A couple of days ago, the PIR floodlight at the front of the house
stuttered and stopped working. Got a new bulb but that doesn't seem to
have sorted it. The old one was definitely blown but maybe it took teh
rest of the works with it when it blew.

We're going away at the weekend, so I'd like to get something in place
pdq. The current one is an el cheapo 150W thing like this:

http://www.screwfix.com/p/floodlight...l-2250lm/97473

I'd like to do something better when I get a chance (probably a separate
sensor and multiple non-flood lamps) but I don't have time to do
anything fancy, get something ordered online etc. at the moment so for
now I should probably just swap it like for like.

Every shed and their dog sell something like it for about a tenner and
most of them are probably made by the same manufacturer. Just in case
though, I thought I'd ask here if anyone knows which of the normal
places (SFx, TS, etc) might be the best bet, or which to definitely avoid?

On Wed, 19 Mar 2014 21:37:39 +0000
GMM GlMiMa-AT-yahoo.co.uk wrote:

A couple of days ago, the PIR floodlight at the front of the house
stuttered and stopped working. Got a new bulb but that doesn't seem
to have sorted it. The old one was definitely blown but maybe it
took teh rest of the works with it when it blew.

We're going away at the weekend, so I'd like to get something in
place pdq. The current one is an el cheapo 150W thing like this:

http://www.screwfix.com/p/floodlight...l-2250lm/97473

"The Screwfix Web Site is Temporarily Unavailable

Unfortunately our Screwfix.com site is unavailable due to essential
maintenance. We apologise for any inconvenience."

I guess they don't want to sell anything, then.

--
Davey.

Just

Oops

Just putting all the prices up again I expect, oh and "improving" the search functions again...

Jim K
Ps goggle gropes is back up...

On Thu, 20 Mar 2014 02:22:47 -0700 (PDT), JimK
wrote:

Oops

Just putting all the prices up again I expect, oh and "improving" the search functions again...

Jim K
Ps goggle gropes is back up...

Its working ok now. £7.99 for that pir floodlight

On 20/03/2014 18:21, BobH wrote:
On Thu, 20 Mar 2014 02:22:47 -0700 (PDT), JimK
wrote:

Oops

Just putting all the prices up again I expect, oh and "improving" the search functions again...

Jim K
Ps goggle gropes is back up...

Its working ok now. £7.99 for that pir floodlight

Actually that was just an example but they're all quite similar. I
found a free hour to scoot over to Wickes and buy one of theirs, on the
stength of the reviews, specifically the one that said the wiring was
well thought out for something that had to be done up a ladder. Having
fitted it, I'm sure that must have been reviewing something else!
Naturally, the destructions were wrong, ignoring one of the controls
(sensitivity) and giving the wrong direction to adjust the dusk setting.
At least it works for the moment, and I can fit a better set up when I
get back.

On 20/03/2014 20:11, GMM wrote:
....
Naturally, the destructions were wrong, ignoring one of the controls
(sensitivity) and giving the wrong direction to adjust the dusk setting.
....

That was the Meccano principle - put deliberate mistakes in the
instructions, to encourage people to think and not just follow blindly. :-)

Colin Bignell

On Thu, 20 Mar 2014 20:11:02 +0000, GMM wrote:

Actually that was just an example but they're all quite similar. I
found a free hour to scoot over to Wickes and buy one of theirs, on the
stength of the reviews, specifically the one that said the wiring was
well thought out for something that had to be done up a ladder. Having
fitted it, I'm sure that must have been reviewing something else!
Naturally, the destructions were wrong, ignoring one of the controls
(sensitivity) and giving the wrong direction to adjust the dusk setting.

I've had a dozen of the damn things. No matter what they cost. they work
for a while and are then unreliable. They all have the feature that I
detest - flicking the switch off and on quickly is supposed to make the
light stay on until the switch is turned off for over 10 seconds. But
that almost never works for me, unless there is a power cut while I'm
away, in which case the light stays on for weeks.
And whose idea was it to have the controls labelled with black on black,
when we are trying to adjust them at night?
The biggest problem is that when I have turned off the light in order to
sneak out and check out some thieves, then I can't turn the light on
later without attracting attention.
I want the light to turn on at night ONLY when it detects movement, and
no other stupid "features". I'll have to wire in another switch to
disable or enable the light.

On 20/03/2014 21:42, Nightjar wrote:
On 20/03/2014 20:11, GMM wrote:
...
Naturally, the destructions were wrong, ignoring one of the controls
(sensitivity) and giving the wrong direction to adjust the dusk setting.
...

