# occupancy sensor problems



## HAL9000 (Feb 28, 2016)

I am having problems with a low voltage occupancy sensor( 24 v), basically what happens is 
-when a person is in the room or enters the room everything works fine, relays pull in, lights come on and daylight sensor adjusts the light accordingly
- when no one is in the room after 15 min the occ sensor times out turning off the lights like it is suppose to but after about 5 - 8 seconds the lights come back on, then after about another 5 - 8 seconds they turn off and they will repeatly do this until someone enters the room

I am at a loss does anyone know why it is doing this?


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## Cow (Jan 16, 2008)

HAL9000 said:


> I am having problems with a low voltage occupancy sensor( 24 v), basically what happens is
> -when a person is in the room or enters the room everything works fine, relays pull in, lights come on and daylight sensor adjusts the light accordingly
> - when no one is in the room after 15 min the occ sensor times out turning off the lights like it is suppose to but after about 5 - 8 seconds the lights come back on, then after about another 5 - 8 seconds they turn off and they will repeatly do this until someone enters the room
> 
> I am at a loss does anyone know why it is doing this?


I don't know, but my first call would be to the manufacturer.


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## wcord (Jan 23, 2011)

You have the low voltage wires, going to the relay, mixed up and getting a feed back loop?


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## HAL9000 (Feb 28, 2016)

no I checked that, unless the terminal blocks in the Room Controller are wrong


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## HAL9000 (Feb 28, 2016)

I have two seperate Room controllers and it is happening on both


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## telsa (May 22, 2015)

Your circuit has entered what is known as a "multi-vibrator" mode.

Google the term.

It's also known as a "flip-flop."

Once you comprehend the mathematical// logical// Boolean logic behind a multi-vibrator -- you can then spy around to figure out which real world elements are establishing this logical feed-back loop.

From 2,000 miles away and through the ether, it's a pretty tough vision to quest.

Someone entering the room resets the parameters// flushes the buffers.


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## PlugsAndLights (Jan 19, 2016)

Do you have a unit working properly elsewhere that you can swap in?
Eliminate one thing at a time. 
Of course, you've already tried adjusting the sensitivity..............
P&L


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## HAL9000 (Feb 28, 2016)

yeah tried all the basic stuff already


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## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

HAL9000 said:


> I am having problems with a low voltage occupancy sensor( 24 v), basically what happens is
> -when a person is in the room or enters the room everything works fine, relays pull in, lights come on and daylight sensor adjusts the light accordingly
> - when no one is in the room after 15 min the occ sensor times out turning off the lights like it is suppose to but after about 5 - 8 seconds the lights come back on, then after about another 5 - 8 seconds they turn off and they will repeatly do this until someone enters the room
> 
> I am at a loss does anyone know why it is doing this?


Is it possible that you have a compatibility problem between the sensor and the relay?


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## MikeFL (Apr 16, 2016)

HAL9000 said:


> I am having problems with a low voltage occupancy sensor( 24 v), basically what happens is
> -when a person is in the room or enters the room everything works fine, relays pull in, lights come on and daylight sensor adjusts the light accordingly
> - *when no one is in the room after 15 min* the occ sensor times out turning off the lights like it is suppose to but *after about 5 - 8 seconds the lights come back on, then after about another 5 - 8 seconds* they turn off and they will repeatly do this until someone enters the room
> 
> I am at a loss does anyone know why it is doing this?


I would rule out environmental effects on the infrared sensor which is looking for changes in thermal background because the times are not the same. If it was sensing a change in temperature it would stay on for 15 minutes, not 5-8 seconds. 

I like the suggestion of calling the manufacturer. If you have this problem, so have many others. They'll know the solution.


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## GrayHair (Jan 14, 2013)

This is out of leftfield, but is it possible the sensor is "rebooting" causing it to constantly relearn the background temperature is sees. Analog meter on the power input would be good. If there is an auxillary power output on the sensor, check it too.


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## wildleg (Apr 12, 2009)

sensor manuf/model ?
basic wiring schematic ?
voltages ?

(if you want help you need to provide some info)

(if the units aren't accidently miswired, is there an infrared light source
causing the problem ? are these passive or is there some kind of reflective flooring ?)


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## Wirenuting (Sep 12, 2010)

Is it a multi-sensor room?
Does each sensor have an ambient light sensor?
If so, one may be set high with the other set low..


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

Wirenuting said:


> Is it a multi-sensor room?
> Does each sensor have an ambient light sensor?
> If so, one may be set high with the other set low..


I think you hit it, if not I'd be surprised.


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## HAL9000 (Feb 28, 2016)

It is a multi sensor room, the occ sensors and the ambient light sensor go back to a room controller unit, 
The material is Leviton
IRC unit
with 
2 - 24v occ sensors
1 - 0-10v ambient light sensor
Wall switch that turns on and off all the lights and dims the lights connected to the ambient light sensor
I dont think it is the wiring to the devices as I have wire these devices many times individually to great success, this is the first time I have used the IRC and I already had a problem with the controlled receptacles, the manual gave the wrong wiring diagram for that connection


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