Outside Light Wont Turn Off

[dune2010]

Hi

We have been living at our current house for over a year.

We have an outside security light at the back that when it comes on it wont switch of for ages i mean ages its as though something is still setting the sensor of but isn't.

it never did this last year and would go off after a few minutes. no one could have messed with anything on the light its self.

We are a bit worried as we don't want large bills for electricity. I have tried looking for a fcu but cannot see any at all.

All so it seems if it isnt on the upstairs ligthing circuit either because when i turn that off its still.

Any help much appreciated.

 

[andy]

try disconnection it for 10 seconds, then re-connect it. it may have went from timer to permanent mode

 

[Darkness]

This is one of these light/PIR combo's is it?

Well, I've seen a few of these now and one quite recently belonging to the neighbours which has a similar problem as in, when the sensor activates the light, the light stays on and won't go off, maybe in an hours time or so.

Basically the sensor has gone haywire and in most cases the unit needs replaced.

Thats why I recommend buying a seperate PIR and Light, not these combo units.

If you are skilled enough, you can keep the light, but disconnect the sensor, implementing/installing a seperate PIR.

EDIT: The odd thing about some of these combo's is that after 12-months or so (when the warranty is up) the sensor fails.

 

[andy]

This is one of these light/PIR combo's is it?

Well, I've seen a few of these now and one quite recently belonging to the neighbours which has a similar problem as in, when the sensor activates the light, the light stays on and won't go off, maybe in an hours time or so.

Basically the sensor has gone haywire and in most cases the unit needs replaced.

Thats why I recommend buying a seperate PIR and Light, not these combo units.

If you are skilled enough, you can keep the light, but disconnect the sensor, implementing/installing a seperate PIR.

i once had a combo type light, but the actually light part broke, so i kept the sensor. i actually made use of it and 3-4 years later its still going strong!

 

[Darkness]

i once had a combo type light, but the actually light part broke, so i kept the sensor. i actually made use of it and 3-4 years later its still going strong!

The combo's under £20 tend to be fragile but those that cost £20+ maybe of much better quality.

 

[dune2010]

Ok i think it may be broken now so i want to turn it off..


so i did a few experiments to see what was happening. I went to the consumer unit and switched of upstairs lighting circuit the outside light stayed on i then switched of the immersion heater / shower trip this to my surprise did the job.

i switched it back on and the alarm went off is it standard practice to wire the alarm in to the heating and shower trip switch at the consumer end????? Again when i switched it on the light came back on.

As this was related in some way to the heating i went to explore where the cylinder tank was and the timer to the heating. I then found 2 fcu's one when switched off turned the heating timer off and the other which then switched the light off can you tell me if this is correct???

Thanks again for all your help.

 

[breezer]

when you turned the mains off you removed mains from your alarm. the standby battery should then take over.
when mains restored "nothing should happen" but as in you case the alarm "went off" i would supect the standby battery is flat.*

how old is alarm, do you have service contract?

* although you could have a panel which does not like surges / spikes

 

[andy]

when you turned the mains off you removed mains from your alarm. the standby battery should then take over.
when mains restored "nothing should happen" but as in you case the alarm "went off" i would supect the standby battery is flat.*

how old is alarm, do you have service contract?

* although you could have a panel which does not like surges / spikes

i would have expected the alarm to go off when the power was cut, then stop sounding when power was restored/code typed in

 

[breezer]

i would have expected the alarm to go off when the power was cut, then stop sounding when power was restored/code typed in

no, you have been misled, confused.

if the cable to the external sounder is cut / damaged then yes that should "go off"

as i said when you have a powercut / restored if less than 8 hours the customer should not really know about it.

your way means you get a false alarm if you have a powercut, not good.

 

[securespark]

Breezer is right - the whole point about a back-up battery is that it takes over when the mains drops out.

Of course, if the mains fails and there is insufficient battery voltage to run the system, it will go down, but the panel will register an alarm condition when the mains returns.

When you cut the power, how long did you leave it?

I often get call-outs to PIR floods that are perm on. There has been a momentary power cut in the night, which has switched the unit over to "on all the time". To reset, I have just switched off for a minute or two then on again.

Of course, the flood will come on when you restore power, even if the unit has righted itself, but should switch off after the preset time.

You need to sort out your wiring! If you have the luxury of space, fit a seperate mcb for the alarm panel, with a 3A (sometimes 2A) fused spur adjacent to the panel, then wire the flood off the ring, not forgetting to fit a fused switched spur in a convenient position - something the previous guy did not do. You said the circuit also carries the shower and immersion - this too is suspect!

Perhaps you need a PIR - Periodic Inspection Report from a qualified spark, to let you know exactly what's what.