Installing a dusk til dawn sensor

[nottick]

My feed comes up the pole. ( lamppost).
The flagpole light wires come from the fixture up the pole.

I have correctly identified which is which.

I also tried this ; installed sensor to just the pole ( lamppost fixture) - it remained on all the time.

THen installed sensor to just the flag pole fixture,it worked fine.

( To any and all, please excuse my language usage, English is not my native language)

Thanks for any assistance

[WV Hillbilly]

Your english is fine . Some electricial devices can be damaged by being wired up wrong as you originally did . This doesn't really seem to explain your problem since the flag pole fixture seems to be turning on & off & the lamp post fixture isn't . I don't know if the sensor could be bleeding enough power through to keep the lamp post on ( which is close to it ) when it's supposed to be off . Wierd things happen . It would take a meter to check it . The only other possibility I can think of is the hot feed wire is somehow making contact with the post lamp black wire . I think I would try another sensor & make sure it was wired properly the first time .

[codeone]

I
Codeone , not trying to horn in on you helping him out so stick around . Just scratching my head on this one too . lol

No problem. Had to retire for the night. You know work today calls. It is an interesting problem. These are hard to imagine and flustrating. Also good questions.

[codeone]

[QUOTE=WV Hillbilly;176882]I have another question . Does the feed wire & the wire going out to the flagpole both come up inside the lamp post ? If so are you 100% sure you know which one is the feed & which wire goes back down to the flag pole ?
QUOTE]
This would be my next question also.

[codeone]

If you are getting the load side for the flag light tied to the black of the sensor and the load side of the pole light with the line side from the source tied to he red of the sensor and the sensor is somehow still funictioning (even though it shouldnt) this could be your problem.

Also if you are putting the load for the flag to the red and the load to the pole with the line side from the source tied to the black of the sensor. This would deffinately create your problem.

Other wise you would have to have a short or improperly grounded wire somewhere. Be very careful and do not work on live and make positive sure you have the pole and the light grounded properly.

[jimbo]

I don't know if this has been asked before....but are the lights by any chance FLUORESCENT? They will not work correctly with that type of photocell.

[jadnashua]

One other thing to consider is if one of the lights (that is on all the time) is shining on the sensor...it could be telling the sensor to shut off! and that may be why the one (correctly installed) is turning off.

The whites from all items should be tied together as should the ground wires.

The feed black should go to the sensor black.

Both lamp blacks should go to the sensor red.

If it is connected that way, the sensor is probably bad. Troubleshooting during the daytime is tough depending on the wavelength of light the sensor is actually sensitive to - it may be harder to block than you think. Some also have some smarts in them to not react to say a dark cloud going past the sun and thinking that is nightime or dusk...they take an average over time (not all do).

[WV Hillbilly]

NOTTICK , If you're still checking in keep us posted . I would like to know what fixes your problem .

[nottick]

1- Please accept apologies if I don't communicate well as English is not my first language.

2- This issue was resolved as such; I installed a new switch ( from inventory), still had same problem. Installed a third swith, still same problem persisted.

I went to the store where they were purchased( had purchased five in total). I commented that perhaps the switches were bad. I asked for new switches from a different box.

I was given switches from a different box . Installed one of the new switches and it worked fine. I installed another on a second lamp pole, it worked fine.

I have to assume the switches I had purchased were from a defective batch.

The retailer got back to me today, he commented that he had given the sensors back to the representative who had contacted him confirming the sensors were in fact defective.

I don't access this forum often, however whenever I do there are always nice people willing to assist. Thanks to everybody who provided their expertise.