Hard Wire A Broken Malibu Light Instrument Trick.

Hard Wire A Broken Malibu Light Instrument Trick.

My daughter loves to decorate for Halloween every year.  Her boyfriend brought over a lot of decorations that were pretty good.  One category of items was plastic pumpkins.  The pumpkins came with a large hole on the bottom, perfect for placing over a Malibu light.

We have a planter along the street of our house that I wired for Malibu power years ago.  The main power line was sunk under the lawn and then threaded under the sidewalk from the house to the planter.  I then created an electrical T network where a new Malibu electrical cable ran along the length of the planter.  I purchased a connector to marry the two main power lines in the middle.  Now take note that I had two ends of the top of the T wire that became important years later.  Each end of that wire ended at each end of the planter and this is where I placed my Malibu lights using their squeeze and penetrate a pin method.   The lights in this planter over time failed and I did not make the effort to repair them because we keep our Malibu lights on all night and I wanted to cut electricity costs.  I decided to switch over to LED bulbs to save money but they were hard to find at that time and expensive.  My bulb source, when I started this switch over, was charging over $20 per bulb so I only did the switch over for the most important instrument locations.  This planter was not that important.  The Halloween 2015 season I noticed that Philips offers a 20 watt LED replacement bulb that only uses 2 watts for less than $7.

  • Manufacturer: Philips
  • Model 9090011318
  • Voltage 12
  • G4 capsule
  • Brightness 195 lumens
  • White light
  • Estimated length of service: 13 + years.
  • Estimated yearly cost $0.24.
  • The problem with this bulb is that it sticks out from the socket too far for some of the Malibu instruments.

Home Depot also sold a nifty Malibu filter kit consisting of three colored glass filters and a metal clip for MR16 bulbs.  I used these glass filters in other light fixtures.  They really to the ambiance, the Halloween theme my daughter was trying to convey.

The main point of this post is to share with you a trick I used to save money and make a much better electrical connection to two of my Malibu lights and ensure ease of troubleshooting if a problem occurs in the future.  This all started when I found out that a few of my Malibu light fixtures had bad electrical connectors where the cable connects to the main power line.  I decided to hard wire this planter and not by the normal push pin method.  This really works for the planter because lights were only placed at the ends of the top bar of the T.  This trick only works at the END of the main power line.

In the image below I show one end of the T line that rests at one end of the planter.  I separated the main power line so I could deal with each power line separately.  I intentionally cut one line much shorter than the other.  The reason is I do not want the two wires to ever short out.  Look at the image below and in your mind see if there is any way one wire can ever touch the other. They can not.  I stripped the insulation from both the main power line and the instrument. I then twisted the instrument wires to the main line wires as shown below.

Image shows the main power lines was staggered cut so the two bare ends would not short out.
End of main power line has been staggered cut so the two sides of the circuit will not short out and the light fixture wires have been twisted to the main lines.

 

After I twisted the instrument wires on to the main power lines, I used plastic twist wire nuts (I used “Greenie” because they might blend in with the surrounding plants).  As you can see in the image below, the instrument is very old, still working though which explains why this is saving me money.  I do not have to buy a new instrument.

Image shows an old Malibu light base being connected to the end of the main power line.
An old Malibu light fixture base is shown being connected to the end of the main power line. Twist connectors were used.

Below is an image of the repaired light fixture ready for the plastic pumpkin to be slid over the light.

A very old Malibu light fixture model 8301-9300-01 which had bad electrical connector is shown hard wired to a main power line and a plastic pumpkin ready to be placed over the fixture.
A very old Malibu light fixture model 8301-9300-01 which had bad electrical connector is shown hard wired to a main power line and a plastic pumpkin ready to be placed over the fixture.
Malibu Outdoor Lighting Installation Tips

Malibu Outdoor Lighting Installation Tips

For years our house has used a Malibu outdoor light system.  I give the system an average rating, not meaning that there is anything better, just that the system comes with a significant number of problems.  Let me list a few:

  • Trying to get a new light fixture to properly connect to the power line is not always easy.
  • Over time, some fixtures tend to not work and fail for good.  (Trick: If the instrument end connectors go bad you can try to do a direct wire connection to the end of the main power line.)
  • Trying to move a fixture that has been working well in one location and moving it to another location can be very frustrating.  It seems that a fixture is more reliable if left alone and not moved.

