Wiring a PIR Floodlight

[jimmybkk]

Hi All,

 

I've had a PIR Floodlight lying around for ages that I never got round to setting up. I had a look at it the other day and decided I should probably get some advice from someone who knows what they're talking about before trying to tackle the wiring.

 

Here's a pic of the wiring setup at the light/sensor:

 

 

The 2 white wires (with fabric sleeves) and the yellow/green wire going into the connector come from the light, and the blue, brown and black wires come from the PIR sensor. The blue & brown wires at the bottom of the pic are from the cable that I was planning on using to provide power, and I was intending to either hardwire it to a breaker box that is about 3 metres away or else attach a plug to the cable and use the socket that is on the front if the breaker box. Here's a pic of that:

 

 

 

The breaker on the left is for the pumps in my fishpond, the one in the middle is for LED lights in the fishpond and also some outdoor spotlights, and the breaker on the right is for the plug socket on the door of the breaker box.

 

My questions are:

 

1. Can I use 2 core cable with this set up or do I need 3 core?

2. If 2 core is OK, which terminals on the connector should the blue and brown wires be connected to?

3. Is there any reason I couldn't hardwire the unit directly into the breaker on the right, or would it be advisable to set up a switch between the light and the breaker.

 

Many thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Crossy]

Ok, inside the light wire brown - brown (live) and blue - blue (neutral).

 

At the other end I suggest you use a plug, or feed via a light switch. But nothing really to stop you running from one of those breakers.

 

As to the ground. What is the casework of the light made from? If it's metal it should be grounded (it has a ground terminal), if plastic no need (I wonder what the ground terminal is there for).

 

Adding a degree of pragmatism, if the light is more than 2.5m above the ground and the installation has an RCD/RCBO then you can safely leave the ground off as the risk is minimal.

 

[jimmybkk]

On 13/05/2017 at 5:45 AM, Crossy said:

Ok, inside the light wire brown - brown (live) and blue - blue (neutral).

 

At the other end I suggest you use a plug, or feed via a light switch. But nothing really to stop you running from one of those breakers.

 

As to the ground. What is the casework of the light made from? If it's metal it should be grounded (it has a ground terminal), if plastic no need (I wonder what the ground terminal is there for).

 

Adding a degree of pragmatism, if the light is more than 2.5m above the ground and the installation has an RCD/RCBO then you can safely leave the ground off as the risk is minimal.

 

Thank you Crossy.

 

The casing of the light is metal with a metal bracket that attaches to a wall or ceiling. It will be located more than 2.5m above the ground but I don't believe there is a RCD/RCBO so I'm thinking that a ground connection would be a good idea. What would be the easiest way to accomplish this given that everything running into and out of those circuit breakers only has 2 wires, so I'm assuming that means no ground?

 

Regarding the RCD/RCBO, I don't think I have one of those and it sounds like it would be a smart move to get one installed. Any advice or suggestions on this?

 

Thanks again for taking the time to reply to my original post.

 

[wazzi]

AS there appears to be no earhting provision in the switchboard it may be hard to earth the sensor, is the power point at the switchboard a two or three prong socket? might be best to mount the light high as Crossy said and run a lead into the power point to supply it,

that way you get the convenienve of a switch ( on the powerpoint if it has one! ) and don't have to play with the switchboard