Motion sensor light has mind of its own!

[keiron99]

I have installed a motion sensor light in our dowstairs toilet (thanks, but I've already made all the jokes!).

It is apparently a good quality one - a Steinel from CPC

It is in effect a straightforward ceiling light with the PIR neatly built into it.

I've been battling with the settings for a couple of months now. What I don't understand is how, when the room is effectively a sealed chamber no more than 3 foot by 6 foot, with no windows and the doors shut, it should come on by itself. Our bedroom is directly above and I can hear it clicking on in the middle of the night. I can understand it may be sensitive to sharp blasts of warm wind for example (haha, again), but in the still of the night? Whatsmore, the sensitivity is turned down to such an extent that my 6 year old has to jump up and down like a lunatic to activate it!

Any ideas what might be causing this? I could of course just replace it all with a regular lightswitch, but where's the fun in that?!

[Peter Parry]

Quite often this is caused by mains interference, usually something like a fridge/freezer or the central heating which generates nice spikes when it switches on and off.

[meow2222]

hard to see how its anything but faulty, since you say the sensitivity's turned down. Unless it can see through a glass door at the cat walking past, but thats unlikely if the 6yo has to jump about..

NT

[The Natural Philosopher]

Moths?.

We had a helluva time in one office when birds nested there..they used to fly from and two the nest, right next to a sensor..

[Harry Bloomfield]

[e-mail] was thinking very hard :

Try covering the sensor head up so it can see nothing. If it still false triggers that can only mean that it is being triggered by mains spikes or it is faulty. Mains spikes can be caused by fridges, heating systems starting and etc.. Another possibility is poor connections to the unit, or a poor earth.

If covering its head stops the problem then you need to look at the movement of surfaces which have a difference in temperature to their surroundings, or surfaces which can suddenly change temperature. Drafts under doors, radiators heating up and etc. can cause this.

[John]

In article , [e-mail] writes

What type of bulb?

[Father Kylesmas]

Harry Bloomfield verbally sodomised in news: [e-mail]: