Home Motion Sensor

[oldelmer1]

I need some help from the electrical folks.

I have a motion sensor that is connected to a pole that powers a light at the top of the pole.

This sensor keeps turning the light on and off all night long. I have replaced the sensor 3 times, so I assume the sensor is ok.

So, the to draw a mental picture of the circuit, From breaker panel to a junction box in basement, to a wall switch in house,
back to said junction box, outside to sensor, to light fixture.

I currently have covered the sensor with electrical tape and it still comes on/off.

PLEASE HELP, its driving me CRAZY.....

[rohrmann]

From your description, you probably have a mercury vapor or a sodium vapor light fixture that has a ballast and starter circuit in the fixture. There are a couple of things in these lights that can cause this, a bad bulb, look at the slender tube inside the bulb and if it has a lot of black discoloration at the ends, that can cause the on/off. You also could have a bad starter board, a small circuit board inside the head that controls the voltage to the bulb during start-up. If this is a fixture that was intended for home use, it's probably cheaper to replace than spending time and money to fix. You might want to go with a more energy efficient fixture if you do decide to replace, will save a lot of money.

[NCFischers]

I agree, it's probably the bulb. It will keep going on and off more frequently until it finally goes off for good.

[DQDick]

If it's not the bulb, I had a similar issue when I had the sensor too close to trees. When the temperature was right the trees moving in the wind would set it off.

[racerjoe]

is there a sensitivity adjustment on the sensor?

[K0LCB]

It is most likely a bad bulb, could be abad ballast, or even a loose connection

[oldelmer1]

The light was 4 - 150W halogen lights, but after seeing the sensor was rated at 300W, I replaced the light with a LED 30W light, so it is new also.

But it did the same thing with the halogen lights.

Why would the lights still come on at night with tape all over the sensor?

[NCFischers]

Sometimes it takes more than one layer of tape to have an effect.

[rohrmann]

How close is another light that may be shining toward the problem light? If there is other light nearby, that would also do what you are seeing. You also may be able to aim the photo sensor away from the other light to solve this. Some fixtures have an adjustable sensor, both for direction and sometimes they have a little slide over the sensor window that you can slide to reduce other light from affecting the problem light. You also might check the voltage at the light, both with the light off and with it on, just to make sure you have good voltage, which could also be a problem. Is this a motion or a light sensor controlled light?

[oldelmer1]

I believe its a motion sensor.

I called Cooper Lighting who makes the unit, she said there is a little clear plastic round thingie(I forget the name of it) that tells the sensor if its day time or night time. She said to put a piece of tape over it and see what happens.

She also said that if car lights hit it, that will confuse this little thingie and make the light go on/off.

So I went out and pulled all the tape off the sensor and put a piece on this little thingie and the light stopped going on/off, at least so far...

[rohrmann]

Perfect!
It is not a motion light, but is a light controlled by a 'photocell', which is the thing that has a light sensitive board in it that you covered with the tape. So, some other light source is hitting that photocell, causing it to turn off the light, because it thinks it's daytime. Does the photocell plug into the top of the light fixture? If it does, there should be a screw in the center of the socket that the photocell plugs into. If there is a screw there, you should be able to loosen it a turn or two, which will allow you to rotate the socket in another direction, away from other lighting, then tighten the screw, and re-install the photocell. I just realized that you may have a separate control that is a motion sensor, tied in with the power going to this light?

[oldelmer1]

After having the tape over the photocell all night, the light stopped its on/off all night. But this AM the light was on and never turned off. Which is normal cause the photocell was covered.

So I called Cooper lighting again, and this time I was told that this model motion sensor was not compatible with LED light, only incandescent lights.

So I took the LED light off and sent it back and going to Lowes to but 2 regular incandescent flood lights to hang up there and see what happens.

[DQDick]

Would have been nice if they told you that up front and printed it on the box.

[oldelmer1]

DQDick, ain't that the truth.

So I went and bought a new flood lamp that holds 2 incandescent flood bulbs, and for the last 2 hours, no problems.

[oldelmer1]

No problems through the night at all.

So whats the difference between incandescent and halogen/led lights being used with a motion sensor ?