Monday, September 23, 2013

Back Yard Light: Fail

     It's a "barn light," a 65 Watt CFL fixture that replaced a dreadful old mercury-vapor light a few years ago, and now it has failed.  It's not the bulb; I changed that tonight and used my trusty non-contact voltage sniffer to confirm there's juice.

     So, tomorrow, back up the ladder, some back and forth with Tam to confirm the breaker, and I'll be trying to install another light.

     ...If it's not raining....

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

likely the photocell. They are (generally) easy to replace and fairly cheap.

Roberta X said...

It's all of a piece. The photocell is not a separate unit like the old mercury vapor, etc. lights

I may be able to repair the old fixture, and then I'll have a spare -- but at $38 each including bulb, is that really a good use of my time?

Anonymous said...

The robin dropping on the photocell flummoxed my barn light.

I hose it off after the little pooping bastards fly on with their little shitty lives.

The barn swallows never cause problem.

Gerry

Drang said...

I have several old security-type floodlights I want to replace with LED-types, they look better, for one thing, and are less likely to need replacement than CFLs. I'll have to figure put if there's a photo-eye in the circuit... And I, too, would prefer to wait for better weather, which, having put it off this long, likely means waiting until next year here in Pugetopolis.

jdunmyer said...

I installed our MV yard light in 1966 and it's been working fine ever since. Been thinking about a replacement, but with what? Unless the new one saves some significant electricity, why bother?