Hi,

Can anyone recommend a reliable PIR unit? I have had several over
recent years and they always seem to fail forcing the light to stay
on all the time.

The last one I purchased from B&Q which looks exactly like the one
from screwfix (http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?id=11291)
and that only lasted about 6 months. If I can find the receipt I
will return it but I would like to replace it with a more reliable
unit.

TIA, Mark

On Wed, 25 Jan 2006 10:12:26 +0000, Mark wrote:

Can anyone recommend a reliable PIR unit?

What load are you switching and how many times a day/night does it
switch?

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

On Wed, 25 Jan 2006 14:27:34 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:

On Wed, 25 Jan 2006 10:12:26 +0000, Mark wrote:

Can anyone recommend a reliable PIR unit?

What load are you switching and how many times a day/night does it
switch?

It's just a 60W incandensant bulb. It does switch several times a
night, I guess due to the abandance of moggies in the area.

Mark

On Wed, 25 Jan 2006 16:48:18 +0000, Mark wrote:

It's just a 60W incandensant bulb. It does switch several times a
night, I guess due to the abandance of moggies in the area.

Odd that it is failing, I was sort of expecting you to say it's
switching 5kW of flood lighting or something... A bog standard 60W ulb
shouldn't be a problem unless it really is operating a lot.

You are aware that this unit has a "pulse on" feature? Apply power
remove it, apply again in a few seconds and it latches on....

Apart from failing on is there any other signs of what the fault is?
Can you adjust the settings to see if it will switch at all. Has the
PIR part died or the relay? Does the unit ever see direct sunlight
onto the lens area?

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

Dave Liquorice wrote:

On Wed, 25 Jan 2006 16:48:18 +0000, Mark wrote:


It's just a 60W incandensant bulb. It does switch several times a
night, I guess due to the abandance of moggies in the area.


Odd that it is failing, I was sort of expecting you to say it's
switching 5kW of flood lighting or something... A bog standard 60W ulb
shouldn't be a problem unless it really is operating a lot.

Indeed - I have two of the PIRs pictured, each switching a 60W bulkhead
lamp. They have been going for years and work very well.

You are aware that this unit has a "pulse on" feature? Apply power
remove it, apply again in a few seconds and it latches on....

Short power glitches could cause this....


--
Cheers,

John.

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Mark wrote:
Hi,

Can anyone recommend a reliable PIR unit? I have had several over
recent years and they always seem to fail forcing the light to stay
on all the time.

The last one I purchased from B&Q which looks exactly like the one
from screwfix (http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?id=11291)
and that only lasted about 6 months. If I can find the receipt I
will return it but I would like to replace it with a more reliable
unit.

TIA, Mark

toolstation £8. Not a very big sample to judge though, but has been A1
so far.

NT

I've had one of these for maybe as much as five years - totally
reliable switching two 60w lights and a 300w flood. I would agree with
the previous posters that the OP may be confusing failure with the
'lock-on' facility. It would be interesting to know quite what has
failed - it could well be a faulty batch problem or fall off in quality
of the product.

Rob

On 26 Jan 2006 02:22:05 -0800, "
wrote:

I've had one of these for maybe as much as five years - totally
reliable switching two 60w lights and a 300w flood. I would agree with
the previous posters that the OP may be confusing failure with the
'lock-on' facility. It would be interesting to know quite what has
failed - it could well be a faulty batch problem or fall off in quality
of the product.

How can I clear the 'lock-on' feature?

TIA, Mark

On Wed, 25 Jan 2006 22:04:45 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:

On Wed, 25 Jan 2006 16:48:18 +0000, Mark wrote:

It's just a 60W incandensant bulb. It does switch several times a
night, I guess due to the abandance of moggies in the area.

Odd that it is failing, I was sort of expecting you to say it's
switching 5kW of flood lighting or something... A bog standard 60W ulb
shouldn't be a problem unless it really is operating a lot.

You are aware that this unit has a "pulse on" feature? Apply power
remove it, apply again in a few seconds and it latches on....

Apart from failing on is there any other signs of what the fault is?

I'm not sure if there could be any signs (unless the unit had
melted!).

Can you adjust the settings to see if it will switch at all.

Adjusting the settings appears to make no difference.

Has the PIR part died or the relay?

Don't know. How can I tell this?

Does the unit ever see direct sunlight onto the lens area?

No.

Cheers, Mark

With any of these PIR systems, if the power is momentarily removed,
either by a mains glitch or by switching the system off and then on
within a second or so, the light will stay on. Reversing the process
requires switching the system off for at least 10 seconds - I usually
give it 20 or 30 and switching back on again; on some systems the light
comes on at this point and runs to its time out - others it just stays
off until triggered by the PIR.

Rob

Mark wrote:
Hi,

Can anyone recommend a reliable PIR unit? I have had several over
recent years and they always seem to fail forcing the light to stay
on all the time.

The last one I purchased from B&Q which looks exactly like the one
from screwfix (http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?id=11291)
and that only lasted about 6 months. If I can find the receipt I
will return it but I would like to replace it with a more reliable
unit.

TIA, Mark

I have a suspicion that these things fail because of moisture getting
in. My reasoning is that when one goes I replace it and throw the old
one in a (dry) corner awaiting a toit to see if I can fix it. When the
next one goes, I dig out the previous one and find it's working
perfectly. Latterly, I used to apply some silicone sealant to the cable
entry. Nowadays, I use the combined detector and lamp model as they're
so cheap. They have a lot more gubbins between the cable entry and the
electronics, which tends to support my theory. I certainly don't have
to change them as often as I did. I realise a combined unit may not be
suitable for your application, though.

Chris

On 26 Jan 2006 09:46:31 -0800, "
wrote:

With any of these PIR systems, if the power is momentarily removed,
either by a mains glitch or by switching the system off and then on
within a second or so, the light will stay on. Reversing the process
requires switching the system off for at least 10 seconds - I usually
give it 20 or 30 and switching back on again; on some systems the light
comes on at this point and runs to its time out - others it just stays
off until triggered by the PIR.

Thanks. It seems to be working at present. I guess it was latched
on, but I'm sure I left it switched off for long periods of time when
trying it before.

Cheers, Mark