Here are some tips for maintaining a system:

  • Make sure the pin that penetrates the main power line is not bent.  If you do see that it is bent, use a tool line a small pliers and straighten it.
Image shows a Malibu light connection pin which is bent and thus will not work.
Notice that the arrow points to the electrical pin contact which is bent. It will not penetrate the main power line.
  • Make sure that when you attach the two sides of the instrument power connector to the main power line that you pay particular attention to line up the pins so when you squeeze to lock the connector the pins will indeed penetrate the main power line to make a good connection.
Photo shows one of two light power pins is not properly centered to push into the main power line.
Note that the bottom electrical connection pin will not penetrate the main power line.

 

Targus model TA-51EB-BLK Bluetooth wireless headset review.

Targus model TA-51EB-BLK Bluetooth wireless headset review.

I purchased a Bluetooth wireless earphone, Targus model TA-51EB-BLK.  The headset, after about one month, would only last about 7 minutes or less and then die.  Internet reviews also seemed to complain that the headsets would easily fall out of the ear and I can confirm this.

Targus model TA-51EB-BLK Bluetooth wireless headsets are not recommended.

 

Blackburn Flea 2.0 Combo Front + Rear USB Rechargeable Lights review.

Blackburn Flea 2.0 Combo Front + Rear USB Rechargeable Lights review.

I volunteered to be a ham radio bicycle mobile for  a city RACES event.  A year prior I had purchased a Blackburn Flea 2.0 Combo Front + Rear USB Rechargeable Lights.  The white front light worked, after sitting in my kit, but the red tail light failed and would not charge.  The white light did not last the 6 hour event.  I had to resort to using Serfas White LED Long Lasting front handlebar light.  The Serfas lasted the 6 hour event and still was working.

I do not recommend Blackburn Flea 2.0 Combo Front + Rear USB Rechargeable Lights.  I will never again buy a USB charge bicycle light, a seemingly silly concept.

Shocking Observation, October 2015

Shocking Observation, October 2015

At a local gym where I work out during the week I bring old copies of my Wall Street Journal front section and give them to a Republican friend.  He loves to read the opinion section to affirm his right wing beliefs.  I also bring in the center sections, Personal Journal and Mansion for a women trainer to read.  She is not interested in local or world news.  One of the club members brings the Wall Street Journal to the club and reads it while riding a stationary bicycle.  He does this every day.  After he is done with his workout and before he leaves, he leaves his WSJ paper on top of the cubicles, where people put their gym bags and possessions while working out.    Other club members pick up parts of the paper and read them while on treadmills and bicycles.  Just a few days ago I passed this fellow and asked him if he was still leaving his Wall Street Journal for members to read.  He said that he canceled his subscription.  I asked why and he said he was getting tired of all the negative news.  That’s interesting because just a few days prior I really got the same feeling after looking over that day’s paper.  Just a few days later, October 8, 2015, I talked to my next door neighbor and he too has dropped out from following the news.  He used to listen to Rush Limbaugh, a right wing nut talk show person while driving.  I call Rush the Vomit Comet because he allegedly spews out shill messages for the oligarchy.  My neighbor now listens to National Public Radio.  He then went on to say that his friends have also turned off the news saying that they all feel that its all negative.  He is still a Republican but is utterly discussed with his party.  He wants to see cooperation and not confrontation.

