+1 on the proper lighting on the US Flag. Uplighting on mine and I don't allow the bulb to burn out!
RobertM, in the first 5 years I must have replaced about 10 or 12 of the halogen lamps. The slightest bit of moisture when they're hot and BANG!....they're gone. Spent hours trying to seal the lens rings, the housing, even the opening from the ground spike...all to no avail.
Christmas about 5 years ago I was at Home Depot and spotted the earlier, plastic cousins of the lighting pictured at the end. They were plastic, the new ones are metal. They're both dark green or bronze, LED technology, cheap, bright and 5 years later, still going strong. I caulked a ring of sealant around the plastic lens where it meets the housing, that's all.
Be on the lookout this Christmas, they're in the Christmas lighting section. At under $10 each They're a steal, IMO.
If I didn't learn squat about electronics, electrical or lighting after 31 years of traffic signals and outdoor lighting, I learned this: you heat up a fixture or enclosure like a street lamp or flag light with a hot bulb (or a IP camera with IR LED's) and the daytime sun for about 10 hours from dusk to dawn, the air inside expands and pushes it's way out of the enclosure.
When that heat source turns off the warm, expanded air inside the enclosure cools off, contracts and draws in the outside air which contains LOTS of early-morning moisture. That condenses on the inside of the housing. The remedy is to seal the enclosure to prevent that flow and in the case of expensive CCTV cams I replaced in the 80's , fill the housing with a dry, inert inert gas like nitrogen or argon at a slightly positive pressure and employ an elaborate gasket system to hermetically seal the enclosure.
Hence, the pack(s)of desiccant inside today's surveillance cameras in lieu of expensive inert gas and positive sealing.....that would likely triple the price of the cams.
