ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Manual Switch for Motion Sensor on Light?

Hi.

With regard to a residential setting:

What brand(s) of outdoor motion sensor light allow(s) for an additional wall switch to enable/disable the detector?

I know that many brands use a quick on-off-on or similar method to override the motion sensor, but the light will reset itself after x hours.

I would like to be able to occasionally completely disable the motion sensor, and manually operate the light.

Let's throw in another variable. What brands allow for a dusk-to-dawn sensor as well as a motion sensor, both of which can be manually disabled?

Install a 3way switch. Feed the point; one traveler goes to the unit feed and the other traveler goes directly to the backside (output) of the detector. This gives you two choices: motion and always on. If you want a shut off switch make it a 2 gang box and put a plain single pole ahead of the 3 way. Make the output of the single pole feed the 3 way's point.

I've tried that setup, and on some brands of motion lights (Heath/Zenith in particular), applying power to the load side of the control module results in immediate damage to the controller electronics. The light will then no longer work in motion mode.

The 3-way setup works with most brands of motion lights, but not all!

What other brands/models are comparable to the Leviton OS120 pictured here:


What is your opinion of Leviton in general? I find their devices (switches, receptacles) to be quite flimsy.