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+-- Thread: 3-way sensor (/showthread.php?tid=7370215)
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3-way sensor - Scouter - 08-11-2022
Done some searching and haven’t been able to find one. Anyone know if anyone makes a 3-way motion sensor for outdoor use? I can find outdoor sensors, but not 3-way; I can find 3-way sensors, but they’re all indoor.
I have a wheelchair ramp that I need to install a sensor on so that the lights come on regardless of which direction the people are going.
RE: 3-way sensor - MstrCarpenter - 08-11-2022
You don't need a 3-way motion sensor(s). When the motion sensors detect motion they turn the lights on and then off after the set period of time elapses. If another sensor happens to detect motion during that time, the light will stay on until it's time elapses. Think of them as "momentary on" switches except the timer replaces your finger. You can have as many as you want. 3-way (and 4-way) switches allow you to turn the light on from one location and off from another, and then back on from either (or any) location. Your application does not need this type of switching, a couple of 180* sensors should do what you want.
F.Y.I. The 3-way "smart" switches for interior applications allow you to manually turn the light off. If they're set for "vacancy mode", you turn it on manually, and the light will stay on if either switch senses motion. I've installed some where one was a standard 3-way (S.P.D.T) and the other was a motion sensor. It was set for "vacancy" and in this particular hallway you couldn't be out of range.
RE: 3-way sensor - brianwelch - 08-12-2022
What MstrCarpenter said...we have a series of motion sensor fixtures around our house, all on one circuit with one standard switch...Occasionally, but not always, if one is triggered, some if not all of the others automatically light up...
RE: 3-way sensor - Willyou - 08-12-2022
Someone correct me if I'm wrong. I think you can buy just the sensors alone. With that, you hook up multiple sensors focused in different directions that are connected to the same light fixture. That way the door way can be covered by one sensor and the area at the bottom of the ramp can be covered by the other. Both will turn on the same light.
RE: 3-way sensor - MstrCarpenter - 08-13-2022
Yes, they are available as replacements for less than $20; sometimes a lot less. Sometimes a complete fixture is less. Also, just as several motion sensors can control a single light, they can also control several lights. If you run 3 conductors between those fixtures both loads can be controlled with both fixtures. It even works with some fixtures' "smart circuitry' that overrides the photocell and sensor by turning the inside switch off, on, off, on. to keep both lights on regardless of motion or daylight.
RE: 3-way sensor - Scouter - 08-13-2022
(08-11-2022, 10:48 PM)MstrCarpenter Wrote: You don't need a 3-way motion sensor(s). When the motion sensors detect motion they turn the lights on and then off after the set period of time elapses. If another sensor happens to detect motion during that time, the light will stay on until it's time elapses. Think of them as "momentary on" switches except the timer replaces your finger. You can have as many as you want. 3-way (and 4-way) switches allow you to turn the light on from one location and off from another, and then back on from either (or any) location. Your application does not need this type of switching, a couple of 180* sensors should do what you want.
F.Y.I. The 3-way "smart" switches for interior applications allow you to manually turn the light off. If they're set for "vacancy mode", you turn it on manually, and the light will stay on if either switch senses motion. I've installed some where one was a standard 3-way (S.P.D.T) and the other was a motion sensor. It was set for "vacancy" and in this particular hallway you couldn't be out of range.
Looked up “motion sensors for ramp” and found several resources, all with the same method. The sensors need to be connected to each other, with one of them then connected to the light source. I was hoping to avoid that by having the top and bottoms sensors connected to the lights, without a traveling wire. This is going to make it a lot more complicated because of the layout. Will have to do a lot of “figuring” on how to run the physical wires under NEC regs.
Thanks for the help.
RE: 3-way sensor - MstrCarpenter - 08-13-2022
(08-13-2022, 09:05 PM)Scouter Wrote: Looked up “motion sensors for ramp” and found several resources, all with the same method. The sensors need to be connected to each other, with one of them then connected to the light source. I was hoping to avoid that by having the top and bottoms sensors connected to the lights, without a traveling wire. This is going to make it a lot more complicated because of the layout. Will have to do a lot of “figuring” on how to run the physical wires under NEC regs.
Thanks for the help.
Yea, both sensors use two conductors for power and a third to the load (the light). So if there's power at the light you'll need 3 conductors between the light and a sensor and 3 conductors between either both sensors or the light and the second sensor. If there's power at a sensor, you'll need three conductors to the light and three from the light to the second sensor or two to the light and three between sensors.
Of course there's always battery or solar powered units which require no conductors at all!
RE: 3-way sensor - Scouter - 08-14-2022
(08-13-2022, 11:20 PM)MstrCarpenter Wrote: Yea, both sensors use two conductors for power and a third to the load (the light). So if there's power at the light you'll need 3 conductors between the light and a sensor and 3 conductors between either both sensors or the light and the second sensor. If there's power at a sensor, you'll need three conductors to the light and three from the light to the second sensor or two to the light and three between sensors.
Of course there's always battery or solar powered units which require no conductors at all!
We tried the battery/solar lights, they last a couple years then, in the winter, they tend to not last the entire night (cold gets to them). With six lights I end up replacing one or two of them every couple years.
RE: 3-way sensor - Willyou - 08-14-2022
Without knowing the layout of your ramp, it is hard to give explicit advice. But, I assume that the ramp is such that the sensor at one end can't "see" the other end. So, just put up another fixture at the other end. They don't need to work together. If you have light at your starting point, that is all you need. By the time you get near the other end, the sensor there will "see" you and the light will come on. If they need to be switched together, that can be easily done.
RE: 3-way sensor - brofessor - 08-16-2022
(08-11-2022, 09:19 PM)Scouter Wrote: Done some searching and haven’t been able to find one. Anyone know if anyone makes a 3-way motion sensor for outdoor use? I can find outdoor sensors, but not 3-way; I can find 3-way sensors, but they’re all indoor.
I have a wheelchair ramp that I need to install a sensor on so that the lights come on regardless of which direction the people are going.
I did this on the side of my house, i used a RAB super stealth 360 on one end and just a RAB stealth STL200 on the other end. I have a 12/3 between them so if either motion sensor detects it'll trigger both fixtures. I don't know how far your other light is but these stealth sensors are accurate with great range.