street lights?

i have been wondering for many years how do they turn on the street lights along side the road. is it some sort of night dection or a pulse of current or does some guy just sit in front of about 500 switches turning them on at the right time . if any one knows how please let me know

Its usually a light/dark sensor that switches a group of lights in an area ON/OFF.
[you may notice on a very dark day, when the sky goes black with rain clouds, the lights come ON]

It used to be electrical timers, in the good old days, but these needed adjustment every few days/weeks.

It is now possible to transmit RF controls signals thru mains wiring in order to control street lighting.

Would you believe when I was a young man, a guy used to come along the streets lighting the 'gas lamps' one at time and again OFF in the morning!!!

ericgibbs said:

Would you believe when I was a young man, a guy used to come along the streets lighting the 'gas lamps' one at time and again OFF in the morning!!!

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that would be interesting. not very safe though. instead the lamp might catch alight, the whole thing would be like a giant fire torch hehehe.
what a boring job lol

Most modern sodium filled street lamps each contain their own individual ambient light sensor and do not require any external switching. However to save costs at some industrial applications the lamps are all switched on and off by one light sensor that controls the circuit breaker starter coil, such that one light sensor can control many lamps.

I remember years ago when I way playing around with DIY telescopes in my backyard. There was a nearby street lamp that interfered with my seeing so I tried for some time to shine spot lamps and such up towards the light sensor on the street lamp in an attempt to turn it off. I never was able to 'fake out' that street lamp and proud that I resisted the urge to shoot it out and blame the area kids I wonder if today's laser pointers would be anymore effective in trying to turnoff a street lamp ?


Lefty

hi lefty,

Black matt aerosol spray on a long pole, spray the whole lamp housing unit black.
At the bottom of the pole is a small junction box hatch, you could fit a push ON/OFF switch if you are feeling adventurous

There is a streetlamp right outside my bedroom window and it is so annoying. The light sensor already seems to be faulty because it stays on day and night, but the annoying thing is it cycles from off, to on, then off again, then on again... and it really does get to you.

I'll try the laser pointer theory later!!!

Brian

How about calling your local public works and asking them to fix it? =)

What, do you expect the Council to actually earn the $$ we spend in council tax every year? You must be having a giraffe!!!

Besides, I'd rather it was permanently disabled!

Brian

I'm sure there are legal consequences to disabling a street light, likewise there are legal consequences if the malfunctioning light is disturbing your peace of mind. This is why lawyers exist.

Sceadwian said:

This is why lawyers exist.

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Please don't sware on the forum!!!

Seriously though, you're probably right I should consider calling the local council about the problem. Thanks for the advise.

Brian

Something like that would absolutly drive me nuts. I'd be on the phone in a second. Or buying a nice sling shot to take out the bulb Legal issues aside, a slingshot is probably the best method. They'll have to come down to service the bulb and slingshots are relativly inexpensive at sporting goods stores =>

ThermalRunaway said:

it cycles from off, to on, then off again, then on again... and it really does get to you.

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the one outside our house is completely surrounded in trees so it doesn't really light anything up, but one night i was outside using my laser and it just suddenly turned off even though i didn't shine the laser at it

Part of my job by the POCO is sorting out streetlight circuits, and to sort out faults after road works being done and cables damaged.

In New Zealand we use 4 systems.
These are unmetered supplies.

Lightcell controls single or double streetlight at T intersections in rural areas.

Pilot system. Lightcell at substation controls ON / OFF cycle of streetlights which are controlled via contactors, which control a string of say 20 streetlights, the end of circuit drives the next contactor coil for the next string, and so on.
Reliable yes.
Disadvantage, if one contactor fails or fuse blows, large area is in the dark.
This system has a master relay in the substation which can dump the streetlight load in an emergency, if a feeder is lost and loadshedding has to be applied.

Ripple system A Zellweger or Cyclo ripple relay controls a string of streetlights and is controlled via ripple injection of 1050 Hz, superimposed on the 230 Volts mains. A lightcell is often in series with the relay which does the ON / OFF cycles. The ripple relay is used in case of emergency load shedding.

Timeclocks Are used as a temporary solution when an underground controlcable is faulty and scheduled for repair. These are astronomical timeclocks and adjust themselves as days get longer or shorter.

Thermal runaway If a lightcell gets faulty the light usually stays on. A small internal heater (power resistor) in series with the LDR or selenium cell controls the bimettallic strip. The default when power is applied is lamp ON.
When R heats up switch turns off, during day hours.

The on / off cycling is most likely a high pressure sodium lamp on its last legs. It takes usually a few minutes for the lamp to attain full brightness. The internal pressure in the lamp builds up. lamps goes out, needs to cool down before it can restrike and the cycle repeats it self over and over again.

SON lamps usually go for about 15,000 hours which is about 3½ years taking into account ±4350 hours night time.

RODALCO said:

The on / off cycling is most likely a high pressure sodium lamp on its last legs. It takes usually a few minutes for the lamp to attain full brightness. The internal pressure in the lamp builds up. lamps goes out, needs to cool down before it can restrike and the cycle repeats it self over and over again.

SON lamps usually go for about 15,000 hours which is about 3½ years taking into account ±4350 hours night time.

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Do they end in a spectacular way, like explosions or something like that

yeah, it comes on at night, then it works for about an hour then it goes of again and restarts it cycle again, and again, and again untill the morning

ThermalRunaway said:

There is a streetlamp right outside my bedroom window and it is so annoying.

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I find the opposite with ours.

We have one outside the front of our house and its fantastic. At night when either myself or one of the kids need a pee it illuminates the two bathrooms and the hallway at the front of the house so nobody needs to turn any lights on and wake the others up

rather than place a streetlight at a weird 3-way intersection, including a boat ramp that leads straight into the river, my township saw fit to install the light on my driveway, approx 100ft from the intersection. hey, I'm not overly upset, I have my own streetlight which lights up my driveway, my front lawn and front door - best of all, I don't have to directly pay for its electricity.

things

Those lamps just stop working, and don't explode.
Contact your local council and they will replace the lamp.
Give them the address or pole asset number.

Also if a lamp is too bright near a house, an additional shroud can be added to minimise light reaching an affected bedroom.

RODALCO said:

things

Those lamps just stop working, and don't explode.
Contact your local council and they will replace the lamp.
Give them the address or pole asset number.

Also if a lamp is too bright near a house, an additional shroud can be added to minimise light reaching an affected bedroom.

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awww no explosion anyway it's not very annoying as it is basically covered in tree branches so all it does is makes an illuminated tree

things said:

awww no explosion

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I think you'd appreciate the 50V/15A switch mode PSUs we do at work, they have a tendancy to explode on test... and boy do they go with a bang. Normally they blow the covers off a quad of high power FETs and vaporise some components. Sometimes it even catches fire!

Personally I don't want to go near one for the rest of the day after that's happened. I can assure you it's not a joke when you're probing around and one self destructs right in front of you! I'm sure each one takes a year off my life hehe.

Brian

One of the guys who works with us thinks it's hilarious to keep hold of those air bag type packets you find in parcels. He lies in wait until you're just about to stick your probe on the high voltage area and then he cracks a few of the damn things off.

Probably another few years down the pan.

Brian