That was the Meccano principle - put deliberate mistakes in the
instructions, to encourage people to think and not just follow blindly. :-)

Colin Bignell



Well, I'll regard that as a bonus then: Not just a new light but a
learning opportunity too....

On 20/03/2014 22:40, MattyF wrote:
On Thu, 20 Mar 2014 20:11:02 +0000, GMM wrote:

Actually that was just an example but they're all quite similar. I
found a free hour to scoot over to Wickes and buy one of theirs, on the
stength of the reviews, specifically the one that said the wiring was
well thought out for something that had to be done up a ladder. Having
fitted it, I'm sure that must have been reviewing something else!
Naturally, the destructions were wrong, ignoring one of the controls
(sensitivity) and giving the wrong direction to adjust the dusk setting.

I've had a dozen of the damn things. No matter what they cost. they work
for a while and are then unreliable. They all have the feature that I
detest - flicking the switch off and on quickly is supposed to make the
light stay on until the switch is turned off for over 10 seconds. But
that almost never works for me, unless there is a power cut while I'm
away, in which case the light stays on for weeks.
And whose idea was it to have the controls labelled with black on black,
when we are trying to adjust them at night?
The biggest problem is that when I have turned off the light in order to
sneak out and check out some thieves, then I can't turn the light on
later without attracting attention.
I want the light to turn on at night ONLY when it detects movement, and
no other stupid "features". I'll have to wire in another switch to
disable or enable the light.


That flicking on/off thing doesn't apply to the new LED type I have.
However, 20 watts is pretty feeble compared to the old halogen types

On 21/03/2014 07:23, stuart noble wrote:
On 20/03/2014 22:40, MattyF wrote:
On Thu, 20 Mar 2014 20:11:02 +0000, GMM wrote:

Actually that was just an example but they're all quite similar. I
found a free hour to scoot over to Wickes and buy one of theirs, on the
stength of the reviews, specifically the one that said the wiring was
well thought out for something that had to be done up a ladder. Having
fitted it, I'm sure that must have been reviewing something else!
Naturally, the destructions were wrong, ignoring one of the controls
(sensitivity) and giving the wrong direction to adjust the dusk setting.

I've had a dozen of the damn things. No matter what they cost. they work
for a while and are then unreliable. They all have the feature that I
detest - flicking the switch off and on quickly is supposed to make the
light stay on until the switch is turned off for over 10 seconds. But
that almost never works for me, unless there is a power cut while I'm
away, in which case the light stays on for weeks.
And whose idea was it to have the controls labelled with black on black,
when we are trying to adjust them at night?
The biggest problem is that when I have turned off the light in order to
sneak out and check out some thieves, then I can't turn the light on
later without attracting attention.
I want the light to turn on at night ONLY when it detects movement, and
no other stupid "features". I'll have to wire in another switch to
disable or enable the light.


That flicking on/off thing doesn't apply to the new LED type I have.
However, 20 watts is pretty feeble compared to the old halogen types

I have a 20watt led pir floodlight and although it doesn't give bright
daylight, it's light enough to see by.
The disadvantage I think about LED floodlights is that the more light
you want, the actual casing grows proportionaly.

On 20/03/2014 22:40, MattyF wrote:
On Thu, 20 Mar 2014 20:11:02 +0000, GMM wrote:

Actually that was just an example but they're all quite similar. I
found a free hour to scoot over to Wickes and buy one of theirs, on the
stength of the reviews, specifically the one that said the wiring was
well thought out for something that had to be done up a ladder. Having
fitted it, I'm sure that must have been reviewing something else!
Naturally, the destructions were wrong, ignoring one of the controls
(sensitivity) and giving the wrong direction to adjust the dusk setting.

I've had a dozen of the damn things. No matter what they cost. they work
for a while and are then unreliable. They all have the feature that I
detest - flicking the switch off and on quickly is supposed to make the
light stay on until the switch is turned off for over 10 seconds. But
that almost never works for me, unless there is a power cut while I'm
away, in which case the light stays on for weeks.
And whose idea was it to have the controls labelled with black on black,
when we are trying to adjust them at night?
The biggest problem is that when I have turned off the light in order to
sneak out and check out some thieves, then I can't turn the light on
later without attracting attention.
I want the light to turn on at night ONLY when it detects movement, and
no other stupid "features". I'll have to wire in another switch to
disable or enable the light.

