[jamestdavis]

Hello
I want to deactivate a photo cell. There is a red, black & white wires running to it. What do I need to do?

Thanks, Jim

[tkrussell]

You can splice the red and black, and cap the white. This will bypass the PC.

[KISS]

Put tape over the sensor. Always dark - ON. It also depends on your definition of "Deactivate".

[jamestdavis]

Hello

Our outdoor lights come on automatically at night via a Photo cell control. In addition, when they are not on (during the day) they can also be turned on with a on/off switch at the door. When the lights are activated via the photo cell, the switch at the door will not turn them off.

I want to eliminate the photo cell, thus controlling the lights using the switch at the door only.

The photo cell has a red, black & white wires running to it.

What do I need to do?

[tkrussell]

Please just reply to this thread by clicking on the Post Reply button below.

[jamestdavis]

Hello

Our outdoor lights are controlled via a photo cell. What complicates this is, during the evening (before the photo cell turns them on) if you want the lights on, they can be turned on with a manually activated switch at the door.

The problem is that at night when the lights are on having been activated via the photo cell, I am unable to turn them off.

I would like to eliminate the photo cell, thus controlling the lights with the switch at the door only.

I have tried splicing the red/black wires together & capping the white, however when doing so the lights are on continuously, unable to turn them off.

Any ideas?

Thanks, Jim

[Tev]

Separate the black and red wires. Then cap them off individually.

[KISS]

This is too confusing.

Some of the better systems work this way. The swich inside and the photocell must be on for the lamp to go on. The lamp can be turned off by the phocell or the power switch.

Some photo cell/motion lights are just plain weird. Off means off. Wait in off and then on means controlled by motion and photocell. Two quick on/off transitions means keep it steadily on. Talk about complicated.

Ifthe phocell is not positioned properly, the lamp blinks.

Here is one example:

Electrical Wiring in the Home: photo cell wiring, electric eye, photo cell

Tape over the photocell will do what you want.

In any event, if you want to remove it:

White should continue to the lamp.

The balck lead (connected to red and black of the photocell) should also continue to the lamp. e.g. connect the black from the switch to the black of the lamp. This assumes the switch gets power first and not the lamp.

[Stratmando]

Like mentioned above go to photocell, remove wires from red and black on photocell, then connect the wires that were connected to the red and black.
3 ways I know to wire photocells, no override, on override and off override.
On override turns on light even if it is light out.
Off override turns light off, even though it is dark. Would 1 of those be better than just On/Off?