Outdoor motion lights

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aftershock

aftershock

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Memphis, TN
If this is in the wrong folder please move.

We have always had callbacks with motion lights. I always try to educate the HO about how these things work and how they are HO friendly. But nonetheless we always seem to get a callback where the light would come on because of this that or the other, or , the light seems to stay on all the time.

I have always told my boos that we should tell the customer that we will run the test on the lights and if they work, we are no longer responsable for the operation of the light unless that was caused by our installation.

How do you folks handle motion light and HO callbacks?

You always want to make the customer happy because the customer is the word of mouth that gets you more business.
 
I put them on a double throw switch. Up is on like a regular light. Off is in the middle. And down is on via the motion detector.

Customers so far love this way. They have the type that you turn the switch twice and it stays on for three hours. Or if you turn the switch off for five minutes it resets it self. Or if you turn the switch on three times it will work from dusk to dawn. These are confuseing.

The way I do it is easy.

For the front. On large custom homes. I will make the out side lights come on. I don't use the floods. Because it messes up the look that I have created with under the eve lights and landscape lighting. etc...
 
I always love it when customers have me put three ways and four ways everywhere, then want motion lights put in. Then they wonder why the lights will not work half the time!
 
If it's a new installation, I pre-empt the problem by telling the HO that motions won't work well on 3-ways. If they insist on installing them that way, oh well, I've done my job.

If they're installed on an existing system, I inform the folks that, as above, motions wont' work well on 3-ways. If they mysteriously quit working, change one of the switches.

Just today, I did a service call for a person whose motion quit about a month ago. She called me the other day, and I set an appointment for first thing this morning. Upon arriving, I asked her if the power was turned off. She told me she didn't know how to turn it off.

After a quick search in the garage, I found a switch turned off that controlled the light. :cool:
 
aftershock said:
How do you folks handle motion light and HO callbacks?
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Had one on the way home from work this evening. "It comes on with the motion sensor, then stays on forever instead of turning off after 4 minutes like it's supposed to."

Apparently "forever" is equivalent to "4 minutes". The sensor was working fine. :)

Re your question: On install, customer gets a hands-on tutorial and a "free" return trip within the first week or so to adjust sensitivity, aim, and timer (if needed) after they've had a little time with it. After that it's a service call.
 
ceknight said:
Had one on the way home from work this evening. "It comes on with the motion sensor, then stays on forever instead of turning off after 4 minutes like it's supposed to."

Apparently "forever" is equivalent to "4 minutes". The sensor was working fine. :)

Re your question: On install, customer gets a hands-on tutorial and a "free" return trip within the first week or so to adjust sensitivity, aim, and timer (if needed) after they've had a little time with it. After that it's a service call.
Click to expand...

That is how you keep a customer happy. Good job. It is so easy to give that little bit of extra service and it make all the difference to the person living with it.
 
dont get cheep lights. that helps me a lot. i do have problems with motion lights. i dont put them up realy high withoput explaining to the ho that it may not work correctly. good luck with the motion lights
 
When we wire them, we just run a 3-wire to the light and give it constant power, and a SL back to the switch, this way the motion is always on, and it has an override so they can turn it on whenever.
 
badabing said:
When we wire them, we just run a 3-wire to the light and give it constant power, and a SL back to the switch, this way the motion is always on, and it has an override so they can turn it on whenever.
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that the same thing that buck of durham is saying but is using a singel pole double throw switch
 
badabing said:
When we wire them, we just run a 3-wire to the light and give it constant power, and a SL back to the switch, this way the motion is always on, and it has an override so they can turn it on whenever.
Click to expand...

You mean running a constant hot to the line side of the senor but alo running a switch leg to the load side of the sendor (to the socket hot ) as well?
 
If I do that, I just use a typical three-way switch. Down is sending power to the sensor, up sends power right to the bulbs.
 
480sparky said:
If I do that, I just use a typical three-way switch. Down is sending power to the sensor, up sends power right to the bulbs.
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Does that not backfeed the sensor and could possibly damage it over time? Kinda like wiring a photocell backwards?
 
responder1 said:
dont get cheep lights. that helps me a lot. i do have problems with motion lights. i dont put them up realy high withoput explaining to the ho that it may not work correctly. good luck with the motion lights
Click to expand...
I think that is the key. I got a motion head from my supply house that cost 85 bucks and works like a champ.I even have it in my house and never have a problem with it. I cant say the same for some of the products from the big box stores. From what Ive gathered many of the less expensive ones dont work so well when the object in the motion field is comming at the sensoe head on. They tend to work better when the object is going perpendicular to the head.
 
aftershock said:
Does that not backfeed the sensor and could possibly damage it over time? Kinda like wiring a photocell backwards?
Click to expand...


I have done them this way for at least 12 years and they still work fine. The first one I did was at my own house and it is still working fine. It is not the same as wiring a photo cell back wards.

The difference in useing a three way is that with a double throw switch it has off in the middle. A three way is much cheaper. But won't turn the motion detector off completely. I charge extra.
 
If it's a new installation, I pre-empt the problem by telling the HO that motions won't work well on 3-ways. If they insist on installing them that way, oh well, I've done my job.
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I agree! You only can do so much.
 
aftershock said:
Does that not backfeed the sensor and could possibly damage it over time? Kinda like wiring a photocell backwards?
Click to expand...

It's just a relay that controls the power. The sensor just controls that relay. What damage can be done by applying 120v to a terminal on a relay designed to handle that kind of power?
 
Testing the F-1............ Damn I love that sound!

On a side note, towards the subject, kinda..... We use little square photo cell's, can't remember the name, on lighting control circuits for a lot of our pole lights. They only last about a year, sometimes less.
Know of a good brand or stile that would last longer?
 
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