On Sun, 30 May 2010 10:59:52 -0700 (PDT), harry
wrote:

On May 30, 6:31?pm, wrote:
About 6 years ago, we had our kitchen remodelled. ?We wanted some
undercounter lights included. ?The contractor proposed a low voltage
set of lights. ?I said that I preferred 120 v since I hate humming
transformers. ?He said OK and proceeded to do the job.

Fast forward to last summer. ?We had a nearby lightning strike that
took out a lot of stuff - DVRs, various plug-in power supplies, a
Davis weather station, a garage door opener, etc. ?All of that was
repaired but a few months later, I noticed the seldomly used
undercounter ?lights didn't work. ?I started looking for the cause and
realized they were low voltage halogens rather than 120v. ?So
basically, there is a transformer somewhere in the kitchen with a
blown fuse or winding. ?I have resigned myself to having to remove
some drywall or tile to repair the problem, but I really don't want to
use the trial and error method to find the transformer. ?The lights
are near a number of 120 v circuits, but instead of tapping into those
circuits, they tied into the circuit for the island. ?The island has a
cooktop and some outlets for portable appliances. ?All that stuff
works. ?I suppose it is even possible that the transformer is in the
island and they ran 12 volt wire under the floor and up the wall to
get to the undercounter lights. ?That wouldn't be how I would do it,
but who knows. ?Between having hardwood floor, a tile backsplash, and
granite countertops, the repair won't be easy, but step one is finding
the transformer. ?Any ideas how to find it without tearing apart half
the kitchen?

Thanks,
Pat

There are several possiblities. I would start by taking the light
fittings out, you may well find there is an individual transformer
behind each light. Failing that, you just gotta follow the wires
back. Mirror and torch is handy to look in the holes where the lights
are. They/it won't be far away.
It might be better to abandon everything and start afresh.

The lights themselves are mounted in a metal raceway on the surface of
the cabinet bottoms. I am sure there are no individual transformers.
The wires from the lights then run to a very shallow surface mounted
box with a pushbutton switch in it. From there, the wires go into the
wall through a very narrow slit above the backsplash tile / below the
cabinets. Since my original post, I measured the resistance looking
back into the transformer. It only measures a few tenths of an ohm.
As first, that seemed "shorted" but I am guessing the secondary of a
transformer would look that way as well. At least I can tell the
transformer it isn't too far away.

Pat