Hi, Is it possible to open up and rewire a motion sensor floodlight so the motion sensor part is disabled? The motion sensor is not working on a floodlight outside of my house and I'd rather have it just work with the switch anyway. I know they're cheap but a trip to home depot is a pain in the neck for me.
Rewiring an outside motion sensor floodlight
May 25, 2008
12 Replies
it should be no problem as long as you can get it apart
Just disconnect the wires to the sensor and wire the power directly to the lights. All this will occur in the electrical box.
it should be no problem as long as you can get it apart
Not a problem at all. When you remove the unit, it will have three wires attached to the motion detector head, white, black and red. With the power turned off, all you have to do is cut the black and red wires where they attach to the motion detector head, and splice them together with a wire nut. The unit will now work as a standard floodlight
This should work, but why would you leave the sensor wired in at all?
Yes
Leave the white wire alone. Take the other two wires off the sensor and wire them together.
This will leave two wires on the sensor that are not connected to anything.
=2E Yes. You are getting basically the same info from various posters. Lets try and simplify this. Make sure the circuit is switched/turned off. In the wiring box behind the light fixture. The white wire from the supply should and probably goes directly to the white wire to the lamp or lamps. Leave this alone. The black (live) wire from the supply (switch)** takes electrcity into the sensor that turns on the light. Disconnect the black wire to the sensor. The sensor is a sort of switch operated by night time and motion etc. Also disconnect the red sensor wire from the black wire*** going to the lights. You indicate the sensor is broken, so that what seems to be happening is that nothing is coming out of the sensor on the red wire to turn on the light/s. Cut back or tape off the red and black wires of the sensor; they will now be dead/not used. Finally; the black wire coming from the switch** connect to the black wire going the lamps***. Turn the power back on again and when the switch is turned on the black live wire*** will take electrcity directly to the black wire to the lamps** and they should go on.
That's up to the OP, he just wanted it disabled
Thanks all, it worked like a charm.
replying to RBM, adam muecke wrote: I tried that but the white wire is attached to the lamp and still has no power...what do i hook rhe white wire to? Maybe the ground?
replying to terry, vince wrote: is it possible to disconnect one light from the motion detector and let the other light be wired directly?
Aren't those 2 things the same?
Unless, of course, you want to disable one light completely. If so, just loosen the bulb.
Anything more complicated than that will depend on how the fixture is wired and what wires you have access to. A picture might help.
replying to RBM, Ashley wrote: This was very helpful!!! Took less than 5 minutes for this non-electrical woman!!! Thank you
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