Outdoor Dual-Bright motion sensor light problem (new home-owner alert)
#1
12-12-11, 08:47 AM
Outdoor Dual-Bright motion sensor light problem (new home-owner alert)
I recently purchased a home (first time home-buyer) and have had several small projects and one of those projects was to change a burned out bulb on our outdoor motion sensor flood lights. The system was so old, that when taking off the protective cover for the light, the cover broke of, so it seemed a good opportunity to replace it.
It used to be a dual-bright system and the right light was burned out. I can't seem to remember if it worked when me moved in or not, which may have helped in the problem-solving but I digress.
We purchased the same unit at home-depot and as my first handy job with any electric after an hour and half it was installed and working. All the wires matched up, I twisted the wires together and then capped them off with the wires from the house / garage. I had a black, white, and copper ground. Wasn't a ton of wires so I was thankfully able to figure it out.
I ran it on test mode and it worked like a charm...however I still wanted to test it at night.
Well it came to night-time and I was estatic because the basic flood lights were on when we were getting ready to leave. I wanted to hit the dual bright on to see how far it lit up so I ran around for a second and boom they came on. However after a minute or two, when they switched back to their normal brightness. The right light (the same as the old system) was now completely off. I haven't checked it yet so I don't know if the light is burned out or not but thats what I will be doing tomorrow night. This occured two nights ago.
Last night when we came home, to my surprise, now the left light was out. So no lights were currently working. Does anyone have any idea what this might be. I was thinking faulty wiring, but if that was the case, would it even have worked to begin with? Since both lights are running off the same wires I'm guessing that can't be it, but again I'm new so I have no idea. My other guess is maybe when it switches to dual-bright it surges? Could the added input of electricity cause the bulbs or system to short? I should add my sensor, which detects movement still detects movement, but no lights turn on.
I'm terribly sold on the lights, so would reverting to regular flood lights without the dual bright system be a way to go?
Any insight would be most helpful!
~Eric the young, naive, new homeowner
It used to be a dual-bright system and the right light was burned out. I can't seem to remember if it worked when me moved in or not, which may have helped in the problem-solving but I digress.
We purchased the same unit at home-depot and as my first handy job with any electric after an hour and half it was installed and working. All the wires matched up, I twisted the wires together and then capped them off with the wires from the house / garage. I had a black, white, and copper ground. Wasn't a ton of wires so I was thankfully able to figure it out.
I ran it on test mode and it worked like a charm...however I still wanted to test it at night.
Well it came to night-time and I was estatic because the basic flood lights were on when we were getting ready to leave. I wanted to hit the dual bright on to see how far it lit up so I ran around for a second and boom they came on. However after a minute or two, when they switched back to their normal brightness. The right light (the same as the old system) was now completely off. I haven't checked it yet so I don't know if the light is burned out or not but thats what I will be doing tomorrow night. This occured two nights ago.
Last night when we came home, to my surprise, now the left light was out. So no lights were currently working. Does anyone have any idea what this might be. I was thinking faulty wiring, but if that was the case, would it even have worked to begin with? Since both lights are running off the same wires I'm guessing that can't be it, but again I'm new so I have no idea. My other guess is maybe when it switches to dual-bright it surges? Could the added input of electricity cause the bulbs or system to short? I should add my sensor, which detects movement still detects movement, but no lights turn on.
I'm terribly sold on the lights, so would reverting to regular flood lights without the dual bright system be a way to go?
Any insight would be most helpful!
~Eric the young, naive, new homeowner
#2
12-18-11, 10:03 AM
Group Moderator
Hi Eric, welcome to the forums!
Sorry for the delay in posting.
You could very well have a bad unit from HD. I have found the quality control of those lights not necessarily the best, however they tend to work fine when you have a good one.
Be sure to check the operation manual as there is different modes you can put them in using the wall switch. Be sure to check if the bulbs are good by putting them in another fixture. they tend to get tossed around a bit in shipment.
Put the light back into test and see what it does. IF it does not work how it should, replace it.
Sorry for the delay in posting.
You could very well have a bad unit from HD. I have found the quality control of those lights not necessarily the best, however they tend to work fine when you have a good one.
Be sure to check the operation manual as there is different modes you can put them in using the wall switch. Be sure to check if the bulbs are good by putting them in another fixture. they tend to get tossed around a bit in shipment.
Put the light back into test and see what it does. IF it does not work how it should, replace it.
