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I Have installed a motion sensor light at the front of my house. It was working ok but kept going lighting up all the time becuase of next doors bush, so decided to put an in line switch on the live side of the feed to the light so I could turn it off going to bed. However it now does not work at all even if I take the switch back out of the circuit reconnect it to the way it was before I started. Hence my question by doing what I did, putting switch on the live wire of supply, could this have caused damage to the sensor causing It to malfunction and if so why. many thanks for any input

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  • The only problem that could of caused this is incorrect wiring of the switch. If you are sure that was not the case the first time you tried it then it is probably a defective piece. I would take it back and get a new one. Then make sure you install it correctly. Make sure to test the wiring and match up the ground / neutral / hot lines with the tester. Some of the times like in my house the hot and neutral lines were switched. Some appliances are sensitive to the switch and can break. May 21, 2014 at 21:50
  • The motion light I have on my front porch will not turn on until any and all motion is stopped and then will turn on the next motion. The motion light for my court yard will turn on when I turn it on and then turn off after it's time period and then if it detects motion. Lights are all different. But there should be a test switch on your light, try switching the light to that and see if the light comes on. Also don't rule out a bulb that decided to burn out during this process.
    – diceless
    May 22, 2014 at 4:33

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No, in fact most motion detectors require a switch to be able to take advantage of the override function they have. Typically, flipping the switch off and back on a number of times puts a motion detector light into override mode.

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