Hello everyone, I have a question. A gentlemen is looking for a motion switch to put into a 3 way application but he want to still be able to turn the lights off and on from the normal 3 way snap switch and have a motion switch on the opposite end that will work the lights via motion. I've trolled the web a bit but with no luck. They possibly may NOT make anything but I thought i'd seek out some expert advice prior to throwing in the towel. Thanks in advance for your help.
3 Way Motion Switch
- Thread starter awc
- Start date
- Status
ultramegabob
Senior Member
- Location
- Indiana
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Contractor
awc said:
Just use a sp switch at one end and a motion at the other end. run a 3 wire cable between the first switch thru the lights to the motion. Then connect them as you would 2 sp switches. One wire will pass thru the lights as the feed to the motion while the other ungrounded conductor will be the switch leg run from the switch to each light back to the switch leg on the motion.
You will not be able to shut the lights off if the sensor is on but I am not sure what your needs are.
ultramegabob said:
Well funny enough we tried this but the issue with this one is it would only allow the snap switch to turn on/off the motion switches ability to work??? I did some serious web crawling on this to continually hit a brick wall
soooooooo I don't know????
steelersman
Senior Member
- Location
- Lake Ridge, VA
ultramegabob
Senior Member
- Location
- Indiana
awc said:Thanks Dennis but we did actually achieve that with the switch ultramegabob mentioned above but HO wants to be able to have the motion turned on and functional yet still be able to control lights on/off via the snap switch??
I dont really understand your customers logic
ultramegabob said:
What?? You can't understand why in the HE double hockey sticks he wants a motion switch yet still wants to be able to control it from another switch........:grin: My friend I asked the same exact question at least a dozen times and he says "because that's what I want".......Got to love people huh
ultramegabob
Senior Member
- Location
- Indiana
Im still trying to figgure out what he is trying to accomplish, if you turn the lights on manually, with a three way, what is the sensor supposed to do? the lights will be on all the time until you flip the switch in the other position no matter if the motion sensor is sending a signal to turn the lights on or not....
Why not have a selector switch which will allow power to either the motion sensor or the manual switches. You could use a 3-way type switch as the selector switch. So power to the selector switch first and then out from the selector switch to the either the sensor or the manual swtches. Easy as pie.
ultramegabob said:
That is actually where I got hung up myself and tried to explain along with asking several times why he wanted this.........I'm with you 100% if you have the motion switch on and you're wanting to turn the lights on at the other end what is your motion switch suppose to do but I thought well maybe i'm thinking to hard on this one and i'm missing something but sounds like you and I were on the same wave length
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Contractor
yanici said:Why not have a selector switch which will allow power to either the motion sensor or the manual switches. You could use a 3-way type switch as the selector switch. So power to the selector switch first and then out from the selector switch to the either the sensor or the manual swtches. Easy as pie.
Because if you did that then the motion won't work when the selector switch has power to the manual switch.
yanici said:Why not have a selector switch which will allow power to either the motion sensor or the manual switches. You could use a 3-way type switch as the selector switch. So power to the selector switch first and then out from the selector switch to the either the sensor or the manual swtches. Easy as pie.
I think i'll explain that to him really fast so that the smoke will begin to come out of his ears as his brains tries to process:grin: :grin:
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Contractor
I have done this with 2 motion sensors and no switches. Maybe that will work. When he comes out from the house the motion turns on the lights then the same on the driveway end. Soon as the motion stops the lights go off.
Wire it the way I explained in my first post.
Wire it the way I explained in my first post.
ultramegabob
Senior Member
- Location
- Indiana
maybe he would be satified with a momentary contact switch and a time delay relay instead? or a spring wound timer switch..
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Contractor
awc said:
You're welcome-- good luck
- Status