resetting motion sensor lights - power surges

GubMan

anyone know how to reset external motion sensor lights that stay on after power surges? I've 'energiesparlamper B22' lights that won't go off. Ta

Andrea B.

Hi. If the power is lost and returned within 15 seconds (approx), they will stay on permanently.

You need to isolate power to light by switch or mcb at board, leave off for 30 seconds and turn on again.

Note that when youi turn it on again, your light will come on for it's preset time, and then return to normal.

Hope this helps........

GubMan

Andrea B. wrote: »

Hi. If the power is lost and returned within 15 seconds (approx), they will stay on permanently.

You need to isolate power to light by switch or mcb at board, leave off for 30 seconds and turn on again.

Note that when youi turn it on again, your light will come on for it's preset time, and then return to normal.

Hope this helps........

Thanks Andrea, I did experience this before when there was a power outage. Did what you said (turned off power at mcb) but unfortunately still have a light that refuses to be turned off, I've the bulb taken out now. Any other ideas??

One other thing, I couldn't find a tripswitch for the lights, I had to turn off the mains to cut the supply. Shouldnt this light be on one of the other trips, there's only 21 of the bloody things on the fuseboard, not counting the main trip!!!

Stoner

Andrea B. wrote: »

Hi. If the power is lost and returned within 15 seconds (approx), they will stay on permanently.

You need to isolate power to light by switch or mcb at board, leave off for 30 seconds and turn on again.

Note that when youi turn it on again, your light will come on for it's preset time, and then return to normal.

Hope this helps........

I never knew that it was part of the operation of these lights to do that, thanks for the info, happens to mine a lot I always power them on and off for a bit, but that was pure fluke.

Andrea B.

One other thing, I couldn't find a tripswitch for the lights, I had to turn off the mains to cut the supply.

So why remove the bulb? I'm curious.

Yes the light/s should be via an mcb. Seems you have a fault.

I never knew that it was part of the operation of these lights to do that

It's a function, so that you can force light permanently on via a switch.

GubMan

Andrea B. wrote: »

So why remove the bulb? I'm curious.

Yes the light/s should be via an mcb. Seems you have a fault.



It's a function, so that you can force light permanently on via a switch.

If I didn't remove the bulb, the light would be constantly on. It won't turn off at all, hence I had to take the bulb out.

These lights I understand can be a problem, so it looks like I need to replace it. Re. the mcb, the problem external light appears to be on the same non-fused protected circuit on the mcb as 7 internal downlighters in a room close by, so I reckon I have a serious problem as there's no way to turn those off either, unless you cut all the power at the mcb.

When I built the house, the lads doing the work were apprentices, supposedly overlooked by a qualified guy. That was back in 2005 when the boom was in full strength, so who knows what they didn't do as the next job was always beckoning! I've already found non-protected downlighters in the attic with insulation covering right over them and no heat-protection sleeves, pure fire risk!

Should I get the electrician back to sort this out? He did charge me 3K for 'extras' over and above what my contractor paid him to wire the house. Mind you, he's not in any way reliable and when they've come in to sort things previously, they've broken more than they've fixed!!! Help!!:mad:

Stoner

Something fed via an MCB is not "non-fused", cutting power by flicking the MCB is fine, feeding lights via an MCB is fine (once the ratings are correct).
You are allowed to have about 2000W on a lighting circuit protected by a 10 Amp MCB you could check this by adding up all the lights on the circuits (7x50W) + ?x500W etc.

Try using the MCB as a switch to activate the feature that Andrea B described.

The lights you have can't help the fact that you are having power surges/cuts and may still be operating perfectly well.

why do you think the MCB is faulty, I thought you were having power surges, you will know by the feel of the switching mec of an MCB if its knackered or not (compare two beside eachother), they tend to be very robust, unless you have an over current that has burnt it out, is it melted into the one position? do the spot lights still work? are you checking the correct MCB?

GubMan

Stoner wrote: »

Something fed via an MCB is not "non-fused", cutting power by flicking the MCB is fine, feeding lights via an MCB is fine (once the ratings are correct).
You are allowed to have about 2000W on a lighting circuit protected by a 10 Amp MCB you could check this by adding up all the lights on the circuits (7x50W) + ?x500W etc.

Try using the MCB as a switch to activate the feature that Andrea B described.

The lights you have can't help the fact that you are having power surges/cuts and may still be operating perfectly well.

why do you think the MCB is faulty, I thought you were having power surges, you will know by the feel of the switching mec of an MCB if its knackered or not (compare two beside eachother), they tend to be very robust, unless you have an over current that has burnt it out, is it melted into the one position? do the spot lights still work? are you checking the correct MCB?

