Knowledge base
Support and troubleshooting
Field-tested guides for diagnosing the common installation issues a Luna Nova system might surface in service. Written for authorized contractors but useful to any technically minded property owner.
Troubleshooting
Fixture flickers in cold weather
MR16 LED fixtures intermittently flicker, dim, or fail to start when temperatures drop below 5 °C.
Cold-weather flicker is almost always a voltage-drop or transformer-tap mismatch surfacing under load. Five-minute fix in 80% of cases.
15 min →
Lens fogging or moisture inside the housing
Condensation visible inside the lens, water beading on the inside of the glass, or visible water pooling in the bottom of the housing.
Brass housings are sealed against direct water entry, not against atmospheric moisture migration. Distinguishing the two saves an unnecessary fixture swap.
30 min →
Soft-fail diagnostic: lamp dimmer than expected
Fixture is on but the output looks weak — not failed, just visibly less bright than its peers on the same run.
A soft fail is rarely the lamp. The cause is almost always voltage drop, dirty optics, or a degrading lamp driver — diagnosable in five minutes without breaking the run.
5 min →
Voltage testing walk-through
Need to verify a low-voltage landscape lighting run is healthy, either at install commissioning or during a service call.
A repeatable five-point test that catches transformer issues, wire-nut failures, and voltage drop in one walk-through. 10 minutes per run.
10 min →
Installation
Beam aim and night-walk sign-off
Need a repeatable process for the commissioning night-walk so the owner signs off on the lighting design and the installer gets paid.
A disciplined night-walk catches glare, dark spots, and over-bright fixtures before the system is handed off. 90 minutes for an average residential property.
90 min →
Sizing a transformer for a Luna Nova run
Need to pick the right Solaris transformer for a new install, or diagnose whether an existing transformer is undersized.
Size the transformer to 80 % of nameplate, account for voltage drop, and pick the tap that lands the far fixture at 11.5 V or above. Worked examples for Solaris 150 / 300 / 600.
20 min →