Trouble With a Light

[oyarsa]

I have a light fixture that is giving me trouble. When I first moved into this house, the light had a round dimmer. The dimmer switch seemed to have a short since the lights would behave erratically when I turned the dimmer. Eventually it stopped working altogether.

Thinking it was the switch, I bought a new one (a motion detector switch so that hopefully the light will come on when I walk inside). I successfully replaced the switch (very proud of myself for that), but the light still would not come on. I replaced one of the two bulbs and sure enough the light came on. I tried to put a second bulb in and the lights flickered till the fixture fried both of them (CFL bulbs). After I figured that out, I tried two regular bulbs and the same thing happened. So I put a new CFL bulb in by itself thinking I'd just leave it at that. I decided to test out the motion sensor part of the switch, which worked great to turn on, but when the bulb was suppose to turn off, it just dimmed and started flickering without ever going off completely. If I use the switch to turn the light on, it works. If I use the switch to turn the light off, it works. It's only a problem when the motion sensor is suppose to turn it off. Any suggestions?

[pushkins]

Not sure this is your case but dimming switches need to be used with dim-able bulbs.

[oyarsa]

Thanks for the suggestion I've always wondered that, actually. In any case, though, I'm no longer using a dimming switch. The one I'm using now is an on/off motion detector switch...

[HayZee518]

dimming switches of the rotary type and slide type all make use of a solid state device known as a triac or diac. what they do is cut off the high and low parts of the sine wave into what is known as chopped dc. standard bulbs are ok with this but cfl bulbs are flourescent and need high voltage ac to operate. they are not compatible with any kind of dimming switch. there is a special ballast made, incorporated with a dimming circuit.

[oyarsa]

That's good to know. Does anyone have any suggestions for what might be the problem now, though, considering I'm not using a dimmer switch and the problem is with both CFL and regular light bulbs being blown?

[HayZee518]

next time you go searching for bulbs, look at the voltage rating. discount bulbs made in taiwan or china are rated 117 to 120 volt. american made bulbs, like PHILLIPS are rated to 135 volts. this includes the cfl's.

[oyarsa]

Well, the bulbs I tried do all say 120V (even though one is GE), but would this cause the flickering when the motion detector timer turns off? I'm going to the store tonight, so I'll try to find one rated to 135 volts and give it a try, but I don't understand why that would work...

[HayZee518]

the way you connect the motion sensor could be a factor. there should be three wires. a black a white and a red. the black and white should be connected at all times to a hot circuit. the red and white goes to the load. if you switch the black, the fixture will always try to reset itself when you switch from off to on. if you wish manual switching, connect your switch between the red wire and the load. same is true with a photo eye - three wires - black, white and red.

[oyarsa]

Thanks for your reply. Sounds like that could be the problem, but unfortunately the motion detector switch I purchased only had two black wires and a green wire. The switch I replaced only had two wires and there were only two in the wall to attach to. The diagram on the switch didn't specify how to connect the black wires, only that the the green wire was to be attached to the ground wire (which I don't have) or to a screw. I attempted to attach it to a screw, but I'm not sure if it really made a good connection. Could this be the problem?

Would that explain why it destroys bulbs when you plug in two and not just one, though?

[HayZee518]

please get me the name of the product and model number. something doesn't sound right. a motion detector needs a load connection and a constant supply. could be what you have is part of a low voltage sensor system

[pushkins]

could be what you have is part of a low voltage sensor system

and that would most definitely cause strange dimming.

[oyarsa]

The switch is a GE Single Pole Motion Sensing Switch. I don't know the specific model number (already threw away the box and the instructions don't say), but it appears to be number 57885 that I found on jascoproducts.com.