Malibu 120 Watt Power Pack with Sensor and Weather Shield for Low Voltage Landscape Lighting Spotlight Outdoor Transformer 120V Input 12V Output 8100-9120-01

Well built and good isolation from the weather as it is suggested that this unit be located outdoors, although not sure why it shouldn’t be located, say inside a garage on the outside wall.. It has a door that uses a magnet to close with a good gasket around the whole door. A wide assortment of timer functions and complete with photo sensor for simple dusk to dawn operation. The only downside is that the markings for the indicator switch are extremely hard to read (see photo)

This is probably the easiest transformer to program that I've ever used. I've been through about 4 of them of other different brands. They all seem to burn out after about 10 to 15 years. I thought I'd give this a try. So far I am happy with it. I weld a stand for it, mounted in the ground keeping the unit elevated above the ground by about 8 inches. The thing that I was most impressed with is I programmed it in my workshop with nothing attached, and then took it to the jobsite about 5 days later and install it and it had maintained its programming from the day I had set it up in the workshop are areas prone to power failures. The ones that I've had before of always had to reset after a power failure. This one has a memory bank that keeps the settings memorized. I use a photo on timed off, which is just one detent position with the dial auto on timed off. All I have to do is set the time. And then turn the knob to the very first position and it's off and running couldn't be happier. The doors attractive. It is waterproof, but I usually put a plastic bag over these to keep moisture out. You can hook up 2 wires separately by using each side of the hold down screws and square washers. That way you can put the transformer in the middle of your circuit and running 2 separate branches. I use this to light up 12- 5W LED M-16 BI-pin lamps in waterproof fittings and couldn't be happier. The brilliance of each bulb is equal all the way across the hundred and 50 foot spread of wire which is 16gauge. I simply place the photosensor on top of the unit itself and it works just fine on at dusk off at midnight couldn't be happier

I purchased this unit in September 2019. It was purchased to provide power to one path light. It worked as expected at first. But now it has stopped working completely. I have used a multi meter to check both voltage at the outlet which the unit was plugged into. There is 120 AC volts at the outlet. I then checked DC voltage at the wiring terminals located on the lower back of the unit. This was done after dark. There was no voltage. I have rotated the selector switch to the various settings and it made no difference. Even though the unit does not activate the 12 volt path light, the clock inside the unit, keeps perfect time. I continued to check voltage and realized I had ordered an AC low voltage unit instead of a DC low voltage unit. OOPS! My mistake

Malibu apparently hasn't made these since 2014. You may wish to google that for yourself. My unit failed within about two months of purchasing it. The failed portion of the unit is the circuit board under the unit's control panel; very likely the rechargeable coin cell battery (LIR2032) that is SOLDERED TO THE CIRCUIT BOARD! All batteries fail eventually. Why in the world would someone design a circuit board with a battery soldered directly to it, instead of a battery HOLDER soldered to it, which would allow replacement of the battery. This unit was well within the 1 year warranty period, so I contacted Amazon. Amazon was quite helpful to me as far as contacting the "manufacturer". The Amazon representative told me it was very likely I would not have to return the unit; the manufacturer would just send me another one. I wish that had been the case, but no, first the manufacturer wanted me to send pictures, which I did. Then the manufacturer asked me to return the unit, and to be sure to pack it up carefully to prevent damage. It would have been one thing to drop by the UPS Store so they could scan a return code, pack it up, and ship it. To be fair the "manufacturer" emailed me a return shipping label, so returning it would not have cost me anything, other than the time and effort of uninstalling the unit, packing it carefully, and mailing it, only to be sent another unit manufactured in 2014 or earlier, likely with another battery near failure. So I emailed the "manufacturer" to say that I didn't want to return the bad unit, but did want them to send me a replacement. A representative of the "manufacturer" called me to discuss this. The short version of what he told me was that they used to send out warranty replacement units without requiring the customer to return the failed unit, but they don't do that anymore. Well ok then. The unit is fairly easy to disassemble. I was fairly positive that the actual transformer within the unit was fine, but that the circuit board and associated control relay were bad; very likely because of a failed battery. So, I opened the unit, wired around the circuit board and relay, kept the overload protection device in the circuit, and put it back together. This resulted in a unit that stays on as long as it's plugged in. It's plugged into a smart outdoor outlet which allows me greater timing flexibility than the timer that was part of the unit. Then, for no particularly good reason, I ordered a replacement battery, and a battery holder, from Amazon. I'll desolder the battery from the circuit board, and solder the battery holder in its place, which should result in a fully functional unit with a significant design improvement. The bottom line, literally, is that I definitely wouldn't recommend purchasing this outdoor lighting power supply. Update: Upon further investigation, the LIR2032 battery on my unit's circuit board tested at 3.7 volts, so there is no issue with the battery. This likely makes sense, primarily because the battery's funtion is to maintain the unit's settings during power outages, so it's not critical to the unit's normal, connected to power, operation. However, my unit's display, which is part of the circuit board, continues to flash on and off, and generally act like it is not receiving power steadily. The remaining possible culprit is the unit's relay, which is connected to line voltage (120VAC), and transmits that line voltage to the transformer when the circuit board tell it to. The rub is that the relay ALSO provides power to the circuit board via the 3 pin connector from the relay to the circuit board. As far as I can tell that relay is not available anywhere :( So, as before this update, my unit's transformer is wired direct, but only receives power when the outdoor smart outlet it's plugged into sends it power.