Hi Stoner, used the mcb as a switch, no joy. Lights still go back on permanently, no way to turn them off (hence bulb is out)

I don't think the mcb is faulty, its working perfectly, no melting, all other circuits running fine. It was a power outage that caused the problem, I don't believe I've had surges. Those lights and the external motion sensor lights don't appear to be on any of the trip switches on the mcb. I turned them all off one by one, leaving the lights in that area of the house on. I had everything off except the main trip switch, and the lights were still on. Only when I turned the main power off did they go off! Which can't be right, can it? Ok, the lights go off, but only when the main power is off???

Stoner

GubMan wrote: »

Only when I turned the main power off did they go off! Which can't be right, can it? Ok, the lights go off, but only when the main power is off???

If that's the case, no it can't be right, there is a serious issue here, how did you know it was on with the 7 spot lights though?

Its worth getting the original guy one more try ASAP, explain your situation and let him know if he wont come that you will get someone else in, do it in writting and keep a fax receipt or something for proof that you gave him the chance to address the issue. If he's decent he'll be over ASAP. If he's not interested then get someone in and tell the original guy you are going to counter charge him if he does not come out to you. All in my opinion that is.
If you do it in writting you will stand a better chance of being heard and getting something back (€), plus the electrician has the chance to address the issue fairly.

GubMan

Stoner wrote: »

If that's the case, no it can't be right, there is a serious issue here, how did you know it was on with the 7 spot lights though?

Its worth getting the original guy one more try ASAP, explain your situation and let him know if he wont come that you will get someone else in, do it in writting and keep a fax receipt or something for proof that you gave him the chance to address the issue. If he's decent he'll be over ASAP. If he's not interested then get someone in and tell the original guy you are going to counter charge him if he does not come out to you. All in my opinion that is.
If you do it in writting you will stand a better chance of being heard and getting something back (€), plus the electrician has the chance to address the issue fairly.

I left the spots on and the outdoor light on, both stayed on until the main poser was cut, that was with every other trip off.

I'm going to write to the initial guy and give him the chance to sort this. If not, I'll get someone else in and counter charge him. the guy is a real a-hole though, and will probably just ignore the letter, my calls and the countercharge, thats his form. So having paid him 3K cash on top of what he was paid by my main contractor for the house, I'll be footing the cost of correcting the work that young apprentice electricians fouled up! Nice,eh!!!

Andrea B.

From what I'm reading you have inadequately protected circuits. Lighting circuits protected by 63amp!

Your ESB cert was signed off as having been in compliance with ETCI standards by a RECI, ECSSA or representative of those organisations.

Remember the days of RECI ads portraying the non-RECI sparks with a cowboy hat;).

GubMan

Andrea B. wrote: »

From what I'm reading you have inadequately protected circuits. Lighting circuits protected by 63amp!

Your ESB cert was signed off as having been in compliance with ETCI standards by a RECI, ECSSA or representative of those organisations.

Remember the days of RECI ads portraying the non-RECI sparks with a cowboy hat;).

It actually gets worse, I think! The room next to where those spots (that aren't adequately covered) are also has spots, its the kitchen. One blew at the weekend, I took down the bulb and found that the connection behind has blackened, heat damage. These lights are in the kitchen ceiling so have little space to aerate. Its a big double room but there are 15 in there in total, on 2 circuits or switches, 8 and 7, they are on a trip. Do these need to come down or am I now oversensitive? I see lots of people have these lights, even though I know they're now not very carbon friendly!

Is the fact that they may also be under protected in terms of fusing contributing to any of these problems? I'm getting a little concerned my problems might be more than I even think???? Or am I being too concerned here?

This guy is RECI and isn't a cowboy, or wasn't! He's a local guy, even went to school with the wife, but I think the guys he sent to do our job might have been well below par, or not properly managed!!! I was concerned at the time, he forgot things like wiring for a light at the front door, forget to install a bell, stuff like that. It was at the height of the building boom in 2004-5 though and you were at nothing looking to get things sorted, they were off onto the next job and gone!!

Andrea B.

Gubman, you appear to be gauging this sparks (apprentices included) level of performance and the level of safety he delivered to you against the building boom and acquaintance.

So be it, but by the symptoms you have detailed, you appear to have circuitry without adequate protection.

I imagine that all of the electrically qualified posters here would agree on the main point that you have a serious safety issue with the installation.

GubMan

Andrea B. wrote: »

Gubman, you appear to be gauging this sparks (apprentices included) level of performance and the level of safety he delivered to you against the building boom and acquaintance.

So be it, but by the symptoms you have detailed, you appear to have circuitry without adequate protection.

I imagine that all of the electrically qualified posters here would agree on the main point that you have a serious safety issue with the installation.

I agree with you, ye guys are the only ones that have given me any real feedback to date. Its unfortunate that this guy was so busy when he did my house, but he was and it appears that standards were not kept up and I now have unsafe circuitry. My point is, how do I address this? The answer I've had on here is that I give him an opportunity to fix the problems. He had this a number of times before and didn't address any of the issues, I made the mistake of thinking he had some of the main things sorted, until the recent power outage and the problems discussed on here. So given I've had no satisfaction and as I appear to still have a safety risk, where do I go now??? Getting someone else in is going to cost me a fortune I'd say and I'm sore about having to fork out again. ??????

