hobbes wrote:

I was thinking about those Malibu ones as well. The price is great
compared to other ones I see. I was just wondering how they hold up
over time. My thinking was if I get the super nice ones, like $US 100,
I could like buy six of the Malibu. Would one of the expensive ones
really last six times as long?

I bought the 15 fixture kit - 10 bullets and 5 spots for $279. Also includes
100' of cable and a 300w transformer. Bought it more for appearance than how
long it would last, but I'm not too worried about it.

I was also wondering what the failure modes where. Nomad thinks it is
heat dissapation due to higher resistance. I was thinking thermal
cycle. These fixtures get real hot. I know that because I bought just
one of the Malibu and was testing it with a 12 v battery car charger.

Not sure why you were seeing such high temps as my cases get warm, but not hot.
The glass does get hot, but that's halogen. The bullets are vented at the
bottom and I think the spots were also, but I'm not sure. They had different
sized bulbs, so maybe the spots were smaller wattage.

One thing - the instructions said not to place a lamp close than 10' to the
transformer, so you may have been pushing too much current through your test
fixture.

So in the winter when the temperature is like 13 degrees (I am in New
York State). Turing on one of these will move the temperature to maybe
120 and over, too hot to touch. Would that sort of temperature range
break seals and hence allow water to get in? If that is the case is
there any gunk sealant that you could try to extend the live of the
units?

I wouldn't mess up the venting. They're designed for outdoor four season use...

--
"Tell me what I should do, Annie."
"Stay. Here. Forever." - Life On Mars