I really like how this has a door cover on it with none of the LED lights or anything exposed. It makes it blend in much nicer and not noticable. Everything else available now seems to have everything open on the face which is an eyesore. Overall this unit has worked great, however any of the photocel-related functions are basically useless. I really liked the idea of being able to set the photocell, use a 4 hour or 6 hour timed off and not have to worry about anything, but for some reason it just never works right. Woke up to my lights turning on in the middle of the night multiple times, or turning on/off when they shouldn't be otherwise. Very confusing. The only setting that really works is timed on/timed off, which is kindof annoying because every time the power goes out for more than a minute the clock and timers seem to get a little funked up, with the AM/PM switching on the timer settings or the clock falling behind. This wouldn't really be an issue if it werent for the fact that it takes FOREVER to change the time. You can't just change AM/PM, you have to literally hold the arrow down for a full 2 minutes just to get +12 hours on the clock to get the time back to the right AM/PM setting. Very weird and annoying. If those two bugs were improved this would be a winner all around. Overall I'd buy this again literally just because it's got a door and hides itself nicely.

I've got two of these units that have been in use for several years now, both operating without any problems whatsoever, so I expect this one to do the same. We get heavy snow annually, so I added a small plywood cover above each unit to keep the snow off the top. These are awesome, worry free, reliable units, and I don't have to babysit them at all! I had to return my last order, an off brand that failed within three months. Though my return is being processed quickly and a refund to be issued I was very disappointed more in myself for not sticking with what works. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If you need a reliable low volt outdoor light timer, this is what you are looking for, period. don't waste your time with the cheaper units!

I purchased this Malibu 200 W 12 volt transformer to power my backyard lighting system. I have 21 lights hooked-up in two directions about 150 feet on one side and over 200 feet on another side with the transformer somewhere in the middle near a convenient electric outlet power source. I am using 16 gauge wire with no issues and have power at both ends. Saved significant money over purchase of thicker electrical wire. The unit is very well constructed. The company provides a template that you can cut out and use to drill the mounting screws (provided) which simplifies installation. The slots on the back of the unit fit very precisely to the mounting screws with little variation or play. This makes for very secure installation, but if the holes are slightly off, the unit will not slide down on the mounting screws properly. I used the template and measured to get a good fit. I like the outer "door" that opens which not only adds protection but also aesthetics to the unit as the controls are hidden. The unit is very flexible allowing a photocell (provided) to sense when to turn the system off & on. In addition, the system has an internal clock (must be set) that allows complete on and off control. Finally the system also has pre-sets which are handy. The only thing to point out is that the wires are connected below with one set of attachment screws. I had no issue running two sets of wires (4 total) from the screws, but I can see some manipulation necessary if one was to run multiple sets of wires from this unit. Advise is to mount the wires below first before mounting the transformer in a permanent position as it is easier to work on the transformer / wire attachment that way - at least for me. Then I just place the system on the screws and all is ready to add lights. Very pleased. Great value and system structure. I highly recommend. Marc - SC

Works good

Works great!!

Easy to install and working well

Only point to dislike is that when there is a power loss, you have to reset the clock

Purchased March 2020. Installed under cover well away from any weather influence. Crapped out after about 8 months use. Likely circuit board which is no longer available. Would NOT recommend.

For the price this unit is perfect .