproof Cover Cap

This means the outer diameter of the plug connector is 5.5mm.

You have enough information to be dangerous now.

Good luck.

[trooper1954]

Where would I even begin to look for a replacement for this?
Solar plug in..jpg

[trooper1954]

UPDATE...went back, and re did the connection between the end of the cut wire and the clipped wire at the back of the socket connector.....with solar panel covered the light now works!!!!

Can I just solder the connection and re assemble, or should I replace the plugin socket?

[trooper1954]

plug in cut chandelier wire and measure the resistance from the end of the cut wire to the clipped wire on the back of the socket connector. Record the values for the red and black wire.

Red wire 1
Black wire 1....neither showed any change on the multimeter...it reads 1 before connection and also after.

Without the light attached, you check the electrical resistance of the black cut wire to the plug connector and red cut wire to plug connector. The resistance should be very low. Record the values for the red and black wire.

Red wire .6
Black wire .6

plug in cut chandelier wire and measure the resistance from the end of the cut wire to the clipped wire on the back of the socket connector. Record the values for the red and black wire. While your at it, wiggle the connector as you are measuring the resistance. Any open circuit or very high measurement means you have a bad connector.

Did this....covered panel to represent darkness....lights did not come on. Voltage reading at wire joint was 2.2v

[oregon_phil]

Omega, Lower Left quadrant is correct. Try setting it on 200 to start.

[trooper1954]

Attached photo is correct....#5 is the on/off switch. Thanks for the troubleshooting tips, but unfortunately I'm not really familiar with electrical stuff so may have confused the issue somewhat. I don't know how to set my multimeter up to check resistance...can you assist? I'm assuming it needs to be set in the lower left qudrant....is that correct? What setting should I use?
Thanks.
Multimeter.jpg

[oregon_phil]

I'm getting the facts confused. In your previous picture, #5 was the switch.

Please confirm the latest attached picture has the correct details..

In your first post, you said you measured 3.58VDC on the back of the round connector that goes to the light, #1.

You plugged the chandelier cable with two cut ends into connector #1. You measured 0.00 VDC.

So the electrical path is back of connector, socket connector contacts, plug connector contacts, wires soldered to plug connector, wire, cut ends of wire.

Without the light attached, you check the electrical resistance of the black cut wire to the plug connector and red cut wire to plug connector. The resistance should be very low. Record the values for the red and black wire.

Unless the solder joints are bad on the back of the socket connector, the main suspect would be the coaxial "battery" type connector. I mentioned in my previous post, these connectors are not exactly ideal for outdoor environments.

I'm comfortable with soldering and fixing things, so if it was me, to test out my theory, I would clip the wires on the back of the socket connector #1 leaving enough wire to strip both sides of the clipped wire in order to reconnect them later.

There are two things you can do here.

1) plug in cut chandelier wire and measure the resistance from the end of the cut wire to the clipped wire on the back of the socket connector. Record the values for the red and black wire. While your at it, wiggle the connector as you are measuring the resistance. Any open circuit or very high measurement means you have a bad connector.

2) you can bypass the connector and wire up the chandelier wires directly from the chandelier to the wires from the board that were going to connector #1.

[trooper1954]

This photo shows the opposite side of #5 in the previous post....it is the plug in located on the right of the photo. The wire was cut between the plug, which is on the left in the photo and the lamp itself.
Solar light.jpg

[oregon_phil]

That's the reading on a multimeter from the two wires leading to the light from the solar panel. With absolutely no markings on the panel itself, how would I determine what the output from the panel should be? I'd like to order a new panel and try it.

Technically, the solar panel wires don't go directly to the light do they? Solar panel to board, board to light, batteries to board. On the drawing #1 to #5, show us where you cut the wires. And show the opposite side of #1.

[trooper1954]

Paradise 1.2v battery x 2....both fully charged. Panels producing 3.58v
When the wire was cut there were two internal wires....red and black....I simply re-connect red-red and black-black. Is this not correct?