Bad Motion Detector Light

[gary350]

1 month ago 2 motion detector lights went bad so I trashed them without trying to fix them.

Today another motion detector light is bad. I left this light off for 2 weeks when I turned it on yesterday it work good all night but this morning it refuses to turn off. Same problem as before it will not turn off day or night. Today I tested parts, LDR testes good. 1M variable resistor tests good. All electrolytic capacitors test good. All other caps test good. What do you think can it be repaired ???

I went to, Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart, no one has these motion detector lights anymore they are being fazed out. I bought the last 2 at Walmart to replace the bad light & used 1 motion detector to turn on my Industrial 7800 Lumen light after dark. Industrial light is rated 120v 75w .6amps. Get within 125 ft the Sun comes out at midnight. I have 5 more of these 7800 Lumen industrial lights I need 5 motion detectors?????

All the new stuff is small NO Lumen LED motion detector lights with the motion detector built into the LED light panel. I don't see any way to unwire the motion detector part of the new style lights to use only the motion detector for my 7800 Lumen lights???

I have not yet found anyone selling motion detectors not attached to a light.

These 7800 Lumen lights have built in LDR so they come ON and stay on all night but I don't want them on all night. I don't want the whole house and yard light up like the Sun all night.

I am using motion detectors with NO light bulbs. Screw adaptor into 1 light socket then plug in the 7800 Lumen lights to motion detector. Light is 19" long left to right and weight is 9 lbs. I connected this light before the blizzard last week in a hurry. I need to tidy it up a bit tomorrow this was a quick fix 20 minutes before it got dark last week. It has been 14°F here for a week.

 

[rjenkinsgb]

Have you searched for "outdoor PIR light switch" ??

eg.

Amazon.com

Robot or human?

 

[gary350]

Have you searched for "outdoor PIR light switch" ??

eg.

Amazon.com

Robot or human?

I could not find them because I did not know what they are called, wrong search word finds nothing.

$7 each 2 day free shipping from California sold on Ebay with 3 control knobs. Wow much better than I already have.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Today another motion detector light is bad. I left this light off for 2 weeks when I turned it on yesterday it work good all night but this morning it refuses to turn off. Same problem as before it will not turn off day or night. Today I tested parts, LDR testes good. 1M variable resistor tests good. All electrolytic capacitors test good. All other caps test good. What do you think can it be repaired ??

Well you've checked many of the completely unlikely parts - why not check the highly likely parts?.

A prime candidate would be the relay - with the contacts stuck together.

 

[gary350]

Well you've checked many of the completely unlikely parts - why not check the highly likely parts?.

A prime candidate would be the relay - with the contacts stuck together.

I did consider the relay. If light is off for a week then I turn power on again, the light will work perfect most of the night then light comes ON and stays ON. Relay is very easy to test it is 250 vac. I put 120v on the contacts I can hear it click & I can feel it click & ohm meter shows it works. There are 2 surface mount diodes 1 is across the relay the other is on pc board. The rest of the parts are very tiny surface mouth items. I don't know what surface mount items are from looking at them but meter says some are resistors. It would be nice to learn what is wrong and fix it but with replacement only $7 free shipping the old unit is going in the trash.

I have seen capacitors have goofy problems like this before. Capacitor start motor will start and run after being off all night but after running a few hours if motor is turned off it will not start again. Same thing with capacitor start lights they work good after being off all night & they turn on the next day but a few hours later turn them off lights will not come on again. I suspect there is a bad cap on the PC board but meter shows all the values are good. I don't have any tiny caps that small for replacements & nothing with those values and voltage ratings. Space is tight I might have 25v caps but no 22uf. I could use two 10uf in parallel for each 22uf cap. Meter shows 22uf is 24uf. BIG cap is 100uf 250v I have several 100uf but not sure I have anything 250v. Caps on one pc board and laying on their side so both pc boards fit side by side it holder slots. Caps any larger will not fit inside light again. It would be silly to buy replacements caps when replacement unit is $7 free shipping.

I might still replace caps anyway and leave pc board laying on work bench to test. I want to know which part is bad. I might have some 33uf caps 25v. I night have to make 20uf cap with 2 caps in parallel. I might I have some 100uf caps 600v