# Photo-cell not working



## Proby (Jul 17, 2010)

moonjacks said:


> I installed a dusk to dawn photo sensor on a 3000 watt quartz light and it will not come on when I cover the photo cell. The Photo cell is made by Intermatic Corp, modle k4221x, 120V 1800 watts,8.3amp ballast. I read 124v from the feed side and 0v on the red wire load side. What did I do wrong?
> Signed; Stormman Norman:huh:


One possibility is that your photocell (1,800w) is way undersized for the light (3,000w).


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## moonjacks (Jul 24, 2010)

*Photo cell*



Proby said:


> One possibility is that your photocell (1,800w) is way undersized for the light (3,000w).


 Hi,I put many (0's) it shoud read 300watts, sorry about that.
Norm


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## Proby (Jul 17, 2010)

Are you sure you have it wired correctly?

Have you tried using it at night? Sometimes just covering the photocell isn't enough, light could still get in. Cover the eye and surrounding area with many layers of black tape and leave it, some photocells take a few minutes to switch on.


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## moonjacks (Jul 24, 2010)

I tried covering it with electrical tape waited 15 mins and still no lite. I thinking it's the 300watt qurtz lite, but the photo cell is rated at 1800 watts.
Thank you, 
StormanNorman


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

black is the incoming hot wire. Red goes to the load. White is tied in with the neutral from the circuit feeding the light.

so, you have that right, right?

then once you hook it up, take the box the thing came in and put it over the sensor and tape the box where it is open around the sensor. Give it 5+ minutes. It should turn on.



btw: if you can watch the light as you are first energizing the circuit, it will turn on for a moment or so until it can react to the light (if the box isn't on the sensor). If it doesn't, you might have a bad sensor. Very unusual in my experience but not impossible.


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## kbsparky (Sep 11, 2008)

What color electrical tape did you use? Only black tape can fool an eye into thinking it's dark outside ....


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

kbsparky said:


> What color electrical tape did you use? Only black tape can fool an eye into thinking it's dark outside ....


true dat:thumbsup:


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## moonjacks (Jul 24, 2010)

nap said:


> black is the incoming hot wire. Red goes to the load. White is tied in with the neutral from the circuit feeding the light.
> 
> so, you have that right, right?
> 
> ...


 Hi,
Yes I had the black feed side to the black photo cell wire and the red wire to the lamp load ,covered the senor with black electrical tape for 15 mins and still no light or power to the red wirw reads 0v's.
Thanks anyway;
StormanNorman


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## moonjacks (Jul 24, 2010)

kbsparky said:


> What color electrical tape did you use? Only black tape can fool an eye into thinking it's dark outside ....


 Hi, 
Yes i did, just one of the things no one can explain.
Thanks anyway


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

moonjacks said:


> Hi,
> Yes I had the black feed side to the black photo cell wire and the red wire to the lamp load ,covered the senor with black electrical tape for 15 mins and still no light or power to the red wirw reads 0v's.
> Thanks anyway;
> StormanNorman


and the neutral?


did this light work before installing the photocell?


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## moonjacks (Jul 24, 2010)

nap said:


> and the neutral?
> 
> 
> did this light work before installing the photocell?


 yes the light worked and neutral is ok.


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

moonjacks said:


> yes the light worked and neutral is ok.


and the neutral on the pc is connected to the circuit neutral. (that is what I was trying to get you to acknowledge)


the only thing left is a bad PC.


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## moonjacks (Jul 24, 2010)

nap said:


> and the neutral on the pc is connected to the circuit neutral. (that is what I was trying to get you to acknowledge)
> 
> 
> the only thing left is a bad PC.


 Yes the neutral is connected to the circuit neutral.
I think it has somthing to do with the quartz lite but not sure.
Anyway thank you much for trying to help.
signed StormanNornan


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

moonjacks said:


> Yes the neutral is connected to the circuit neutral.
> I think it has somthing to do with the quartz lite but not sure.
> Anyway thank you much for trying to help.
> signed StormanNornan



a quartz light is basically a fancy incandescent lamp. It still produces light by the current flowing through the element causing it to heat up and incandesce.

what the difference between a typical incandescent light and a quartz light is with the typical incandescent lamp, it uses a low grade glass and uses either a vacuum or nitrogen, argon, or krypton gas. Both types use a tungsten filament.

the quartz lamp uses halogen as the gas and the envelope is quartz, which can withstand very high temps. The type of gas actually allows the vaporized tungsten to reattach to the filament where with a standard incandescent lamp, it attaches to the envelope eventually allowing the filament to thin an break.

the are both incandescent lamps though.

it isn't the lamp causing your problems.


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## moonjacks (Jul 24, 2010)

Just a bad pc I replaced it and it works now.


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

moonjacks said:


> Just a bad pc I replaced it and it works now.


I told you so!!!


glad to hear you did get it fixed.:thumbsup:


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