DublinDilbert

It sounds like you've given him ample opportunity.

You should write down with rough dates, when the work was done, when you complained, when he came back, when you noticed more faults etc... and document that you have given him ample opportunity. Very important to have that on paper!

Next get a qualified registered electrician in to have a look and document what he sees on paper, and what he thinks needs doing. This shouldn't cost too much, and i'm sure some boardsies know someone in your area.

Then make your decision of what to do based on this report... to my mind you have 2 options small claims court and/or reci (or the other organisation)....

Andrea B.

While I agree with Dublindilbert, there is the fact that once the "horns come out" it's hard to get them back in and continue a relationship with respect to having work rectified by same guy. Furthermore, from recent posts and experience, I am not convinced that RECI is a route to take.

Reading from your posts you seem easy-going (not a fault) and possibly undemanding and hence you may be at the end of his list.

A registered letter such as;

Dear xxxx
Hope things are well!
Anyhow, I have a situation and before you react to it, I would ask that you please put yourself in my position and understand where I am coming from.

As we know, in every walk of life, these things happen all the time, but it's how we get them sorted, being what counts!

Having occupied my house that you wired, it has come to my attention that there are a few issues that need sorting urgently. For example, I appear to have lighting circuits without adequate protection.

Everything is going to be rectified, irrelevant of who does it, but I don't think it would be fair of me to pay elsewhere for work that I have already paid for? Basically I won't be paying, but it will be rectified.

I have been advised to seek the connection cert from ESB and RECI and follow up through them, but I firmly believe that oversights can and are made in every profession and that everyone should get a fair chance in sorting them out.

Could I propose that you contact me, rectify the issues and leave me a copy of original connection cert, so I have it for record that wiring is to ETCI standard.

I would be most grateful if you could contact me by (2 weeks?) and rectify by (4 weeks?).

Hope business is good!

Gubman

GubMan

Andrea B. wrote: »

While I agree with Dublindilbert, there is the fact that once the "horns come out" it's hard to get them back in and continue a relationship with respect to having work rectified by same guy. Furthermore, from recent posts and experience, I am not convinced that RECI is a route to take.

Reading from your posts you seem easy-going (not a fault) and possibly undemanding and hence you may be at the end of his list.

A registered letter such as;

Dear xxxx
Hope things are well!
Anyhow, I have a situation and before you react to it, I would ask that you please put yourself in my position and understand where I am coming from.

As we know, in every walk of life, these things happen all the time, but it's how we get them sorted, being what counts!

Having occupied my house that you wired, it has come to my attention that there are a few issues that need sorting urgently. For example, I appear to have lighting circuits without adequate protection.

Everything is going to be rectified, irrelevant of who does it, but I don't think it would be fair of me to pay elsewhere for work that I have already paid for? Basically I won't be paying, but it will be rectified.

I have been advised to seek the connection cert from ESB and RECI and follow up through them, but I firmly believe that oversights can and are made in every profession and that everyone should get a fair chance in sorting them out.

Could I propose that you contact me, rectify the issues and leave me a copy of original connection cert, so I have it for record that wiring is to ETCI standard.

I would be most grateful if you could contact me by (2 weeks?) and rectify by (4 weeks?).

Hope business is good!

Gubman

Nicely put this! I think I'll get this letter out with some minor edits and see how I get on. As you state, I just want these problems sorted, where I don't have to incur major cost. I'm more concerned with the safety aspect actually and not at all convinced that this guy will either do a full review and/or fix anything that he finds. I think his young guys gave him a long line in bs and flew through the job, leaving him exposed. he's now 'holding the baby' so to speak. I can understand how this happened. That doesn't help me though.

Some background here ; While we were having the house built by the contractor we chose, we rented a house in an estate in the nearby town, also wired by the electrician that wired our house. It was a disaster, seriously bad wiring. So I advised the contractor prior to him starting that I would prefer he use someone else, he advised that he'd used X many times and always found him good. He also advised that he'd cover any issues that cam up. I therefore really expected that the job would be done correctly and did go back to the contractor twice when we had issues, but the electriciann on site caused more hassle and broke more than they fixed so there came a point that I said, leave it be. Now, coming up on 2 years later, I have this problem again. So you can imagine that I have no confidence in this guy either wanting to see the problems that are there, or fixing them if they are pointed out.

Thats my story anyway, I'll try the letter and see how I get on, thanks to all of you on here. Still think I'm looking at a serious bill somewhere down the line on this!

LeBash

Best option is to buy a surge arrestor. They arent expensive for what they do and they protect all sensitive equipment in the house without having all different ones.
I got a really good one branded "Phoenix Contact" that is lightning and surge protection. My last 2 got hit with surges and the centre part had to be replaced. I never knew it was gone, until i got the next surge. The new one is in a year, and has an outlet for a light on the side of the fuse board if it does blow.