Timing Outdoor Lighting

garethj · Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 8:06 pm Post Subject: Timing Outdoor Lighting

Wonder if anyone can help. I have a number of outdoor lights that previously worked off a one way switch (they are not PIR sensored). I wish them to operate automatically for 2 hours every evening (stay on constant for 2 hours) and also have an independant pneumatic switch that I can operate when required. Can I: Wire a electroinic timer switch and the pneumatic switch in a 2 way circuit and achieve the result I want??? Any help would be appreciated.

nozspark · Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 8:10 pm Post Subject:

Do you want them to come on at a particular time or just when it starts to get dark??

Steve · Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 8:19 pm Post Subject:

See here

If you wire the switches in parallel to each other, they will both operate the light independantly - no 2-way wiring is nessecary. Take the perm live to both, and switched live from both to the light fitting.

garethj · Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 9:26 pm Post Subject:

Sounds like what I want to achieve, not sure how to wire them in parralell,can you point me in the direction of a wiring diagram???

garethj · Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 9:28 pm Post Subject:

I require them to come on weekdays between 4.30 - 6.30 then on demand as nessesary

Steve · Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 9:49 pm Post Subject:

OK, so your time switch goes like a normal light switch and will turn the lights on and off as you require by making and breaking the live.

What you need to do is run another cable from this switch, to your pneumatic. Connect to L and SL at the time switch, and Com and L1 at the pneu. Can you see that the pneu switch has the came connections as the timer? Therefore either will activate the lights as nessecary?

garethj · Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 10:11 pm Post Subject:

Pneumatic switch has a comon and two switch terminals (marked normally open and normally closed). I wasnt sure if I needed to run the switch lives independemtly from both switches to the lamps or whether I could loop between both switch lives as I will will the permanent lives.

Steve · Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 10:20 pm Post Subject:

Yes, you can go switch to switch with a single length of twin and earth. Connect to the Normally open terminal.

garethj · Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 8:01 pm Post Subject:

Many thanks Steve.

If you can, can you just confirm this is correct:

My permanent live is going to the perm live of the switch timer then looping across to the common on the pneumatic switch. I am then returning the switch live from the timer switch to my lamps and looping off this switch live across to the switch live on the pneumatic?

JohnD · Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 8:57 pm Post Subject:

garethj wrote:

I require them to come on weekdays between 4.30 - 6.30 then on demand as nessesary

I don't understand why. in summer it will still be light.

Steve · Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 9:01 pm Post Subject:

garethj wrote:

Many thanks Steve.

If you can, can you just confirm this is correct:

My permanent live is going to the perm live of the switch timer then looping across to the common on the pneumatic switch. I am then returning the switch live from the timer switch to my lamps and looping off this switch live across to the switch live on the pneumatic?

I think so.

You will need no more than 2 cores connected to the pneumatic switch. Live and switched live, which then connect directly to the same terminals in the timer switch, such that you have 2 switches in parallel.

garethj · Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 11:36 pm Post Subject:

Thanks Steve - installed every thing today and all works a treat !

Many thanks for all your help.