Security lights going off and on without being triggered can be a frustrating experience. This is because these lights are supposed to provide a sense of security, and if they are not working properly, you are left prone and unprotected.
Unfortunately, your security lights going off and on repeatedly may also be a sign that something is functionally wrong with them and can no longer work as expected. When you start experiencing your security lights going off and on, it is a call for concern, and you need to take action to ensure that the problem does not end up compromising security at your home.
So, why is the security light going off and on? Your security light is going off and on because your settings are too sensitive to small movements, thereby getting triggered easily. Another reason may be due to your LED being faulty, thereby triggering the off and on signals.
George Brazil, a Plumbing and Electrical Company in Phoenix Arizona, also posits that security lights can go on and off due to the poor design of the entire security system.
George Brazil also adds that, in some cases, your settings may be incorrect. For instance, oversensitive motion security lights can be triggered on and off by small objects.
How do you reset an outside sensor light?
For many people, one of the most key features of their security system is its motion detector lights. These lights are designed to detect movement when someone or something moves around the area they are installed and turn on, upon detection, or off after the object has moved out of the area. The motion sensor lights, in some cases, are also integrated with an alarm system that can alert homeowners/property owners when someone or something moves in an area where the sensor lights are installed.
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Unfortunately, these sensor lights are not always adjusted the right way, whereby sometimes they aren’t sensitive enough to detect when something moves in the area, whereas other times they are too sensitive and go off easily. This is especially true, in cases where you don’t want your sensor light to be triggered every time your cat moves through the area they are installed.
For many people who have a motion sensor light installed on their property, what they want is for it to serve its purpose and detect intruders such as uninvited guests or even a bear going through their trash cans, and if a sensor light is failing to do that, then it is not serving its purpose. Luckily, this is mostly caused by oversensitivity and motion sensors becoming under sensitive, a problem that can be solved by resetting your sensor lights.
The process of resetting your sensor lights, fortunately, is not hard and involves turning it on and off again for a period of 30 seconds or longer. This can be done in two ways:
- Using the breaker method: This involves turning off your circuit breaker from the breaker panel that controls your sensor lights and leaving it off for 30 seconds to one minute and then flipping it on again.
- Light switch method: This method involves turning the light switch which is connected to your sensor light to the on position, and then flipping it off for two to three seconds. Next, the switch is turned on and sensor lights checked to see if the method worked. If it doesn’t work, you are required to turn the light switch on and off quickly at least four times. Then switch it off again and leave it like that. At this point, the sensor lights will have been reset and your security systems should be up and running.
Why does ring motion light go on and off
Your ring sensor lights are supposed to be accurate, including turning on and off when someone or something moves in an area they are installed or out of that area respectively. I recommend the Ring Floodlight that takes HD Video and that is activated by motion. Click to view on Amazon.
However, this is not always the case, and ring motion lights can sometimes turn on and off, without being triggered by motion, and other times because of changes in temperature and humidity. When this happens, it deems the purpose of why the ring motion lights are installed and makes the device unreliable. Luckily, the problem is mostly not with the entire device and is usually a problem with either the motion detectors or the lights.
- A problem with the lights
Your ring motion lights may be going on and off due to a fault in your LED lights. When this happens, your ring motion lights are usually not going on and off, they are mostly flickering. Some of the reasons why your ring motion light may be flickering are:
- Your bulb or diode is faulty: This is especially true when your lights have been installed for a long time. This is because even the high-quality light tends to go out eventually. New bulbs and diodes can also display the problem due to malfunction.
- A bad electrical circuit: A bad circuit connection can result in your ring motion light flickering, even in situations where our motion sensors are working fine.
- Poor connection between bulb or diode and the light fixture: When the connection between bulb or diode and the light fixture is faulty, not connected right, is obscured, or is faulty, your ring motion camera starts to flicker, and seem to be turning on and off.
- A problem with motion sensor
Motion sensors are triggered when someone or something enters the field of view of a ring motion camera. However, working correctly or the time is not always the case, and your motion sensors can start going on and off without any detection of entry in their field of view. This can happen for a number of reasons, according to George Brazil, a plumber and owner of Plumbing and Electrical Company in Phoenix Arizona, who says sensors may be positioned improperly and settings are not set appropriately. When this happens try doing any of the following to prevent the sensors from going on and off:
- Switch sensors from the default operational setting to its “test” setting: The test mode setting will allow you to check how the motion sensor is working and allow you to reset them.
- Repositioning sensors to face the direction it is supposed to: If sensors are poorly positioned, the motion detected may not be the required field of view, resulting in them acting like they are switching on and off.
- Adjust sensor range: When motion sensor ranges are set to maximum, they sometimes malfunction and seem to switch on and off.
Why is my home security light flashing
Your home security lights are supposed to give you a sense of protection. However, when they start flashing on and off and not working as expected, they start becoming an inconvenience and can result in security risks, especially when they turn on when needed.
It is important to note that, when your security light starts flashing or blinking, it does not always smell disaster, and sometimes it may be as a result of power loss, and it is the warning light that is blinking. A power outage may also result in your lights flashing, and in this case, your breaker box should be checked.
