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How to install and troubleshoot photo eye
Do NOT solder end of stranded wire to make solid ... amperage will melt solder. Connect stranded wire to short jumper of solid copper wire and cover with twist on connector
Use only 600 volt wire.
Lamp cord, extension cords are not rated 600 volt.
Use copper wire only. Aluminum wire is fire risk and should be avoided or installed by professional.

30 amp breaker use 10 gauge /
120-240 volt 30 amp outlet can be installed on 30 amp breaker only/ use 10 gauge wire ... cannot be connected to 15-20-40 amp breaker.

Orange/ #10 gauge wire, with ground ... 30 amp capacity. Safe maximum: 30 x 80% = 24 amps.
Buy:
10-2 gauge/ 30 amp
10-3/ 30 amp
Southwire electric tools
Yellow 12 gauge 20 amp
120 volt 20 amp outlet can be installed on 20 amp breaker, but not 15 amp breaker/ use 12 ga wire.
... cannot be connected to 30-40 amp breaker. 1

Yellow/ #12 gauge wire, with ground ... 20 amp capacity. Safe maximum 16 amps.
Buy:
12-2 gauge/ 20 amp
12-3/ 20 amp

NMB is house wiring
UF is underground
Rolls of stranded wire
HOOK UP Wires
White 14 gauge 15 amp
120 volt 15 amp outlet, AFCI, GFCI, timer, switch etc can be installed on 15 or 20 amp breaker. Never connect 15 gauge wire to 20-30-40 amp breaker.

White/ #14 gauge wire,  with ground ... 15 amp capacity. Safe maximum 12 amps.
Buy:
14-2 gauge/ 15 amp
14-3/ 15 amp

NMB is house wiring
UF is underground
50-60 amp breaker use 6 gauge /
240 volt 50 outlet can be installed on 50 amp breaker only
6-2 wire
Buy:
6-2 wire
Southwire electric tools
NMB is house wiring
UF is underground
40-50 amp breaker use 8 gauge /
240 volt 40 amp outlet can be installed on 40 or 50 amp breaker only
6-2 wire
Buy:
8-2 wire
Southwire electric tools
NMB is house wiring
UF is underground
     
Copper ground wire.
Every device, load, metal enclosure etc must be grounded. Ground wire must be continuous throughout installation, never switched on-off, never used as a Neutral wire.
Generally ... use same size as other wire in circuit
Buy:
12 gauge copper ground wire
Ground wire
Green ground wire
Ground pigtails
Ground rods/ ground clamps at Amazon
armored cable
Non metallic flexible cables must carry ground wire, but do not have hazard of short circuit causing injury from shock.

Armored steel cable can be used as a grounded connection, and will protect wires from damage. Metal can be energized from an insulation failure.

All conduit ...metal, plastic ... flexible and rigid ... must be attached to structure, and attached to enclosures, boxes.
Movement, damage and deterioration are major cause of electrical failure.
Buy:
Non-metallic flexible conduit
Power whip
Armored cable
Southwire armored cable cutter
Pull boxes
Southwire armored cable cutter
Electrical tools must be insulated.
Always best to disconnect power, but insulation failure, lack of proper grounding, grounded neutral, lack of GFCI, out-of-code wiring, generator operating without transfer switch, and other problems still pose a risk to anyone working on electric power ... even when breaker is off.

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Electrician tools kits
KLEIN TOOLS
Tools kits
IRWIN tools
KNIPEX

Telephone cable knife
Low Voltage Mounting Bracket for Telephone
Push on wire connectors

Push-on wire connectors in place of twist-on connectors

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Push on wire connectors Amazon
Red 3P connector for 10-14 gauge wire
Lever connectors for stranded wire at Amazon
HOOK UP Wires

Protect wiring from damage
Use nipper instead of pliers or screwdriver for removing staples (and nails). Do not damage cable or wires inside cable.

-Code says: Cable SHALL BE secured without damage to the outer covering. NEC sec. 336-15
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End cutting nippers at Amazon


Electrically insulated tools
When removing insulation from wire, do NOT score or put cuts on surface of copper wire. Doing so increases resistance and heat on wire and creates possible weak point.
Buy tools:
KLEIN TOOLS
Wire strippers at Amazon
Electric Wire Stripping Machine
Linesman pliers
Utility knife at Amazon
multimeter
Multimeters
Voltage is tested across two separate wires. Ohms or resistance is tested across both ends of same wire. Amperage is tested along one or two points on same wire.
Buy:
Analog multimeter
Multimeters at Amazon
Klein multimeter
Electric testers at Amazon
Clampmeter for testing amp flow on line

GFCI circuit breaker
A GFCI circuit breaker will protect all boxes on circuit.

