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motion activated lights

Discussion in 'General' started by apexspeed, Nov 19, 2013.

  1. apexspeed

    apexspeed Well-Known Member

    anyone here know if you can take two or more motion sensors and wire them in series or parallel or something so that all of them will only turn on the same light?

    the sensors have three wires. two input, one is white the other is black and one output that is red that connects to the black wire on the light itself and the white input wire Tee's into the white on the light itself.

    best place to ask! ;-)
     
  2. bullockcm

    bullockcm Well-Known Member

    Simply put I say yes by joining all 3 red wires to the black at the light. However, I don't know that all motion sensors will function like this, the Rab Superstealth 360 will support parallel function, check your documentation.

    I have never done it but I would think you would also want all devices on the same circuit.

    I am not an electrician, nor do I pretend to play one on the net so check with someone qualified... Like Dern or Todd. :beer:
     
  3. CRA_Fizzer

    CRA_Fizzer Honking at putter!

    Dern stayed at a Holiday Inn Express... :Poke:
     
  4. R Acree

    R Acree Banned

    Sarah toss him out again?
     
  5. pickled egg

    pickled egg Tell me more

    We're not ready for more chillrenz. :D

    I've installed them as an "interconnected" system where I ran 3-wire between them and connected the red wire from the sensor (the one that goes to the actual lamps) to the red of the 3-wire. What this does is if *any* sensor picks up motion, all the lights that are interconnected will light. I also ran the red wire to a switch, so the motion sensor could be overridden and all the lights turned on at will.
     
  6. pickled egg

    pickled egg Tell me more

    RAB makes a good product. The problem with the lesser quality ones bought at your averge warehouse store is the sensor relay won't hold up to the load of more than a couple of lamps. :up:
     
  7. apexspeed

    apexspeed Well-Known Member

    this is exactly what I had in mind but I was not sure if it would screw something up if one sensor was tripped and then another sensor trips while the first one was still "on"

    any potential problems wiring them this way?

    thanks
     
  8. pickled egg

    pickled egg Tell me more

    Other than exceeding the relay's capacity, no. It's a single lighting circuit with 3-wire run between the lights themselves. You can add the panic switchability as a single pole switch or 3- or 4-way it.

    Look into LED PAR lamps if you're running more than 4 spots (the CFL ones tend to "glow" when off and burn out quickly).
     
  9. apexspeed

    apexspeed Well-Known Member

    I guess you could add a relay more capable of handling extra lights to the red wire if you wire it that way, no?


    another option if these sensors with work together like this is use a chime on a series of motion detectors to alert you instead of using the lights so when they have been triggered you can catch the trespassers by surprise. hmm..
     
  10. pickled egg

    pickled egg Tell me more

    The relay is in the motion sensor. You're opening up a whole new can of worms to start nesting relays on the load side of that relay, but there's nothing that can't be done with enough conductors and ingenuity. :up:

    I'd wire 'er up to play the sound of a hungry Rottweiler, and make sure to have the stool samples left behind DNA tested. :crackup:
     
  11. Mongo

    Mongo Administrator

    So on the whole outdoor light thing - how hard would it be to find a timer (time of day) that I could wire into a switch rather than having to climb 40' to the lights themselves? Also wondering about a motion detector and doing the same thing for a different set of lights so the front spots would come on if someone comes in the driveway.

    Fucking thieves, I don't want to work this hard on the house.
     
  12. pickled egg

    pickled egg Tell me more

    [​IMG]

    Intermatic wall timer. They take a *lot* of space in the j-box but work well, only ever replaced one that died.

    If the spots are on a standard round box (or even a single gang rect box), you can replace the base with either an all-in-one motion sensor type light or BYO with a multi-lug cover and motion sensor along with the heads. Gonna be cheaper to buy a retail motion sensor fixture, though.
     
  13. Mongo

    Mongo Administrator

    Putting a sensor at the lights would be easy enough just would suck to get to them. Half thinking about putting a sensor at the bottom of the porch which would cover the drive and somehow running wire out to it from the switch inside the front door. Would take more time to do but better than being 30+ feet in the air :D

    I like that timer a lot but the switches are of course in a box with 5 others.... I might however be able to expand in the basement easily enough so that could work great. What I'm looking at is the one obvious indicator of us being home or not is the back spots coming on at 10-10:30 every night we are for the pups.
     
  14. pickled egg

    pickled egg Tell me more

    The bigger the box, the better your chances of making it fit.

    Of course, then you run into the problem of find a 6-gang cover plate with a GFI-sized device knockout in it. :D

    As to the 30' in the air thing, don't be a cheapass and hire someone to change it out for you. Besides, what do you do when the lamps burn out?
     
  15. Mongo

    Mongo Administrator

    The basement isn't finished so I can put another box down there and just pull the wires out of the 6 and into it.

    Well, oddly I've been able to do the front lights (where I want the motion sensor) with an extension pole and a suction cup. The one back corner I can reach standing on my nightstand and leaning out the top window. The other corner however involves me, on a ladder on the edge of the deck, which is already 20' up.... That sucked. Bad. I'm okay with heights but not with me being as fat as I am on a ladder rated for less :D
     
  16. apexspeed

    apexspeed Well-Known Member

    I dont want to scare anybody off, I want to catch them!

    what about a diode, are there diodes for AC? seems like you would want one on the red wire coming from each sensor to keep the juice out that is coming from a another sensor.


    I guess I should search for a basic schematic for motion detectors but if the red wire comes straight out of a somewhat standard relay then it should be fine. just wondering how well things work as expected when different sensors are going on and off simultaneously.
     
  17. hrc_nick_11

    hrc_nick_11 Well-Known Member

    My porch light has a motion sensor and a photo sensor so it does not come on during the day.
     
  18. pickled egg

    pickled egg Tell me more

    The motion sensor isn't bothered by backfeeding. It's all on the same circuit, so no diode necessary.

    Because it's nothing more than a relay, nothing will change with multiple sensors triggering their relays. It's still the same power source. :up:
     
  19. zbunny

    zbunny Well-Known Member

    I've been researching home automation,cameras and alarms. I think there are switches that you can control and program remotely. You just have to replace the switches. If anyone has any info to add on home automation I would greatly appreciate it.

    Michelle
     

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