Wiring up a Sensor Light - Australia

[BAM_BAM]

Hi All,

I was wondering if someone could assist me.
I am looking at installing a Sensor light in place of an existing light which was already installed.

I managed to remove the old light, and found that there were only 2 wires running (Black and Red).
I have wired an existing light in the house, and can confirm that Red = Positive and Black = Negative in my case.

However, on the back of the sensor light I have 3 connections, Earth, Positive and another connection.
I removed a wall socket in a room, and noticed that it had 3 wires (Black, Red, and Blue), however the wires I have where the sensor
Light is going to be installed, only have the 2 mentioned above. I would assume that the additional wire is needed to activate the light?..

I haven't hooked the light up as of yet, but would assume if I connected the black and the red (without connecting the 3'rd wire) it would act as the light which was there previously, ie. When the switch it turned on, the light would turn on, and can only assume that the 3rd wire is needed by the PIR sensor to activate the light when motion is detected.

Is there anything I can do?.. Or would I have to crawl into the roof, and re-wire from the 3 power cables back down to the fitting…
I was thinking of splitting the Positive and wiring this into the 3'rd connection on the light as well as the positive, but am not too confident as I think it may blow the PIR.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hi All,

I went to one of our Hardware outlets, and asked one of the electricians there (or who I was told knew about wiring, although they said they were not allowed to give advice).

I told him on the back of the senor there are 3 connectors, Positive, Earth, and another outlet.

I told him that as far as I could see, the wiring coming out of the ceiling only had an earth and a positive wire.

He told me the 3rd connector on the sensor was a 'Neutral', and that in most cases this was not required to be connected.
He told me to wire the earth and the positive and that the light should work fine (something about AC power not requiring a 'neutral', and that the light would be grounded as it was being screwed into a wall).

I'll give it a go on the weekend, and let everyone know how I went. Advice is still welcome, if anyone knows any different? or if I should do things differently.

Thanks again

 

[breezer]

1) he is pulling your leg

2) you are trying to pull our leg

3) you are trying to get the right answer

4) you are really gullable and belived the bloke


in any case it doesnt matter since YOU are not allowed to do it

 

[BAM_BAM]

Hi There,

Umm... all 'No' except for the 'You are looking for an answer'.
I wired up the light using the Positive and Negative wires, and did not connect this 'Neutral' wire... so far... nothing...

I'm going out to buy new globes as I think this one is gone...

By all means if you can help out, it would be appriciated. I'm not trying to pull anyones leg, and if that guy was just taking the ****, I'd like to get it right, and then go back and tell him where to go!...

As I said, there are 3 connections on the Sensor light. 1) Being the ground symbol 2) 'N' next to it, which is what I was told is the 'Neutral' wire 3) 'L' which Is positive.

Any help would be greatly appriciated. Sorry if you misunderstood, I'm quite genuine, and quite aware that I should be calling an electrician, but like most of the posts on the forum, would like to have a go myself.

Appriciate any assistance.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ok...
After thinking about it a bit (and purchasing a new globe), I rewired the Light.

Positive - L
Negative - N
Earth - Nothing

The light seems to be working fine with no Earth after all that. Sensor is working fine as well.

Would still like some advise though. I read somewhere that the Neutrarl is used by the 'Safety Switch', to shut of the power?
I haven't got one installed yet, but will look into it soon.

 

[2scoops0406]

AS breezer has said, firstly in Oz are you allowed to do this kind of work, from what I've read on th forums, DIY electical work in Australia is even more tightly regulated than here, I believe you are allowed to operate light switches with the correct qualifications, but that's about it

Apart from that, from what you have written, I'd say you don't have a grasp of the basics really, making you at best a danger to yourself. I would very strongly advise either purchasing a book on electrical basics or perhaps reading the electrical forum information.

Please remember that electricity is potentially fatal, I'm not having a go at you or trying to put you down, just hopefully extending your life a bit.

 

[breezer]

strongly advise either purchasing a book on electrical basics

I bet they dont sell them in Oz

also you should say

Electricity has no prejudices, it kills anyone

 

[BAM_BAM]

Agreed.

Thanks guys!... I think I'll leave it for a professional to do.
I've done light switches before, but nothing like installing a sensor light.

Thanks anyways, I'm sure I'll find something to read up on some place.

Breezer; I have pleanty I could say, but I wont bother... I have better things to do, like electrocute myself!
Thanks anyways guys! Appriciate all your help!
Hope you guys had a good new year!

 

[breezer]

I just dont want to see anyone electocuted, and since the country you live in has a law that says you can do what you are doing......................

 

[tkr75]

Hi All,

I was wondering if someone could assist me.
I am looking at installing a Sensor light in place of an existing light which was already installed.

I managed to remove the old light, and found that there were only 2 wires running (Black and Red).
I have wired an existing light in the house, and can confirm that Red = Positive and Black = Negative in my case.

However, on the back of the sensor light I have 3 connections, Earth, Positive and another connection.
I removed a wall socket in a room, and noticed that it had 3 wires (Black, Red, and Blue), however the wires I have where the sensor
Light is going to be installed, only have the 2 mentioned above. I would assume that the additional wire is needed to activate the light?..

I haven't hooked the light up as of yet, but would assume if I connected the black and the red (without connecting the 3'rd wire) it would act as the light which was there previously, ie. When the switch it turned on, the light would turn on, and can only assume that the 3rd wire is needed by the PIR sensor to activate the light when motion is detected.

Is there anything I can do?.. Or would I have to crawl into the roof, and re-wire from the 3 power cables back down to the fitting…
I was thinking of splitting the Positive and wiring this into the 3'rd connection on the light as well as the positive, but am not too confident as I think it may blow the PIR.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hi All,

I went to one of our Hardware outlets, and asked one of the electricians there (or who I was told knew about wiring, although they said they were not allowed to give advice).

I told him on the back of the senor there are 3 connectors, Positive, Earth, and another outlet.

I told him that as far as I could see, the wiring coming out of the ceiling only had an earth and a positive wire.

He told me the 3rd connector on the sensor was a 'Neutral', and that in most cases this was not required to be connected.
He told me to wire the earth and the positive and that the light should work fine (something about AC power not requiring a 'neutral', and that the light would be grounded as it was being screwed into a wall).

I'll give it a go on the weekend, and let everyone know how I went. Advice is still welcome, if anyone knows any different? or if I should do things differently.

Thanks again

Hi I am by no means an electrician but have installed sensor lights, switches, fittings etc throughout my home. It is recommended that an electrician install anything electrical, but after purchasing all the lights I didn't want to have to fork out another couple of hundred to have them installed. I have cheated by using the existing wiring when installing. In Australia the wiring code colors should be Red = Positive, Black = Negative, green/yellow = ground. The sensors I used were made of plastic so did not require the ground wire to be connected. The ground wire is required if the light housing is of metal construction to ground the fitting if it did become live. So far I've installed 3 sensor lights, 2 switches and 6 power points. Today I'm planning on wiring several new outdoor lights via a loop system.

 

[Sam Gangee]

In Australia the wiring code colors should be Red = Positive, Black = Negative, green/yellow = ground.

So, in Australia the mains supply is DC not AC ?

 

[winston1]

As the supply is AC there is no positive and negative. The terms are active and neutral. Active is an Australian term, it is called live in most other places. As your light is labelled L, N and Earth rather than A, N, and Earth, I would suggest it is imported and does not comply with Australian standards. This does not mean it is unsafe but it may mean you are not allowed to use it.

 

[ban-all-sheds]