Circuit must be grounded. Ground wire must be continuous and connected to each piece of equipment.

White wire on circuit breaker must be connected to Neutral busbar inside the breaker panel.

Buy
GFCI circuit breakers
Push down
single-pole breaker
1" wide Push down breaker
Plug-in breaker
Buy single-pole:
Choose from 15 to 60 amp
Eaton CL series
Siemens 15-60 amp

Single-pole tandem breaker
Tandem breakers
Push down
double-pole breaker
2" wide Push down breaker
Plug-in breakers
Buy double-pole:
Choose from 15 to 125 amp
Choose from 15 amp to 200 amp
Eaton CL series circuit breaker
Siemens circuit breaker
Double pole GFCI
General troubleshoot-
1) Check that photo eye rating matches voltage and wattage of Load. Each device has a volt and amp rating located on the device. Some are rated 120-277, other rated 240 volt etc.
2) Blink on during day ... incorrect wiring
3) blink during night .... too much local light, turn photo eye away from light. Sodium bulb near end of life. Test by covering eye with black tape.
4) never turns off: low line voltage, wrong voltage rating, excessive load (you cannot use a photoeye to control 1 Hp motor for example)
5) never turns on: lamp burned out, voltage too high, wrong voltage, too much ambient light, device defective or burned out.
6) operates normally for a while and then remains on ,,, excess load (motor, too many bulbs) and contacts are fused. Replace photo eye.
7) fails to turn off, and appears burned ...  lightning strike or surge might have burned out photoeye

Check that power line is not running under or over voltage
Check that wiring is correct using diagrams below.

With large loads such as several lights or motor etc, use photoeye to turn a contactor ON-OFF and let the contactor points handle heavy amp load.

For high inrush LED type fixtures, the photo control switch should be rated for more amps than simply adding up the amp load on fixture. For example, ten 800 Lumens (60 watt equilavent) LED bulbs might pull 7 watts each or 70 watts total while turned ON. 70 watts divided by 120 volt = .6 amp. During start up, all 'inductive' loads such as motors, contactors, and LEDs pull more amps for a brief moment. Amp draw creates heat that can melt or damage parts. 10 LED bulbs would never generate enough heat to damage typical household photo eye. However with larger installations, that were originally designed for resistance loads instead of inductive LEDs, the issue might require more frequent replacement, or a contactor to handle the amps.

Troubleshoot photo eye manual/ pdf
Troubleshoot household electricity
Wiids 59409

Woods 59408 120 Volt photocell without wallplate

Buy:
59409 at Amazon
Fixed photo control

Manuals:
Woods 59409 manual
Sell sheet
Photoeye how-to
How to wire and troubleshoot photo-eye
Reverse photo eye so it turns ON in day
Woods 59409 photo eye

Woods 59409 120 volt photocell with wallplate

Buy:
59409 at Amazon
Fixed photo control
Photo controls at Amazon

Manuals:
Woods 59409 manual
Sell sheet
swivel photo eye

120 volt swivel photo eye

Buy:
Photo controls at Amazon

Photoeye how-to
How to wire and troubleshoot photo-eye
Reverse photo eye so it turns ON in day
Twist lock photo eye

Twist lock photo eye

Buy:
Twist lock photo control
Photo controls at Amazon
Shorting cap

Shorting cap by-passes the photeye control, and lets you control outdoor light with switch or timer or separate photoeye
How to wire photo eyes
How to wire photo eye

how to wire K4236 photo eye
Lagrer image
120 Volt photocell wiring
Photo eye control requires Neutral wire to power the internal switch.
When exposed to light, the photo eye turns off internal switch, and cuts power between black hot wire and red wire to light.
When darkness is sensed by photo eye, the switch is turned on and power flows to light through red wire.
Neutral wire completes the circuit.
Buy:
Photo eyes at Amazon
Tork photo control

