External halogen sensor light gone nuts

long_b · 08-02-2022 02:33PM #1

I've an external halogen light that works on a movement sensor, usually coming on at night for a few seconds as it detects movement.

It's gone nuts at the moment - it's been on now (during the day) for the last few hours and is pretty much at full power (with a tiny flicker).

Do halogen bulbs fail like this or does it sound like water ingress ? Or maybe it's the sensor ?

Just asking as I don't know how scared of it I should be (I haven't found a way to isolate it just yet)

Antenna · 08-02-2022 06:20PM

Probably a failure but you could try turning off the power to it for a minute and see does it behave after the power is turned back on.

This type of failure can happen with the sensor electronics malfunctioning. A common cause of failure of these PIR lights is the 'capacitive dropper' capacitor (to power the sensor electronics) going low in value with age. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitive_power_supply

Rather unsatisfactory if you cannot find where to switch off the power to this light.

A waste of electricity if it is now constantly on!

meercat · 08-02-2022 06:30PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058231965/external-halogen-sensor-light-gone-nuts

If you can’t find a switch, turn power off at the fuse board for 30 seconds. Then turn power back on. This sometimes resets the sensor

08-02-2022 08:23PM

Replace. Halogen lights no longer make sense anyway as they are so expensive to run. Replace with a high quality LED fitting. I would suggest Stinel. These units have a 5 year warranty.

long_b · 08-02-2022 10:58PM

Thanks for the advice all.

Found which fuse it's on and will be replacing with an LED one.

External halogen sensor light gone nuts

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