Exterior low voltage lighting problem

I recently purchased a new home and have found that some of the exterior low voltage lighting fixtures around the garden do not come on while others do. I would say that there are about 5 out of the 10 that dont work. And they are spcific to a certain area of the garden and follow no pattern. I have chaged so of the bulbs which worked but the other still dont come on. I also noticed that 1 was filled with mud on the inside. I tried cleaning it out and changing the bulb but n dice. Do I need to buy a whole new fixture for each of these lights that are out? How can I further troubleshoot this since I am a beginner at this stuff. Thanks for any advice.

 

Sorry I meant to preview it but it posted my last message. I meant to say the outages are NOT specific to a certain area and hopefully you can make the rest through all the mispelling......

 

I have had the same problem, the mud buildup is actually termite mounds, you will have to clean it out and check the two L.V. wires to see if they are corroded or broke off from condensation or the bugs. Apply a termite killer periodically in and around the fixture otherwise the "high rise condo" tenents will be right back.

 

There we some ants that seemed to be having quite a party in there but no termites. All the same though I will try to check the connection into the wire. Thanks for the advice on where to start.

 

If your LV lights are Malibu brand(like most of them are), they use a dual supply wire that gets buried underground and a snap-on connector clips from your lights get tapped into it to supply power for your lights. If new bulbs didn't do it, I suggest you do a little digging to find that supply wire. It usually doesn't get buried too deep. After it's found, un-snap the clips and try snap them on at different spot on the supply wire.

Other brands that I've seen use a similar method to supply power to its lights. If that doesn't do it, check the continuity of your light using an ohmeter. If it shows that there's an internal short, consider buying a new one. It's not worth to fix it.