Point well made Matty but, on this one, it doesn't matter that you can't
see the controls as they don't seem to do anything consistent anyway.
Trying to set the sensitivity this morning was a completely unproductive
half hour before I gave up: It's hypersensitive wherever it's set. The
only adjustment that influences the range is the angle of the detector
and a less than 5 degree (ie a very very small nudge) change in angle is
the difference between coming on when anyone walks along the pavement
outside (about 7m away) and having to be right under the thing before it
triggers.

The dusk setting, I've found, not only adjusts in the other direction to
what's indicated in the destructions but has an element of lag in it, so
you have to adjust it in small steps, waiting for a few seconds for it
to decide if it will change behaviour.

The 'time on' setting appears completely non-linear,. so nothing happens
and then the period changes in a huge jump from 5 seconds to a minute or
so (in the first jump).

Can't believe 'yer average consumer' ever get one of these things
working properly. I'd take it back but I can't be arsed to take it all
down and fit another one unless I can guarantee it's good enough to
expect it to work properly. I'll fit a completely different
configuration (with quality fittings) when I'm able to.

On Sat, 22 Mar 2014 14:12:17 +0000
GMM GlMiMa-AT-yahoo.co.uk wrote:


Point well made Matty but, on this one, it doesn't matter that you
can't see the controls as they don't seem to do anything consistent
anyway. Trying to set the sensitivity this morning was a completely
unproductive half hour before I gave up: It's hypersensitive
wherever it's set. The only adjustment that influences the range is
the angle of the detector and a less than 5 degree (ie a very very
small nudge) change in angle is the difference between coming on when
anyone walks along the pavement outside (about 7m away) and having to
be right under the thing before it triggers.

The dusk setting, I've found, not only adjusts in the other direction
to what's indicated in the destructions but has an element of lag in
it, so you have to adjust it in small steps, waiting for a few
seconds for it to decide if it will change behaviour.

The 'time on' setting appears completely non-linear,. so nothing
happens and then the period changes in a huge jump from 5 seconds to
a minute or so (in the first jump).

Can't believe 'yer average consumer' ever get one of these things
working properly. I'd take it back but I can't be arsed to take it
all down and fit another one unless I can guarantee it's good enough
to expect it to work properly. I'll fit a completely different
configuration (with quality fittings) when I'm able to.

Mine isn't that bad, but I had to point the motion sensor along the
mounting wall to get it to respond to anybody coming up the
driveway, and it's still not consistent in how it responds.
I agree about the lag in response to setting changes.
But it will do.

--
Davey.

On 22/03/2014 15:09 Davey wrote:

I had to point the motion sensor along the
mounting wall to get it to respond to anybody coming up the
driveway

Probably because they work best when someone walks across the detection
area rather than straight at the detector.

--
F

On Sat, 22 Mar 2014 19:03:34 +0000
F news@nowhere wrote:

On 22/03/2014 15:09 Davey wrote:

I had to point the motion sensor along the
mounting wall to get it to respond to anybody coming up the
driveway

Probably because they work best when someone walks across the
detection area rather than straight at the detector.


In this case, the most successful direction to activate it is from
behind it.

--
Davey.

On Sunday, March 23, 2014 1:04:30 PM UTC, Davey wrote:
On Sat, 22 Mar 2014 19:03:34 +0000
F news@nowhere wrote:
On 22/03/2014 15:09 Davey wrote:

I had to point the motion sensor along the
mounting wall to get it to respond to anybody coming up the
driveway

Probably because they work best when someone walks across the
detection area rather than straight at the detector.

In this case, the most successful direction to activate it is from
behind it.

thats a new one

Control problems are most likely due the pot wipers no longer making consistent contact. Often this can be fixed by twiddling the knob from end to end several times, then it responds predictably. That wont fix rusting though.


NT

On Mon, 24 Mar 2014 04:14:07 -0700 (PDT)
wrote:

On Sunday, March 23, 2014 1:04:30 PM UTC, Davey wrote:
On Sat, 22 Mar 2014 19:03:34 +0000
F news@nowhere wrote:
On 22/03/2014 15:09 Davey wrote:

I had to point the motion sensor along the
mounting wall to get it to respond to anybody coming up the
driveway

Probably because they work best when someone walks across the
detection area rather than straight at the detector.

In this case, the most successful direction to activate it is from
behind it.

thats a new one

Control problems are most likely due the pot wipers no longer making
consistent contact. Often this can be fixed by twiddling the knob
from end to end several times, then it responds predictably. That
wont fix rusting though.


NT

This was a brand new unit, straight out of the box. But it works, so
I'm going to leave it right where it is!

--
Davey.