dust to dawn light problems


  #1  
Old 12-03-06, 09:28 AM
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dust to dawn light problems

I've been in my home four years. I purchased a dusk to dawn light, which worked without incident when I first moved in. Then after about a year and a half the light bulb blew and the sensor quit working (this was not the first time the light bulb blew out-there had been many new bulbs over that year and a half or so). I had to manually turn the light on and off. I may have put too high of a wattage bulb in it. since then I've gone through at least three or four more light fixtures. With each one I've been using the appropriat wattage bulb or lower. With each one, once the first bulb I put in it dies, the sensor also dies. All my interior electrical is fine. The interior light hooked up to an outlet powered by the same switch is fine. Please help.
 

Last edited by greeneyes; 12-03-06 at 04:47 PM.
  #2  
Old 12-03-06, 07:25 PM
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Bulbs burning out.. The first ones were probably to high a wattage.
With that perhaps you blew the fuse in the unit. Now it won't work.

They're very inexpensive, buy a new one. Use the propper size lamp and you should be fine. Buy lAMPS (BULBS) RATED FOR 130v.
 
  #3  
Old 12-04-06, 04:25 PM
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I've replaced the whole fixture three to four times now. Still blows the sensor each time the bulb burns out. The first few I used the bulb that came with the new fixture. This last time I used a lower wattage bulb. Still blew the sensor when the light bulb burnt out.
 
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Old 12-04-06, 05:29 PM
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You may be having voltage surges from the Power co.
Are you losing any other bulbs around the house?
Thes items are electronic (as you know) and can be fragile to voltage spikes.
 
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Old 12-04-06, 05:45 PM
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I once worked in an office building where lights for parking lot were always burning out. As I worked late, a dark parking lot was not my cup of tea. I found out from the power company that we were located in an area where there were power surges. A solar dusk to dawn light would not suffer from surges.
 
  #6  
Old 12-05-06, 11:15 AM
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I've noticed that when PAR floodlights burn out, they put a tremendous stress on the electrical system. When my 60 watt outdoor floods burn out, it trips a 20 amp breaker every time. I wrote General Electric once to ask why PAR bulbs had a huge current surge when they burned out, but all I got back from GE was a "sorry our bulbs disappointed you" note and a case of new bulbs. But if a floodlight bulb trips a 20 amp breaker like mine, I imagine it will easily take out any delicate solid state electronics.
 
 

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