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Dual wiring for motion sensor security light

4K views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  ent 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi everybody.. im a new member on the board, but i have been stopping by for years now, and always found this an excellent helpful resource. Please help me with my first question..

Is it possible to wire a motion detector with 2 sources of electricity? First source would be from a switched set of wires which power the light directly (bypassing the motion sensor). The second source would be from a live set of wires which power the motion detector which will act as a switch for the light. With this configuration, the motion sensor will always be on at night, but you have the option to always be able to turn on the light from the wall switch regardless of something tripping the motion sensor. From what i have seen, on a normal circuit, if you flipped the switch on (while on the motion sensor setting) and there wasnt motion outside, the light wouldnt go on. The only weird thing i could think of with this is that you wouldnt be able to turn the light off if there was motion detected, and when the switch is on, and motion is deteced, it would be getting power from 2 wires (which is the same thing as being powered by a thicker wire, right)?

idk.. in theory it whould work, but i dont see why nobody else has been writing about it online.

If this works, then comes the ability to wire more lights into the circuit, and add more motion sensors.

Thankis

 
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#2 ·
Motion sensors I have already have that function built into them. The power to the sensor is on a switch. If you turn off the switch for 10 seocnds or more and turn back on you get normal sensor operation. If you turn the swith off on quickly the lights come on and stay on until you reset the sensor by turning it off for 10 seconds.

I am not sure what would happen to the sensors if power was applied to the output line. Possibly it could damage them.
 
#3 ·
I believe the heath zenith brand has that feature built in, but i never liked using it because it seems inconvenient.. and also because people around here tend to permanently turn off the switch when the motion sensor is activated, and wonder why the light doesnt come on later when you walk under it.

Maybe my solution is to just add more light circuits, or to wire one light in the set for motion, and the other for the switch
 
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