SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

Going to replace this old security light with a newer brighter one.

Thing is the old light wiring has red (live), blue (neutral) and yellow/green (earth) coming out from the house supply. All good but what the hell is yellow wire shown in the picture as the new unit does not have room to accommodate this ?

Old existing wiring



This security light can be turned on by a switch in the kitchen and the rest of the time it works off the sensor. So is this extra yellow wire the sensor ?

New wiring on back of new unit




I know this should be DIY but none goes in there and I need to do this job this morning says my wife

JDM_Stig

iTrader: (3)

Id guess red is perm 230v, blue is Neutral and yellow is switched 230v, well that`s how we wire them, there should really be red(brown now) sleeving on the yellow.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

As above, the yellow allows it to be switched from the kitchen to always on.

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

Okay what I gather from you guys is :

The extra yellow wire (on the old house wiring ) is for the sensor /PIR and is switched live ? So that would mean it goes into the same hole as the live or do I put into the hole at the end of the new block that has the white cotton sleeving on it ?

I mean put the odd yellow cable into the same hole as the red cable in the new block.

JDM_Stig

iTrader: (3)

yellow in with red will do nothing as the red is live all the time and the yellow when the switch is flicked goes live,
Yellow with the brown will allow you to still switch it on via the switch.

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

But how come in the old wiring the yellow cable is attached to the two white cables in the old unit and is no where near the brown ? It works fine as it is now meaning I can switch it on permanently from the house then flick it off and wait for the sensor to work during dark hours ?

The problem is the old blocks look nothing like the new blocks and the instructions for wiring that comes with the new unit don't mention this extra wire ??

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

It does not help that I have a morbid fear of wiring after an incident about 15 years ago and now hate doing any bloody wiring in case I blow myself up

Ant

http://www.diynot.com/forums/electri...hree-p.298199/

this sums it up ok

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

Yes thanks they mention the extra yellow in that thread

So this is what I am going to do, wish me luck

Red cable from house is going into brown in the new block (Live)
Earth cable from house is going into earth in the new block
Blue cable from house is going into blue in the new block (Neutral)
Yellow cable from house is going to go into the block that has the red and white sleeved cables. Hopefully this will do the trick

CharlySkunkWeed

iTrader: (7)

It looks like u have a light that needs wired from the switch , which u leave permanently on to give the sensor power (keep the old red out in a connector not with anything else as its live all the time) and if you want to bring the light on you turn the switch off and on twice (or whatever it says in manual)

So I recon you need

Old yellow - new brown
Old blue -new blue
Earth - earth
Old red - blank connector (assuming its a permanent live)

Theres always the option to work it the way it suits you but im not sure if it'll work !

Old red - new brown
Old yellow - new red
Blue- blue
Earth -earth

Hope that makes sense ? Any other sparks confirm the above ? I'm on my xmas hols and left my brain in work !

lordharding

iTrader: (1)

Red to green

Green to blue

Blue to BITS

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

Well in the end I did it the way I thought was right and it now works.

God I hate wiring could never be a sparky, I have this need to shut down the entire power grid just changing a bulb

It works but boy is there sensor sensitive, catches me out within a second when I walk outside

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

That's what I like about electrical wiring, if you do it and it works it must be right!!

Turbohot

My mother in-law's back yard security light seems to have gone somewhat temperamental. It comes on when a fat cat trespasses, but is kind on a very disruptive fox.

In order to repel unwanted beings I've put a boobytrap there to help my MIL. I can't give the details on the tinterbet, but I'm confident that it's far more effective than any HomeAlone boobytrap. One should be warned, and she should relax. Her Christmas turkey is safe.

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

Well after 2 hours it tripped the whole fusebox , damn

Thought I had it sussed so as my father in law was around I asked his opinion
He said just leave the yellow cable isolated. So did that and it did not seem to work, kept tripping.

Turns out it wasn't my wiring after all, it was the bloody wife tripping it using the hoover !!

BoozyDave

iTrader: (8)

that's it

I love the way non electricians just guess at what they think goes where

Yellow/Green is CPC (circuit protective conductor) or 'earth' in old money

Blue is Neutral

the red (L) is a perm feed to the PIR/Photocell - only activates light when dark and when movement is detected

The yellow is a switched live feed and it bypasses the PIR, hence when the light switch is turned on the light comes on no matter if it's day or night

HTH


any of you non electricians fancy trying to guess how to connect up some stairwell lights in a block of flats, 11 floors with PIR on each floor, 5 lights on each floor, alternate emergency lights with 1 key switch, and wired so all the lights come on when any of the PIR's are activated, all powered through a contactor?