Time Delay Relay or other something that is ON TOPIC!!

The light is designed to stay on if the power is interrupted momentarily. Your installation is not the problem. Either a new light or design a circuit that resets the power automatically.

Hi JoeC,

That is what I am looking for but to just hold off turning the power back on quickly. A small Time Delay Relay that on power up puts the Motion Detector unit back into it's normal operation.

Basically the same as I do with the power switch in the garage but without my mental strain!!!

I just need some device that is small enough to fit the 4" round box.

Thanks for your interest in the challenge.

Les

Hi Bob F,

You are most likely correct that the quick off/on is built into the circuitry to give that ability. I had not thought of that before. However, Mother Nature does know and just wants to punish me for some unknown reason. :-(

BTW The Halloween issue is a non-issue here!!!

I would think a small Delay <On> Timer for 30-60 seconds would fix the problem. It just needs to fit the box.

Thanks,

Les

"cranks up the electric bill"?!? How do LED lights do that?

LOL

So LED's apply a negative KWH co$t???

I don't think so!! :-)

There are quite a few off-shore assembled circuits that will do what you want but will not fit in the space. Additionally, they typically need a small amount of DC to work the circuitry. There are several I've used and they work fine. Since you indicated an additional waterproof box is not desired, I suggest a box extender and possibly one of those cards. No matter what you do it's gonna get crowded in there. Oh, BTW, there are some programmable DIN rail mounting devices as well for mounting closer to the breaker box. Yet another idea is to add Z-Wave (Smartthings) to your home to automate this and other devices in your home. Replace that wall switch with a z-wave and you can at least turn it off and on remotely. There may be a way to add a turn-on delay as well depending on the switch.

Hi Klay,

Thanks for the extra input. I have found from another group that a Omron H3Y-2 would do the job. Already ordered one at a very good price. Once I have in my hands I will determine a best fit for the existing box. It it is a challenge I will swap it out for something else that will work. With the socket for the Relay Module it is only about 3.4" high and it might fit laying it on it's side. If not a 4" square PVC box should work.

Time will Tell!!

Les

Your break even point (cost of electricity saved vs cost of Omron) comes out to about 4 years using rough estimates:

12 outages per year; 6 hours 27 minutes per outage; 15.5 W LED floodlight; $0.23 KWH average. You can come to a more accurate number using the specs that apply to you instead of the averages I used.

That assumes your cost is $10.00. It won't be, using the Omron. You'll need to buy the proper fittings/rails/enclosures/ wire etc. You'll need to install it in a dry location - ie indoors - which can add construction costs. If you jury rig the thing it will likely be unsafe, and definitly be unsafe as far as the NEC is concerned.

The best solution - if it exists - is to buy a floodlight that is programmable the way you want it. What you (and I) have is designed to be programmable via an on/off switch to do exactly what you describe: a real brief power interruption turns the light on until either the sun comes up or you turn off the switch; an extended (several seconds) power interruption enables the light to respond to motion. You can find the description of that buried somewhere in the documentation that applies to your light.

The REAL question is what is it worth to you to do about it? I understand the attraction of looking for a "gizmo" to modify what you've got. It can be hard to defeat that attraction. Cold hard reality can help. Run the numbers for your floodlight in your location. Think really hard about whether making things unsafe - or potentially unsafe - is worth it. Think about how much time and effort you have to put into it. There does come a point where it is no longer fun.

Ed

This should work:

snip

THis may be the best solution but one will be hard pressed to find an outdoor light that is programmable in the way he wants it. Searching for the perverbial needle in a haystack. If there are any.

Hi Ed,

I totally understand your thinking. Being a Electrical Contractor for far too many years and now I that I have sold the business and basically QUIT!! I now have every day as Saturday and this is just going to be FUN!! And at my age of in excess of the national average of males.

My cost on the Omron and parts will be about $25 and any needed wire and fitting is already in my old stock. The biggest bonus will be that if this all works as planned will be not lighting up the neighborhood all night long. :-) Especially if I am on a overnight road trip and wouldn't know it happened until I got home and was informed by others of the issue.

To me it makes more sense taking on the challenge this way rather than searching for a Motion Head that will not do it or has the ability to program out the ability or some new fancy AI BlueTooth thingie that will do it my way. I see that as wasting my time and it would more than likely cost a lot more.

Again Time will Tell!!

Les

Hi three_jeeps,

DRAT!! Yes that would but............... the Omron is already on the way. For convenience and size that would do the job!!

Another day!!

Thanks for the insight, just a bit late. ;-(

Les

Ok, just a FYI followup.

I received the Omron Delay Relay and YES, it did NOT fit the round

4" box. I then picked up a plastic 4" square box and wired all up and set the Omron for a 1 minute delay. Placed a black sock cap over the Motion Head (made it night time) Power up, placed the motion sensor in test mode. Light came on and placed back to 3 minutes on timer. After 3 minutes the lights went off.

Then I did a short power blip test off/on.

It took a minute for the light to come on and then off in about 10 seconds which is what it does on normal a power up.

Sooooooo the Omron Delay Timer does work as desired!! YEA!!

Thanks to all for your hints, suggestions and "otherwise"!!

Les

I'm glad you got it working as you want it. It's a clever approach.

There is another way, but it is limited to those who have experience in electronics, and it is limited to only those motion sensors that can be accessed without destroying the assembly. In addition it applies to a specific type of circuit that you must be able to identify based on inspection. (It would be a whole bunch easier if you had a schematic, but that is extremely unlikely.)

The method: find the latch circuit and defeat it. In the one I have it is two transistors. Adding a 6.8K resistor from the base of one of them to ground was all I had to do. All functions work as normal, except that a brief power loss does not "program" the lights to be always on.

If it was easy to do, I would recommend it. I do not recommend it.

It was, however, and interesting challenge.

Ed

Thanks ehsjr,

However, with no actual easy access to the internal working of the motion head, not having any schematics, not having any thing to see or play with, none (I repeat, NONE) of that will ever happen!!

Besides, my solution to fix the issue is working as I designed it.

I am very happy with my back door fix!! :-)

Thanks again for your nice comments!!

I am glad your solution worked for you!!

Les