Reading instructions when bored!

ericmark said:

If the PIR has failed not sure if really worth replacing? At 5W and not sure what the PIR takes it would need to be on for a very long time to equal the cost of a PIR. Thought about simple plug in timer but again how much power does the timer use?

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Sure - I don't think I would buy a PIR (or timeswitch) just to avoid the electricity cost of leaving a 5W light on permanently - as you imply, a 5W light on 24/7 is only going to cost about £7 per year to run and, quite apart from the cost of the PIR/timer, those devices are, as you say, bound to use some power - maybe comparable with that used by the light!

However, there are plenty of reasons other than financial for not wanting a light to be on 24/7, particularly outdoors at night.

Kind Regards, John

It's position does not light any neighbours ground and being on 24/7 would help me reverse in at night as back of car is cold it does not activate a PIR. I am sure some where I have a plug in timer that would at least stop it lighting in the day and really don't need it after midnight but I will give it all day to dry out and then power up again.

Not been the best of investments, original tube lasted 3 days, likely it was vibrating I only used one screw, the cable cost twice the price of the lamp, the replacement for the tube took three weeks to arrive (lamp was indoors while waiting) and now water inside the PIR. Blame myself for latter, should have realised it needs a breathing hole, but hind sight is easy.

I see Lidi do a 8.5W LED outside lamp near identical to mine except designed for LED at £11.99 and do motion sensors at £3.99 so may be I should have shopped in Lidi instead of Aldi?

ericmark said:

It's position does not light any neighbours ground and being on 24/7 would help me reverse in at night as back of car is cold it does not activate a PIR. I am sure some where I have a plug in timer that would at least stop it lighting in the day and really don't need it after midnight ....

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You'd have to investigate, but to just stop in being on during daylight (although it would still be on after midnight) you might find that a photocell uses less power than a timer.

Kind Regards, John

ericmark said:

If the PIR has failed not sure if really worth replacing?

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Sure it is - at the supplier's expense.
It's not fit for purpose, and if people keep buying them and not taking them back then they'll carry on selling them. The main impediment to selling tat is when it costs too much in returns to make it pay - when that happens, the tat vendor goes bust (good riddance) or ups their game and sells something that works.

SimonH2 said:

ericmark said:

If the PIR has failed not sure if really worth replacing?

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Sure it is - at the supplier's expense. It's not fit for purpose, and if people keep buying them and not taking them back then they'll carry on selling them.

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Whilst I agree with that as a principle, I'm not sure what purpose an IP44 product could be said to be "fit for". Also, in eric's case, I'm not sure that anyone would be too prepared to take the product back after he had drilled a hole in it!

Kind Regards, John

Glad to be able to report it works OK after being left 24 hours to dry out. There is a problem taking the Aldi and Lidi special offers back, although they are good at refunding money they are not so good at exchanging for a working model. So one buys a lamp fits it and then are left with the plug lead and bulb with no lamp. So assuming you want the product better if you can repair it.

I really don't understand why the lamp did not have a breather hole in the first place. The pressure heating air up to over 100°C if there is no breather or the depression when it cools again must be quite a few hPa or inHg and one has to expect it will suck and blow air in and out as a result, and where there is any seam capillary action will cause water to be retained at the joints so will be sucked in first before the air. With no drain this water can't escape so will build up. It's not really rocket science.

The instructions does not actually say which way up the lamp should be mounted. There is a clue it says "Remove the fixing screw at the top of the lamp to release the frame" and there is a picture showing the screw, but contrary to many instruction sets it does not say the tube should be mounted horizontally or that the sensor should be under the lamp. Common sense tells me adjusting screws should be at the bottom, but nothing in the comprehensive instructions says which way up it should be mounted other than pictures. If the sensor was at the top then the lamp should turn any moisture into steam and force it out. And if mounted as I would think upside down then any drain hole would be at top.

Did not keep the bulb packaging maybe that stated do not mount with tube anything but horizontal. But nothing in main instruction set.

As I said at the start of the post no wonder we get some many questions on how to fit outside lamps.

YGWYPF.

I bet if you bought "professional-grade" architectural lighting from somebody like Thorn you wouldn't have these problems.

It missed on one important instruction, please recycle this paper! that is quite important for the lives of our children's children's children's future!

Sooner than that.

When one sits back and thinks, the chances of a £5 unit being able to stop some where near 5 pounds per square inch difference in pressure from drawing in water is very remote. Which begs the question why did they try, is not a hole of just 1/16 of an inch a better idea clearly at the bottom so it will eject water before air? Had they not attempted to seal the three adjustment pots then it would have not fitted with water.

I would not mind betting that most "professional-grade" lamps have a breather of some type and don't even attempt to seal them.

ericmark said:

I would not mind betting that most "professional-grade" lamps have a breather of some type and don't even attempt to seal them.

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Maybe, but I suppose they might be 'one-way' breathers.

Kind Regards, John

kai said:

The worst instructions are Chinglish ones, where far eastern translations come out as gibberish when translated into English!

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Like this really bad one I came across some years ago and scanned for posterity:

//www.diynot.com/diy/threads/bad-translations.449886/

I hope you can see the size of the hole. the whole lamp is not that big and now modified it works well. However it may be gaining water from the top part and it could dribble into the bottom and unmodified the top part would get hot and could have driven out the water as steam. The LED light however means it runs cold so any water as supplied would collect in the bottom where ever it got in from. Once in there is no where it could go until I drilled the hole. Only way I could see was if I had mounted with PIR on the top. Checked instructions nothing says which way up it should be mounted.