[Shop-talk] Outdoor metal halide lights...it's not the bulbs

[Scott Hall]

Yeah, they'll stay on all day if you let them. Right side is on now.

On Sat, Mar 23, 2019, 9:23 AM Brian Kemp <bk13 at earthlink.net wrote:

> There might be a photo cell somewhere to also help control the lights so
> they only come on at night.  Did you test it the next day when it was dark?
>
> Some photo controlled lights, when they first get power will come on for
> a period of time.  After which they revert to the photo cell.
>
> Brian
>
> On 3/22/2019 9:35 PM, Scott Hall via Shop-talk wrote:
> > To summarize thus far:
> >
> >
> > It wasn't the bulbs. Those lights, and some other stuff in the
> > backyard are controlled by their own breaker box...in the basement
> > storage area, behind a shelf, behind the HVAC system...that I found
> > when I was re-lighting a water heater pilot.
> >
> >
> > *Then* one of the light switches literally on the other side of the
> > house has to be switched, and those fixtures light. I can't imagine
> > why that switch is where it is, but both fixtures lit. They do not
> > seem to be motion-sensitive. You just go down a flight of steps,
> > across the house, into the storage area, and remove the built-in
> > shelving some idiot built in front of the box, then the light switch
> > even farther back in that room can be used to turn on those lights.
> > Imagine my delight. I just thought the pool bulb was burned out, and I
> > didn't even know those rocks had lights under them. Neato.
> >
> >
> > I left them on for a few hours, admiring how the backyard looked
> > suspiciously like a baseball stadium and wondering what the previous
> > owner was doing back there. Maybe literally playing baseball. God
> > knows you wouldn't have any visibility issues.
> >
> >
> > Turned off the lights, went to bed. Next day, the left roof fixture
> > won't light. Well now it's a mission from God.
> >
> >
> > Excellent suggestion made here was taken, 42-foot extension ladder
> > rented, bulb swapped. It's not the bulb. Or at least the bulb I bought
> > looks exactly like the bulb that came out and is rated at 400 watts,
> > which is what the old bulb and the fixture says. The old bulb does not
> > appear damaged. Perhaps there's a fuse or breaker in this thing.
> > Before I disassemble the fixture, the hive mind will be consulted.
> >
> >
> > The fixture's front cover unscrews and flips open. Under it is this
> > (well, this below the bulb housing):
> >
> >
> >
> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DEe84KmqUuxmO5A2mRlRWYdK1pR3Qidj/view?usp=sharing
> >
> >
> >
> > The sticker on the left side looks like a wiring diagram:
> >
> >
> >
> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M7q_VBTcsc88Or6MxjO5Achscw-P-mn4/view?usp=sharing
> >
> >
> >
> > Might those things in the lower left quadrant be fuses? There is
> > another metal plate cover under that sticker under which could live
> > something user-serviceable. But before I start screwing with stuff 40
> > feet in the air, you know, I should at least ask. Or offer to video it.
> >
> >
> > Any thoughts welcome. Thanks.
> >
> >
> > (I think that ladder is the very definition of 'attractive nuisance'.
> > I have to return it tomorrow morning, but oh the things I could access
> > if I bought one! So easy to paralyze or maim myself so quickly! Of all
> > the equipment I've rented, this may be the one thing I'm not
> > completely sure they should let homeowners have access to. It's the
> > first thing I've done that I found myself actually thinking, "this
> > could go very bad, very quickly, if I'm not very careful.")
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> >
> > Shop-talk at autox.team.net
> > Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html
> > Suggested annual donation  $12.96
> > Archive: http://www.team.net/pipermail/shop-talk
> >
> > Unsubscribe/Manage:
> > http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/shop-talk/bk13@earthlink.net
> >
> >
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://autox.team.net/pipermail/shop-talk/attachments/20190323/bfa01e65/attachment-0001.html>