Duff PIR outside lights

[Narked@50]

I have gone through two sets of the PIR lantern style outside lights you see on peoples porches as you walk up to their houses. The dawn till dust feature works and so does the timer, but you literally have to be waving a hand in front of them to get them to turn on. They just gradually deteriorate over about 18 months to two years.

Does anyone know why this is? I didn't think PIRs were guilty of this, I know an odd one can fail, but for all 4 built into these lights it's more than a coincidence.

Anyone got some of these that actually work for more than 2 years and can you recommend a make, mine have just been cheapies from Makro.

Thanks

James

[alistairb]

Hi...im a sparky and the only ones i will fit is a one called NITE OWL....i wont fit anything else for reliability as its MY name and rep on the line and wats more important is its customer satifaction........

HTH

Safe diving

alistair

[Narked@50]

Thanks for the quick reply Alistair, If only more trademen had your philosophy, good one.

James

[alistairb]

hi..........yes......if only.............consumer is allways correct..........yea..even if they are wrong......but thats the way i am....at the end of the day....they get from me and my staff the service that i would like to recieve from other sales pple/shops etc....and if they dont id expect them to tell ME......

Safe diving

alistair

[Spacehopper]

James, we moved into our house 5 years ago, we have 2 PIR lamps at the front and one in the rear. Of the two at the front one has worked flawlesly and the other has been a bit "sometimesish". the second even comes on for no aparent reason. The lamp at the back of the house has worked without problem since it was installed 4 years ago. I have no idea where the two at the front of the house came from, one is a lantern and the other a bulkhead lamp. The lamp at the rear is a pair of spots and was bought from B&Q

Alistair - Ever thought about moving down south? you'd make a fortune with an attitude like that.

Gareth

[NeilB]

Originally Posted by Narked@50

mine have just been cheapies from Makro.

Perhaps the answer is in the question......

[Narked@50]

Tried Wicks today, too cheap at around a tenner each, must be more of what I had last time, I'll do a bit of B&Qing during the week and see if I can get somthing mid range without paying a fortune.

James

[Tonto]

Hi James,
I bought a couple of 150W PIR's a couple months ago for just over £30 from Halogen Floodlight 150W Black by Timeguard, they are better than the bog standard as you can run other lights from them up to 2KW, I haven't had them long enough to know whether they slowly degrade over time.
I thought there was a bit more time on the warranty than normal too but cant find it at the mo'
HTH

[Spacehopper]

James, try the electical wholesaler City Electrical Factors (CEF), theres one near you. Unfortunately they don't have an online catalogue but their paper version is quite comprehensive.

You could also try SparksDirect or TLC but the later only have stores dahn sarf innit
Gareth

[alistairb]

Hi...try an awebb electrical supplier....or http://www.awebb.org.uk/membersdir.aspx niteowl is a popular and decent lite...n like i said i wont fit ne other.......

alistair