Security light nightmare, please help!

gilford · 14 Aug 2008

Can someone please help me with this, I am having a nightmare trying to suss what is going on with these

I have got 3 lights around my house, each with a sensor on. I have had trouble with them so yesterday ALL the sensors were replaced with new one's.

There is a switch in my utility room which switches them on and off, which does work, but when it is set to the "on" position they stay on all the time???

I know that with some security lights that they can stay on for say 8 hours and then return to the "auto" mode, so I left them on all night last night but after 12 hours low and behold the bloomin' things are still on!

It says in the instruction book on the sensors that if you switch the power on and off 3 times in 3 seconds the lights should blip 3 times and that should indicate auto mode, repeat the process for 8 hours of light....

I have tried this and it makes no difference whatsoever

Any help on this is appreciated guys, one of these light is right by my bedroom and apart from the energy wasting, they are keeping me awake

Cheers

gilford · 14 Aug 2008

I'll just add that the system has been in place for an AGE, hence me replacing the PIR's, now I cannot get them to go off, and yes all PIR's are set to the minimum time

rlkat · 14 Aug 2008

I once had a security light which was connected to a switch. I could programme it by how quickly I turned the switch on and off ie; 1 quick on-off would switch on permanently. 2 quick on-off would activate the pir sensor. I can't remember what 3 quick on-offs did.

This could be your problem? Obviously the setting codes might be different.

regards
Rob

gilford · 14 Aug 2008

rlkat said:
I once had a security light which was connected to a switch. I could programme it by how quickly I turned the switch on and off ie; 1 quick on-off would switch on permanently. 2 quick on-off would activate the pir sensor. I can't remember what 3 quick on-offs did.

This could be your problem? Obviously the setting codes might be different.

regards
Rob

This is exactly my problem (I think)! I spent ages flicking the switch though and its still the same, on all the flippin' time!

gilford · 14 Aug 2008

Anyone?

sparkyspike · 14 Aug 2008

1: The instructions could be incomplete
2: The instructions could have been misread
3: The new PIRs could be faulty
4: The new PIRs could have been wired in wrong or not installed properly

Lectrician · 14 Aug 2008

Sounds like the switch you are using is wired as a permenant override, which was common with older security lights WHICH DID NOT incorporate the feature of flicking the mains switch several times to latch on.

Usually you would also have a second switch somewhere which would be the complete isolation switch, removing all power to enable lamps to be changed, maintenance, preventing the neighbours bloody cat etc....

This second switch may be non-existant, next to the Consumer Unit, in a a cupboard, or even a secret keyswitch adjacent to the switch you talk of.....

securespark · 14 Aug 2008

I reckon you're spot-on, Lec.

Switching this override switch to the up position will return the system to PIR operation.

In case any of the PIR's are affected by switching & have gone into "on all the time" mode, then switch off the power to the system, move the override switch to the up position, then after a few minutes switch the power back on. Your lights may well still come on for the preset time, but should go off afterwards, assuming the override switch is open.

breezer · 14 Aug 2008

Just a thought

could always dissconnect the overide switch (temporary) to see what the lights do.

if the switch is not there and the lights come on for x time, then go out all day but work at night that proves the overide switch just puts a supply onto the lights.

If on the other hand the lights do not come on at all, they are wired through the overide switch and something else is wrong

gilford · 15 Aug 2008

There is no other switch that I can find in the house, and believe me I have looked everywhere! All I have done is replace the PIR's, where the old one's worked perfectly up until a couple of months ago? I have tried turning the main power off and then just leaving them but it still stays the same?

How long would the mains power need to be off before these reset themselves? If I nipped home at lunch time and turned the main power off it would be a good 4 hours before I get home again, would that be adequate enough time for them to reset?

After that, would all I need to do is turn the main power on and they would then be in PIR mode?

Cheers

viewer · 15 Aug 2008

Are you quite sure that the switched live to lamp and permanent live to PIRs have not been mixed up? Colours are not universal and an old unit may have been mis-leading. Just thought that it's worth a(nother) look.

gilford · 15 Aug 2008

viewer said:
Are you quite sure that the switched live to lamp and permanent live to PIRs have not been mixed up? Colours are not universal and an old unit may have been mis-leading. Just thought that it's worth a(nother) look.

Yes, when they were first wired up and they were on constantly they were double checked and had to be re wired to the switchable, but still no change?

It is very annoying as you can imagine

Steve · 15 Aug 2008

The switch in the utility room - its just an ordinary switch, yeah? Simple on-off, no writing, just a normal lightswitch.

And the lights and sensors are seperate units? Does each sensor just control the light next to it, or does each sensor switch all three lights?

gilford · 15 Aug 2008

Steve said:
The switch in the utility room - its just an ordinary switch, yeah? Simple on-off, no writing, just a normal lightswitch.

And the lights and sensors are seperate units? Does each sensor just control the light next to it, or does each sensor switch all three lights?

Cheers for the reply Steve, much appreciated. In response to your questions -

The switch in the utility is just a plain old double wall light switch, one operating the outside lights, the other does the kitchen light.

The way it worked before all this hassle was -

If you approached the house, the front right light would come on along with the rear 2 to light up all around the house. If you went out of the conservatory into the back garden, only the rear light you walked past/up to would come on, so the one on the front must be the "master" one so to speak. I am no electrical master, hence my questions on here, I just thought it would be a simple swap around of the PIR's and that would be it

If only it was that easy....................

viewer · 15 Aug 2008

Gilford,
There's something wrong (you knew that!). If the front PIR fire up all three lamps then there must be a connection from the front PIR (or more likely the front lamp) to the rear lamps. Unless there is a piece of electronics on this connection, it will work both ways, so the triggering of the rear light would also illuminate the others. This means you need to check continuity between the lamps and switch. It is jus possible that the original wiring used two circuits, not likely, but be careful. This situation has killed people. It is possible that the front unit is wired independently, but appeared to be linked because triggering the photocell sent an electronic blip down the wiring which was perceived as a 'turn on' signal by the rear lamps. On a different tack - you mention turning down the time setting, but are the light sensitivity dials set to minimum? This may not be the end of the sweep because sometimes there is a test setting beyond minimum which allows for detection setting in daylight.

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Security light nightmare, please help!

sparkyspike

breezer

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