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Levitton PR180 IR Occupancy Detector

I bought one of these %*$& devices to switch on and off my laundry room lights. Specifically I bought this model because it is Decora, has a 180 degree sensor and will accept a remote 3-way wall switch via a traveller as a 3-way arrangement. It turns my incandescent load on and off just fine. The problem is the 3-way switch arrangement.

I need the 3-way switch because the room is an "L" shape and one entrance is shadowed.

After talking to Levitton customer service, I now understand that the way it is wired, it detects only a change of state from a three way switch wired with a jumper from common to one pole. (It appears a single pole switch would accomplish the same thing). If you read the schematic, the red sensor lead sees hot or simply floats, changing that state is supposed to trigger the unit to turn on and run (with timer) as if you walked through the sensor. Levitton says to switch the black and yellow leads (Hot and load) if it doesn't trigger from the red lead.

Well after much headscratching, and changing wires all around to reroute the traveller, the hot, the load and the neutral in various different ways to satisfy the "Levitton Triac God", this thing is just plain intermittent.

Any suggestions??

Reply to
**THE-RFI-EMI-GUY**
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move the switch to the corner of the 'L' so it can see both ways, or perhaps you could mount a mirror in the corner.

John

Reply to
John Ray

However, have you considered using two of them in a "wired-or" configuration? Each sensor covers its own area but controls the lighting for the whole area.

I forget the make and model - but ISTR using 8 movement sensors to cover a long hallway with two staircases dropping down to a large entrance hall. All the sensors were connected as "wired-or" so that any detected movement switched on the main chandalier. This avoided the need for conventional switches.

You /can/ do the equivalent with a pnuematic timer wall-mounted push switch instead of the second detector. The timer will hold the light on long enough for the user to enter the range of the detector - which will then hold the light on as needed.

Depending on the design of the detectors and your wiring regulations, you may have to switch the light via a pair of relays so that power cannot be fed back to one detector when the other one activates. This is *particularly* important where the detectors take a supply from a different ring main, phase or fused spur. The contacts of the relays are simply wired in parallel but the coils connected to the associated detector output.

Reply to
Palindr☻me

What happens if you connect a "pull down" resistor from the red lead to the neutral wire? This would keep it from totally floating when the switch is open and possibly prevent it picking up enough voltage along the cable run to trigger the triac. If you don't know how to work out the right watt rating for the resistor, don't do this.

Matt Roberds

Reply to
mroberds

Reply to
**THE-RFI-EMI-GUY**

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