According to :
On Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:58:03 -0000, (Chris
Lewis) wrote:
According to ** Frank ** :
Control circuit should be independent of load, sounds like a poor design.
Would be interesting to see a schematic of this circuit.
Dimmers need to be able to operate the electronics when the light
is off. If the light is off, there's no current in the bulbs. Where
would the power come from then?
Instead, they leak a bit of current through the load and scavenge
what they need off that. If the bulbs are too small, there might
not be enough current flow to energize the electronics.
How di we get into talking about dimmers? This is about sensor lights
or security lights as some call them.....
Whoops. Got postings confused, and said "dimmer" when I should have
said "sensor". Sensor light electronics need power when the bulb is
off. Electronic timers do to.
Dimmers don't.
Getting back ot the topic, I used to live with a relative who had a
light that seemed to do whatever it wanted. Sometimes it would stay
on forever, other times not work at all, etc......
I hated that thing. But it was not my house, so I could not change
it. Now, I have my own place and bought this fixture (another brand),
and find mine is pretty much the same useless P.O.S. I have tried all
kinds of adjustments and the light comes on everytime my cat gets
nearby, but sometimes will not come on until I am as close as 8 feet
away (and have tripped on the steps that are 12 feet away). I hate
these sensor lights. I dont think there are any that work as they
should, at least not in the lower priced ones.
It's been my experience that the cheapies are erratic. Sometimes
they work as advertised, but most of the time the controls aren't
very consistent, and we find that they get worse as they get older,
and eventually die, either fully on or fully off.
[I assume Canadian winters and power spikes may be the cause of
most of that.]
I want to look into these remote switches that work on sending a
signal thru the power lines. This light is on a building that is
behind another building. The front bldg is visible from the house,
but the rear one is not, and has steps. If I could put a switch on
the front bldg it would solve all the problems. However, the wiring
would require digging trenches and be too costly and too much work.
Where can I get one of these remote switches that are wireless? That
would solve everything. I just found that stupid sensor ON and it's
noon and sunny. The stupid thing is costing a fortune in wasted
energy, and getting on my nerves real quickly.
X-10 technology stuff. The transmitter and receiver are connected
to power, and communicate via the power wires, but they're not
necessarily even on the same circuit.
The other option is to use a solar switch, which simply means that
the light will be on all the time it's dark.
Note, however, that X-10 in complex systems with multiple panels (especially
multiple buildings with their own main feeds), or with very long
circuits may not work well or at all, because the transmitter might
not be strong enough to transmit that far, or through that much
intervening equipment (especially pole transformers). Otherwise,
there'd be madness in a society where everybody's X-10 transmitters
controlled everybody else's receivers.
--
Chris Lewis,
Age and Treachery will Triumph over Youth and Skill
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.