Mojoe Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 We bought our house 2 years ago. When we moved in, the hard wired motion activated flood light worked. Probably about six months later, I noticed it didn't. I figured the motion detection part was bad and had heard of them going out now and then. Today, I finally got around to messing with it. First I shut the breaker off and then tested the wire. No current. Next I turn the breaker back on and test it, still not current. There is no light switch that we are aware of for the flood light. There has been no electrical work in that part of the house since we bought it. What am I over looking? Who wants free food and beer to make this work again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbs3000 Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 Are you sure you tested it correctly? Not that you didn't just that's the first step. Do you have a light switch for porch or patio lights that are near by. It's very common that the motion is tied to that switch or a switch in general. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mojoe Posted April 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 Tested with bolt meter several times. We have spent the last year flipping switches to see if it was connect to something. Just can't seem to find the source of the issue. When it worked before, we never used a switch. It was just on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Bastard Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 Could you try tying the wires for the motion sensor together then flip on the breaker just to test and see if that is your problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cstmg8 Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 When you say in that part of the house, has there been work in any part of the house? It could be as simple as a loose neutral somewhere. When you checked for current, did you just try the black and white wires, or did you move the black probe to the ground as well? What part of town are you in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky31186 Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 Could it be tied in with a hidden gfci? Our outside lights are tied into my wife's bathroom gfci outlet for some reason. That took some figuring out to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mojoe Posted April 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 When you say in that part of the house, has there been work in any part of the house? It could be as simple as a loose neutral somewhere. When you checked for current, did you just try the black and white wires, or did you move the black probe to the ground as well? What part of town are you in? There has been work in the other end of the house. I've never heard of a "neutral". Wouldn't know where to start looking for that. I did test all three wires, no reading at all. I'm at the edge of New Albany and Johnstown. Could it be tied in with a hidden gfci? Our outside lights are tied into my wife's bathroom gfci outlet for some reason. That took some figuring out to do. I do have a GCFI in the kitchen that stopped working about the same time. That's not far from where the light is mounted. It's a new CGFI that is connected correctly, little green light is on it, but theres no power power when you plug into it.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cstmg8 Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 There has been work in the other end of the house. I've never heard of a "neutral". Wouldn't know where to start looking for that. I did test all three wires, no reading at all. I'm at the edge of New Albany and Johnstown. I do have a GCFI in the kitchen that stopped working about the same time. That may be something there. That's not far from where the light is mounted. It's a new CGFI that is connected correctly, little green light is on it, but theres no power power when you plug into it.. If it doesn't have power on the outlets, there's a good chance it's not sending power to the load side. Open it up and test the screws on the side, usually any outgoing power would be the top screws (connections). The neutral wire is the wire that returns the power in the circuit, usually the white wire. Black supplies power (hot), white returns it (neutral). Just be careful, because some people wire things incorrectly/differently, such as three way switches. That's why I asked if you put your probe on the ground, if it shows power with the black probe on the ground, but not white..... Bad neutral. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mojoe Posted April 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 I can read that enough to get an idea of what you mean. The execution of it is a different thing. We revisited fixing the GCFI a few weeks back, and nothing changed. It's kind of like you don't know what you don't know, but it's hooked up the way it should be. Ran out of idea's on what to do to fix it and now we have just written off the use of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRTurbo04 Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 Have you tried tracing the wires back to the point where it connects? And work from there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeesammy Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 Have you tried tracing the wires back to the point where it connects? And work from there? I think this would require tearing apart some walls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRTurbo04 Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 I think this would require tearing apart some walls. Never know, he might be wired through the crawl space or attick rafters that he might have access to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
93 RX-7 Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 I have a cool little tool that plugs into an outlet or light socket and tells me which breaker it is connected to. For a free CCW class I would be willing to come out and take a look... ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowflake Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 It's probably being fed off of a bad photocell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowflake Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 Where you at in Columbus? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mojoe Posted April 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 Have you tried tracing the wires back to the point where it connects? And work from there? Runs into the attic, which has 11" of insulation blown into it. Not chasing that, given the other circumstances . I have a cool little tool that plugs into an outlet or light socket and tells me which breaker it is connected to. For a free CCW class I would be willing to come out and take a look... ;-) Maaaaaybe. Where you at in Columbus? I'm at the edge of New Albany and Johnstown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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