LED flood light with photocell - long delay

[garrett1812]

I recently bought a LED flood light with a photocell. I am not using this as a security light; I simply want it to turn on with a switch and turn off with a switch. I thought the photocell would not be a big deal, as naturally I only will use the light when its dark.

However, there is about a 15 second delay from flipping the switch to getting light. The manual says this is the warm up period of the photocell. Is this true? As in, if I find a way to bypass the photocell, will it be closer to instant-on? Or is it really just related to the power supply for the lights?

If this will help, any ideas on how to bypass the photocell? Pics of the internals attached.

Light: http://www.menards.com/main/outdoor...4438431880-c-7544.htm?tid=4155734157902837215


Thanks!

 

[ForceFed70]

There is much more to this than bypassing the photo cell. It's not the photo cell that's making the delay, the delay is purposely built into the electronics processing the photocell sensor data. This is so the light doesn't flicker on/off when near the threshold of switching, and doesn't go on/off whenever a shadow momentarily covers the light.

Honestly - buy a different light or leave it on all of the time. Trying to make this light do what you want it to do would be more trouble than it's worth.

 

[lametec]

See that thing attached to the heat sink? That's a transistor (or transistor based) component. Power goes in on one pin, out on another and it's all controlled (on/off) by a third.

It appears the center pin is the control pin, but make sure by measuring with a volt meter. If it has voltage (referencing circuit negative) when the light is on, but no voltage when the light is off, it's the control.

Solder a jumper wire between the other two pins, and your light should stay on all the time.