50W LED floodlight problems

[Specialist]

A normal 25w incandescent lamp in a lampholder, attached to a short length of flex would prove whether the supply was good or not.

 

[Rajen]

@telectrix. Apologies, is the "switch" you are talking about the manual switch override to keep the power onto the 50W unit, without the PIR triggering the floodlight

 

[telectrix]

@telectrix. Apologies, is the "switch" you are talking about the manual switch override to keep the power onto the 50W unit, without the PIR triggering the floodlight

what i meant was that the supply could have been taken from a light switch where the was no neutral, i.e. the N to the light and /or sensor could be a switched L.

 

[Specialist]

I must be losing my edge tel, didn't even consider that as the OP said an Electrician was doing the job

 

[Marvo]

@Marvo. The PIRs are separate. Tried Knightbridge and LAP brands. Made no difference.

I still wouldn't rule out incompatibility between the floodlights and the PIR's. Do you know if the PIR's have a relay contact output or are they a solid state switch like a triac?

 

[Rajen]

@Marvo. I'm afraid I don't know. These are the ones we tried so far ...

IP44 180° PIR sensor - black | ML Accessories - https://www.mlaccessories.co.uk/product/1406799/ip44-180-pir-sensor-black
LAP Standalone PIR - http://www.screwfix.com/p/lap-standalone-pir/6630f

Also, I get the same random behaviour of dim and full on by just using the overrride switch. Would this discount a problem of the PIR because the switch by-passes the PIR ?

Here the link to the floodlight ...

Niteflood 50W | JCC Lighting - http://www.jcc.co.uk/lighting/niteflood-50w/

 

[David M]

what i meant was that the supply could have been taken from a light switch where the was no neutral, i.e. the N to the light and /or sensor could be a switched L.

Though I agree, seen it happen myself many times, surely any decent sparky would have found this out pretty quickly when testing? The o.p mentions that the "electrician" tested it out and the supply voltage was ok. ??

 

[Rajen]

@David M Think the electrician said 230V measured. I will see what luck the third replacement unit brings. Suggestion so far ...

(1) First 2 units faulty (from a manufacturing batch)
(2) Weak contacts in installation
(3) Incompatibility between floodlight and PIR
(4) Incorrect wiring (!)
(5) Some sort of fluctuation in power supply that cannot kick start the LED bank to full brightness. However, a meter would not show this perhaps as it happens too quickly.
Sorry, this is probably non-sense I'm talking about as I have no electrical knowledge!

 

[Specialist]

@Marvo: From what the op said, they should be compatible. 30w & 50w both same brand, PIR's switching floods both same brand & model. 30 watt circuit works ok , 50 watt doesn't.

@Rajen: The drive for the LED bank(s) would need to be measured at the banks themselves & if your electrician opened the light up to do this, the warranty would be void.
The only place he can check voltage is at the connector block, where the lamp flex attaches to the supply cable.

 

[Rajen]

The other difference is that 30W has no override switch whereas 50W does (using the 3 core + earth cable (?) )

 

[Specialist]

Hi Rajen: I appreciate that there is that difference but you did say that your electrician had checked the voltage to the light and it's correct, before changing another light get him to check the voltage when the flood is lit dimly.
You also said that your electrician had fitted a flex & plug to the lamp and it was still doing the same thing & intermittently coming on dimly, we seem to be going around in circles.

 

[Rajen]

Hi Specialist. Sorry for the confusion. I have an update of this issue now as well.

First 50W unit was supplied by electrician's supplier. They did flex & plug to the lamp and reported back dim brightness, but don't know if this was intermittent when this was done.

Second 50W unit was again supplied by electrician's supplier and this too had intermittent brightness when installed at my property. I think the electrician measured 230V when dim. However, I did the flex & plug to the lamp (after it was replaced with the third 50W unit) and it was coming with normal brightness (!), even with repeated switch on and off.

Third 50W unit was supplied from JCC by contacting their technical support. This was installed last Friday and now this unit seems to functioning normally (no intermittent brightness).

So overall, this leads me to think that the first and second 50W units were from a faulty batch from the supplier. It's strange that the flex and plug lamp test I did myself on the second 50W unit did not show the problem, contrary to the same test performed by the electrician's supplier on the first 50W unit!

The only other thing I observed was that if the lamps had been off for a while (over a day), then the first switch on would be almost always on normal brightness. Subsequent switch on would randomly be between normal (less often) or dim (more often)

Now, only thing left is that I want to change the manual override with 3 modes (completely on, completely off and PIR mode), instead of 2 (completely on and PIR mode). I read this can be achieved using a 2 gang switch (?).

 

[Specialist]

Hi Rajen: Thanks for the update, much appreciated. It's possible that there was just a bad connection to the second lamp causing the problem & when you did the flex test, you made sure the connections were good and tight.
I'm glad to hear that you've finally got a good working light, your electrician should be able to add an on/off switch quite easily for you, but if it was me, I'd advise you to leave it for a few days to make sure the light continues working properly.

 

[Rajen]

Hi Specialist. Yes, bad connections for the first and second unit is also an explanation.
Will definitely see how the lamps operates this week before making any changes. Thanks for your help and all others that replied for this issue. Have learnt quite a bit along the way!

 

[Specialist]

Hi Rajen: Your more than welcome, glad we could be of some help.
Just had your video update, thank you.
The light seems to be turning on & off perfectly now, only thing I would suggest: If the light is being used for security, the PIR detector needs adjustment to pick people up, further into the garden.
The further away you can light up an intruder, the more likely they are to leave you alone & go elsewhere. Darkness is a burglars friend.