The motion sensor became defective after 10 years or more. There are two switches to contol this light. I swapped wire for wire – red to red, black to black, green to ground, and white to white. Light works when on. Doesn't work when set to auto. Sensor indicator doesn't light, except when the distant switch is turned off, but then the ceiling light doesn't come on. Should have been a two minute job. I've been playing with this for an hour. lol
Wiring – I’m replacing a motion sensor light switch.There are two switches to contol this light. I swapped wire for wire
wiring
Related Solutions
Depending on the device you're installing, the installation can be a bit different. Consult the installation guide that came with the device, to determine the proper wiring.
I've randomly selected installation guides from a couple available devices, and I'll show the differences. Keep in mind that your device may vary, and you should consult the documentation with your device.
Lutron
The Lutron installation guide, shows this wiring diagram.
Which seems very straight forward.
- Connect the Black (common) wire to the Black (common) wire from the device.
- Connect the Red (traveler) wire to the Blue (traveler) wire from the device.
- Connect the White (traveler) wire to the Black (traveler) wire from the device.
Leviton
The Leviton Installation Guide, shows a bit more complicated diagram.
They even provide a troubleshooting section, to help you get the thing working correctly.
NOTE:
This is just a small sample of the available devices, consult the documentation that came with the specific device you are trying to install for proper installation instructions.
Both black and red are typically used to indicate hot. Though you can't be positive without actually testing it with a multimeter. Red is usually used when there are two hots (14/3 wire instead of 14/2).
Both green and bare copper are used to indicate ground.
So it sounds like you wired it correctly. The green wire from the line (source) should also be attached to the green grounding screw in the electrical box.
Related Topic
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- Wiring – Replace a motion-sensor/timer with simple single pole switch
- Wiring – How to wire a light with two sets of wires
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Best Answer
That sensor doesn't support 3-ways, so you were correct to replace it
The Topgreener TSOS5 doesn't support 3-way operation, only single-pole use (note the lack of a traveller wire/terminal on it), so you were correct to take it back and replace it with something suited for 3-way service. (Trying to adapt a motion-sensor to 3-way service using a relay would lead to somewhat...counterintuitive behavior, I suspect.)