Did I buy a crap PIR from Wilkinsons?

[pappyon]

The PIR I fitted at the back door will not come on.

It has worked perfectly for just over a year. (Notice how these things happen just after the warranty runs out.)

I cannot extend the ladder to climb up and have a look at it just now due to health problems and the extreme cold, but I can say that the kitchen ceiling light that the two gang switch feeds along with the pir is working, so I think I can safely say that power is getting to the PIR.

This is a bargain basement lamp as you may have guessed. The lamp will not have been lit for a total of one hour all the time it has been installed!

I have read posts on here that say that the cheap versions of these PIRs are utter crap and last no time due to the relay burning out. Is it worth trying a new bulb when I can manage it, and what else can I check?

 

[JAmmmmm]

I would check the bulb first, they have a habit of blowing. A good indication that the PIR is still working is they make a small clicking sound when activated so if you can here it click when you walk in-front of it, changes are it's the bulb. Remember to isolate the supply to the light and don't touch the bulb with your hands when changing it.

 

[seasickstevie]

I'm rather intrigued how a security light comes on for less than an hour in over a year!

Don't you have any cats around your place?

If you touched the lamp with your fingers (at all) when you put it in, it will have gone a bit black. This you can often see with a pair of binoculars.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

so I think I can safely say that power is getting to the PIR.

You can't, actually.

If the circuit loops through the switch AND the neutral for the outside light comes from there then all you can safely say is that the neutral is securely connected at the switch.

If the circuit loops through the lights OR if the neutral for the outside light comes from somewhere else you can't safely say anything about it.

Then there's the switched live - you can't safely say that's reaching the light either.

The lamp will not have been lit for a total of one hour all the time it has been installed!

Pretty irrelevant if it's an incandescent lamp - how many times will it have been switched on and off in that year?

Is it worth trying a new bulb when I can manage it, and what else can I check?

If you don't have a new lamp then get one anyway, as it's always good to have a spare. If the lamp isn't broken you need to check that power is getting to the PIR, and that the PIR is working.

 

[pappyon]

I thank everybody who replied to my post.

The chances of me looking at the lamp now are even less as we have had a fall of snow during the night!

However I feel a lot better now having been told that there is a good chance that it is only the bulb that has blown.

What drew me to remark on the bulb having hardly been lit is because next door's light at the front seems to be more on than off and the bulb has been going for years.

Perhaps I not only bought a cheap lamp, but a cheap bulb was included with it! It's a 150W halogen. I had trouble with these lamps right from the start. The first one let in rain and had to be dismantled and taken back for an exchange after two days!

In reply to SNM about cats, yes there are two cats come into my back yard during the night and they trigger it on several times.

I know about the dangers of touching the bulb!

ban-all-sheds
Glad to see you replied to my post. Thankyou! I would have thought you would have fallen out with me after an angry reply I made to you some months back! It was stupid of me! I apologise

 

[ban-all-sheds]

ban-all-sheds
Glad to see you replied to my post. Thankyou! I would have thought you would have fallen out with me after an angry reply I made to you some months back!

I don't do that sort of thing.

It was stupid of me! I apologise

Thanks for the apology.

 

[Bahco]

Every thing Wilkinson sell is very poor quality and you always end up having to buy twice!

 

[pappyon]

I hate to say it, but I have got to agree with you. The fact that the first pir lamp I bought from them had to be returned after two days proves this

 

[bernardgreen]

Every thing Wilkinson sell is very poor quality and you always end up having to buy twice!

They sell Mars bars and they are OK but don't last very long.... but based on what you say I will now start buying two at a time......

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Also a system to avoid embarrassment abroad when ordering beer and not being able to remember the gender of the word, and therefore whether to ask for 'un' or 'une', 'un' or 'una' etc.

Ordering 'deux bieres' or 'dos cervezas' etc, no such problem....

 

[pappyon]

Had a look at the fitting in daylight from ground level and the lamp is completely black along its full length between the terminals.

Does that mean it has burnt out, and all that is required is a new lamp or could that be a symptom of something more serious?

I can't even source a lamp locally to get someone to try it and would have to buy on Amazon. I am very surprised that my local B and Q has stopped selling these lamps.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Had a look at the fitting in daylight from ground level and the lamp is completely black along its full length between the terminals.

Does that mean it has burnt out,

Yup.

and all that is required is a new lamp or could that be a symptom of something more serious?

Well, you do need a new lamp, but the contacts in the luminaire might also be knackered/corroded.

I can't even source a lamp locally to get someone to try it and would have to buy on Amazon.

Linear halogen lamps come in only a few sizes - should be widely available.

I am very surprised that my local B and Q has stopped selling these lamps.

Stopped all of them, or just the size you need?

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?isSearch=true&fh_search=linear+halogen&x=26&y=20

But 'tis a favourite ploy of the sheds to stop selling consumables so that you have to buy whole new products.

IMO no retailer should be allowed to stock, and no manufacturer allowed to make, anything whatsoever which has replaceable/renewable/consumable parts and not continue to stock/manufacture those parts for a period of 20 years after the withdrawal of the main product from sale/manufacturing.

 

[pappyon]

ban-all-sheds

Thank you for your continued assistance. Much appreciated!

I had looked at the B & Q site you have highlighted as a possible source of a lamp, and you may have noticed that all of the lamps illustrated are marked with a red cross as being out of stock.

I tried a search of the site to bring up the particular lamp I need which is a 78mm long 150W, and nothing came up at all.

I then phoned my nearest B & Q enquiring if they might have any in stock and was told that they no longer stock any of these lamps at all, but I could always try the B & Q superstore which is 10 miles away.

I have tried variousl online stores such as ARGOS, Wilkinsons, Maplins, Comet etc, which all have shops locally but can't get one anywhere.

I think I could get a 100W lamp in Homebase. Would this throw out as good a light as a 150W do yu think? It' really only to allow my wife to negotiate the back yard path without falling in the snow in the dark, and for her to see to put her key in the door!

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Get a low-energy light and put it on a photo switch. You can get those with timers as well so that they come on when it's dark and go off after a certain amount of time if you don't need them on all night.

PS - no - I hadn't noticed that the lamps were all out of stock -sorry.

 

[roberta1000]

My outdoor lighting is controlled by a time-switch/photocell combination. Comes on at dusk, goes off at 1am. A bit of overdesign really but it suits me.