In some cases, you may also start to notice that your home security lights are flashing uncontrollably, and in such cases, it means that they have become faulty, and they are not serving the purpose they were bought. The flashing can be caused by several reasons including:
- Sensitivity issue in your sensors: Your security lights may start flashing due to the sensitivity of their motion sensors. If the sensitivity is too high, your security lights will be easily set off resulting in flashing for any simple movement detected.
- Faulty wires, bulbs do not work: In such cases, the turning on and off sensors, and the flashing may be due to the faulty flow of electricity due to a faulty connection.
- Bulb not connected correctly: In some cases, the bulb may be loosely connected, and this may result in the flashing of your security lights.
Why is my security light staying on?
Your security light motion detectors should stay on whenever a person or any other object enters their field of view.
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However, this is not always the case, and in some cases, your security lights can stay on, even when there is no motion being detected, or become less responsive over time. This can be caused by a number of reasons including the age of the security lights, storm damage, a power surge, improper settings, and poor installation. Luckily, by understanding the root cause of why your lights stay on, you can be able to troubleshoot the problem. Below are some of the reasons why your security light stays on:
- High sensitivity setting: Setting your sensitivity to the maximum may cause your security lights to stay on. This is because the settings are able to detect small motions such as leaves blowing through the field of view or dust that has settled on the security, which is interpreted as motions and cause the lights to stay on.
- Auto-On setting: Your security lights may be staying on all the time due to an auto-onsetting that allows your motion sensors not to turn off. If you have triggered this setting, then chances are you will not be able to turn off your security lights without first resetting the camera.
- Security light malfunction: Your security lights may have a malfunction that results in your lights staying on all the time. If that is the case, you should consider troubleshooting to determine where the malfunction is located and correct it. Professional services may also be required to correct the problem.
- Long duration setting: You can change the settings of your security lights from the recommended 20 to 30 seconds after it is triggered to a much longer duration, such as an hour or two. If that is the case, then your security light will stay on for hours if it is triggered within the time set before going off. The solution is to turn off the settings or reset the security lights to a more realistic duration.
What sets off motion sensor lights
Motion sensor lights are meant to go on when you enter a room, step onto a front porch where they are installed, or field of view where they are located. However, that is only a small part of what sets off motion sensors, and there are many variables involved that enable motion sensors to detect an object in their field of view and set off.
Here is a table showing what forum users are stating had set off their motion sensor lights:
| What had set off your motion sensor | Percentage of total results |
|---|---|
| An IR triggered motion sensor was turning on due to the security camera being installed near it | 23% |
| A cat walking in a hallway that has a motion sensor light will trigger it, best to lower its sensitivity | 31% |
| Dogs have been known to set off motion detectors, especially in Mach-e cars. The only fix was to wait for software upgrade | 23% |
| The owners of a Mach-e cannot wait in the car for someone else because the motor detector will go off. Software upgrade was needed | 1% |
| If a home motion sensor is set to be too sensitive, it can pick up shade movements of trees, and burst of sunlight as motion. | 7% |
| If two sensors are close together, they can interfere. Make sure to have them far enough apart. For instance, a motion sensor and a door sensor | 15% |
For starters, motion sensors react to movement, which sets them off, resulting in either turning on, when a person or an object enters their field of view, and off when there is no longer a movement. These motion detectors come in different types such as:
- Passive infrared (PR): These types of sensors use a pair of pyroelectric sensors that detect changes in heat in the surrounding environment. The pair of sensors are side by side and are set off when there is a signal differential in the middle of the two of them. For instance, if a person enters a room, the signal differential is registered, which triggers the sensors to engage.
- Active infrared (also called area reflective): These types of sensors both detect and emit infrared radiation. They have two portions: a light-emitting diode (LED) and a receiver. When an object enters its field of view, the infrared from the LED reflects off the object and is detected by the receiver, which sets the sensors off.
- Photoelectric motion detectors: These types of detectors rely on light emitters and light receivers to set them off. When the emitted light is interrupted or reflected by the sensing object, it changes the amount of light being received which sets off the receiver, which interprets it to an electrical output.
- Microwave motion detectors: These types of detectors use electromagnetic radiation to set them off. The motion detector also relies on emitters and receivers, whereby waves emitted are reflected to the receiver. The receiver then analyzes the waves that are bounced back. If there is an object in the field view of the monitor, the waves are altered, and the microwave detector can identify the changes and set off the motion sensors.
- Dual technology motion detectors: This type of sensor uses both microwave technology and passive infrared technology to detect the presence of motion, and hence setting the sensors off.
How to trick a motion sensor light to stay on
Sometimes you may need to keep the lights on all night, regardless of whether there is motion or not. Unfortunately, most motion sensors have no way of overriding the default motion sensors, and therefore, you need to trick them into staying on.
If you are faced with a situation where you need to keep your lights on, regardless of whether there is motion or not, here are some of the things you can do to make the lights stay on.
- Quickly switching the motion sensors on and off to trick them: quickly turning the motion sensors on, off, on can override the motion detection and make the light stay on.
- Hardware bypass: You can also add an additional manual switch to override the motion sensors and keep the lights on.
- Buying a motion sensor with a manual override: This is one of the easiest solutions. If you plan to have some of your motion sensor lights on during the night, it is advisable to buy security lights that can be overridden and make the lights stay on.