I have installed a couple of motion lights recently under the impression that the manual override works the way it used to in these units: Toggle the switch off and on quickly and you can toggle between "manual" constant-on mode and "auto" mode timed motion/heat sensor. Well, it seems these units do not always function this way anymore, as the company (Heath-Zenith/Desa) has told me that the unit is only designed to come on manually for the timed interval that it is set to, then turn off again. Seems pretty useless to me.
A common need is for the homeowner to have a light that serves as a motion detector at night, but also could be switched to constant on for working outside at night, etc., and also can be completely switched off, perhaps when having some people over in the backyard at night.
I know there are probably some wiring tricks I could do (route feeder to light for constant power, then run switchleg for sensor bypass) but in more than one case, getting the access to run additional wires is going to cost more. I would prefer to buy a sensor that works like the old units I remember. Does anyone know which ones do this? Looking in catalogs/online all I can find is "manual override" and that apparently doesn't mean what it used to.
Thanks!