This country really needs an informed citizenry to continue to function as a Democracy.  Idealistically, each of us own this country.  In reality the rich and powerful are always trying to take the handles of power away from the citizens.  This might be one reason the oligarchy wish to diminish public education.  We need to stay engaged with what is going on in our country and around the world so we do not slide into becoming vassals.  Please do not become uneducated about current affairs.

Macintosh CD/DVD Drive Not Recording.

Macintosh CD/DVD Drive Not Recording.

I am in the middle of  editing a wedding movie.  I plan to offer the client three separate movies:

  • Short ceremony
  • Long ceremony
  • Reception.

I make a DVD movie after each step.  I finished the long ceremony movie and play it to my test audience.  I had no record or playback problems.  I was told to clean up an audio track by one person.  I made the recommended change and then save that movie. That part of the project, long ceremony, is done.

I then took the long wedding ceremony and cut out all the clips that seem extraneous to the main ceremony such as people arriving and a rather long procession at the end of wedding showing the married couple leaving followed by some of the audience.  Cutting the long movie only took less than one hour to complete.  Short ceremony movie is done.

I next needed to make a new DVD offering up the short and long versions.  I use iDVD because it offers pretty nice introduction screen and menu system..  All of a sudden my Macbook Pro failed to complete the DVD burn process.  The burn seemed to almost complete but it showed one minute to go for completion when the disk was ejected.  When I examined the iDVD disk when they were ejected, they did not look that any burn took place.

I went to my wife’s iMac and loaded the iDVD archived footage and tried to burn the project there.  It too failed but in a more dramatic fashion.  I could not even successfully push the disks into the drive. They immediately refused to go in and did a quick eject.

Solutions I tried.

I took the house vacuum cleaner and vacuumed out each of the DVD ports.  I don’t think this helped much.

I inserted a DVD cleaner.  This is a DVD with some very small brushes on it that supposedly cleans the DVD lens.  This DVD cleaner turned out, for me, to be an indicator of how well the drive would accept disks.  If the disk refused to go in, I was in trouble.  If the computer accepted the disk, I was pretty close to fixing the drive.  I do not recommend the Memorex Lens Cleaner for Mac computers.  I think it is intended for Windows.

I zapped the PRAM on each Mac computer.  This method also failed.  There are some  Internet reports that this might work.  There should be no harm trying this.

I next used compressed air.  I first turned the computer off.  I held the compressed air upright with the supplied tiny hose slightly penetrating into the DVD “door”.  I pressed the trigger for a full blast of air to be shot into the drive and kept shooting while I swept the hose across the full width of the DVD slot.  I am pretty sure this is the best solution.  My wife’s iMac really needed this treatment.  I had to shoot it twice with compressed air.   I used Dust-Off product to do the cleaning.  Make sure you turn the computer off before spraying the DVD port with this air blast.  I would also make sure that your computer cools down if it runs hot.  Make sure that you hold the can upright and NOT sideways or upside down.  You do NOT want the “liquid” to be sprayed into the computer!  This solved the computer part of the problem but I still had issues with the DVD blanks I was using.  Some DVD disks are way better than others.

I tried different DVD discs and found disk selection is very important:

  • Sony DVD-R, AccuCore  YES, good recording.
  • Memorex, DVD-R, 16X, 4.7GB/Go  NO.  I purchased these from Walmart, September 2015.
  • Memorex, Lebelflash (obsolete format) DVD-R  16X, 4.7GB  YES, good recording.  I use this disk to give to my customer as final product because the label has been burned into the top of the DVD.  The label will not peel like a paper label.  The label will not contaminate (over time) like a marking pen.  But, you can not get media for this any more.
  • Imation DVD-R,  4.7GB   YES, good recording.

Summary:
Use good quality canned air to clean the inside of your DVD drive.
Use recommended DVD’s (see list above).  Check the Internet for other recommendations.

P.S.  I wasted pretty much one whole day trying to resolve this problem.

 

Updated: 3-6-19 because DustOff link went bad, 404 error, so I removed it.