electricallightingmotion-sensor
I installed a halogen floodlight today so I adjusted the sensor tonight for it to work and it did. I thought by turning on the switch the light would stay on and when it is turned off the sensor would pick up movement and come on.
Do I need to leave the light switch turned on all the time?
I think your strategy of making a cone out of aluminum foil was on the right track, but your choice of material was not. Think about what happens when you put various materials in the microwave. Paper, glass, ceramic: no effect, these will be ineffective. Aluminum foil: unintended consequences, do not use. Then consider what the microwave itself is made out of. You are essentially making the window (which is a person window, the negative image of a sensor window) This suggests the use of a grounded metal mesh or foam. Locally in NYC, the SpyStore sells copper-nickel mesh fabric for unstated purpose. You should also be able to find self-adhesive EMI/RF shielding foam at various industrial suppliers such as McMaster-Carr. You will want to wire either material to ground. I would start by trying to disable the sensor completely by this method (of covering it with grounded metal mesh or foam.) Then open a small aperture in the opposite direction of the corridor. Increase the size of the aperture until the functionality is as you desire. Use white self-adhesive paper label stock cut slightly larger than your masking material to return the sensor to an all white appearance if that is important.
This type of switch requires a small amount of power to operate, and since there is not always a return path available for constant power. This switch uses the grounding conductor as a current carrying conductor, and dumps a small amount of power to the grounding conductor. It's not the best design; in my opinion, but if the standards and safety organizations approve it it must be safe.
Because of this awful design, a solid connection to earth is required for this switch to function. Which in your case, seems to be missing. It sounds like there is a grounding conductor included in the cable assembly at the switch box, so I'd start by tracing the cable back to where it originates. Follow the cable back to the nearest junction, whether that be another device or the service panel. Open up the junction point, and inspect the wiring. If everything looks good at that point, continue back down the line until you reach the service panel. You can use a tool like this Multi-Purpose Wire Tracer, to help trace the line through walls and ceilings.
If you reach the service panel, and all the connections along the way looked good. It means you likely have a break or some other damage to the grounding conductor inside the cable assembly. If this is the case, you'll have to locate the damaged section and replace it.
Best Answer
Unless the sensor/light is connected directly to power, the switch will always have to be in the ON position for the light to come on.
The switch is installed to interrupt the ungrounded (hot) conductor, so that when it's in the OFF position no power goes to the light. If you want power to the light, you'll have to leave the switch on.
In other news, some motion sensors use switch toggling to change modes or settings. So turning the switch off/on could cause the sensor to change modes.
Read the documentation that came with the fixture, to determine how to properly operate the sensor.