Lighting question for electricians.....or anyone.

[311Hemi]

I just installed some undercabinet LED lights in my house. They are a patroit light sold by Menards. There is a two wire cable that runs from a distribution box to the LED light, and that cable has proprietary plugs on it. The junction box is just a plastic box with a switch in it, which allows for hard wiring and it also splits the power to run two lights off the box using the proprietary cables. See the image below.

These lights can also be run of a plug in into a normal outlet, and the plug is just a two prong plug....no third ground plug.

I was under the impression that a fixture in a kitchen needed to be grounded in some way, but am I missing something here? How is the light fixture grounded, or doesn't it need to be?

The plastic distribution box came with a metal clamp (see picture) which the ground wire from the 14/2 cable coming out of the wall secures to.

[Whoaru99]

My guess is that the light fixtures are insulated in some manner, or perhaps even low voltage that is in some way exempt from the typical equipment grounding that you're use to seeing.

[CAMAN]

It is more than likely 12 volts coming out of the box to the LED lights. No need for a ground in low voltage.

Edit: yes just looked on their HSOforum and the one I looked at is 12 volt.

[311Hemi]

It's 120v coming out of the plastic distribution box (2 wires), there is a transformer/ballast of some sort in the LED light fixture. I am thinking it must be isolated from the metal case in some way. The lights say they are ETL rated....if that means anything.

Also, these LED lights can be plugged into a standard outlet with a two prong plug, if someone didn't want to hardwire it. It original comes with the cord to just plug the light into an outlet. I had to buy the distribution box separately.

Here is the distribution box wiring diagram. There is no 12v conversion here. The quick connect is that for that propitiatory cable/connector, which is just two wires (no ground) feeding off the main 41-2 wire.

[delcecchi]

Double insulated?

[JohnMickish]

the lights are low voltage and pose no risk of electrocution. Keep your hands out of the J box and you will be just fine. It is no different than taking the GFCI receptacle out of the wall and playing with the wires.

[311Hemi]

the lights are low voltage and pose no risk of electrocution. Keep your hands out of the J box and you will be just fine. It is no different than taking the GFCI receptacle out of the wall and playing with the wires.

It's 120 coming out of the junction box running to the light fixture, not low voltage. Anyways, I was not worried about me playing with the wires.....I installed them. My question was just about grounding and what is required for a kitchen fixture to prevent others from getting harmed.

The lights are installed so it's probably a moot point now.

[delcecchi]

They must be double insulated. That means it takes two things failing to put electricity where you could contact it.

[JohnMickish]

The lights are low voltage, the transformer must be built into the fixture. True 120 volt LED lights are extreamly cost prohibitive.

[311Hemi]

The lights are low voltage, the transformer must be built into the fixture.

Yes, the transformer is in the fixture. My original question was if the fixture needed to be grounded. I installed the lights....and am good to go. They must not need a ground and are double insulated like others mentioned.

[JohnMickish]

That's the way I see it too. Now one thing to keep in mind, some of the big box stores that sell "off brand" electrical devices have a "UL" stamp on the box, but unfortunately it does not always stand for Underwriters Laboratory. The two symbols are different. It might as well stand for Uncle Larry.