Resources:
Read about 120Volt circuit

Intermatic photo controls sell sheet with model numbers
Photo control sell sheet

Do not face photo eye toward direct sun, to avoid damage.
Face photo eye away from outdoor lights, to avoid blinking
Dual lights Add photocell to outdoor lights
Leave switch turned ON

Buy
Buy Tork 3002 208-240V at Amazon
120Volt photo control
Add photocell to outdoor lights
Larger image
208-240 Volt photocell wiring
120Volt photo eye can control 240Volt load as long as Neutral wire is present.
Photo eye control requires Neutral wire to power the internal switch. (Or for non-code-compliant solution, connect white wire on photocell to bare ground wire)

240Volt circuit can be turned off by turning off power to either Hot1 or Hot2. This is called turning off 'one leg' in 240V circuit.

12-3 wire or 10-3 wire is needed to provide 2 hot legs and 1 neutral
Buy:
Photo eyes at Amazon
Resources:
Read about 240Volt circuit

Larger image of photocell wiring
More illustrations
Photoeye wiring
120Volt
277Volt
240Volt photoeye
208-277V
480Volt

Intermatic resources:
Photo controls at Intermatic
K4200 sell sheet 120-277V, 480V, 208-277Volt
K4100 sell sheet all voltages

Search for 208-240 Volt photo control:
K4423M 208-277 Volt photo control at Intermatic
K4423 at Amazon
Buy Tork 3002 mechanism at Amazon
Wire photo eye to pump
High amp loads/ Motor, multiple bulbs
How to control motor or pump with photo eye
Ordinary Contactor turns pump turns ON at Night.
Use Dayton 5X847 relay to reverse, and turn plump ON in Day
Use illustrated wiring to control pumps or any large amp load that exceeds timer rating.
Resources:
Example definite purpose contactors

Optional: Add 15 amp busman line fuse to black wire going to photo eye to protect device if amp load of motor exceeds photo eye maximum load rating. See illustration

Buy:
Contactor
ANL fuseholder
Buy fuseholders at Amazon
Resources:
Read more about fuseholders
Read about contactors and relays

Omron LY23 AC Model terminals/ back to front:
7-8 magnet terminals (turned opposite direction from other pins)
5-6 common terminals
3-4 NO normally open terminals (power is off when relay off)
1-2 NC normally closed terminals (power is On when relay is off)
Load rating 7.5 amps AC
900 watts incandescent @ 120V
1800 watts incandescent @ 240V
1/4 Hp motor @ 120V; 1/2 Hp @ 240V
Reverse photo-eye so Load turns ON in daylight
To reverse operation of photo-eye
So Load comes on during daylight hours
photo eye connected to DPDT relay

30 Amp relay x 80% = 24 amp max up to 2880 watt @ 120V or 5600 watt @ 240V
30 amp 10 gauge wire up to 2 Hp @ 50' or 1.5 Hp @ 100' @ 120V See load charts
Use Omron 120volt LY2-AC 8-pin relay for 7.5 amp.
    NO NC Relay
    7.5Amp Omron         30Amp DPDT
Buy
Omron LY2 at Amazon / Choose 120Volt coil
30 Amp DPDT relay at Amazon
Omron LY2
LY3 relay
LY2 8-pin relays
LY3 11-pin relays
LY4 14 pin relays

Resources:
Omron relay/Page 450 / pdf
How to wire photoeye so it turns off 4 hours later
1-2-3-4-5-6-8 hours later
Down to the minute, second, or hours
Add delay timer to photoeye circuit

Light turns on normally at dusk, then turns off after preset time expires.
Set the delay timer to the exact minute, second or hour.
Delay timer activates when photeye turns ON, and light turns on normally.
When delay period expires, the light turns off, and timer resets to zero,. Timer and light remain OFF until photoeye activates the circuit again next night.

Illustration shows twin timer. Also pictured below.
Buy:
Twin timers at Amazon
Sestos twin timer
Omron DH48S twin timer
Resource:
Twin timer manual
Omron twin timer manual
Resource:
How to wire twin and one-shot timers

Wire sizes
Resources:
Select correct wire size
How to select and install wire connector
277 480 3-phase WYE 3-phase link
Resources:
How to install 3-phase surge protector
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Type 1 and type 2 surge protection surge protection
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Hayward pool
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Tools

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Klein hand tools
Fluke electrical testing
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Campbell Hausfeld air powered
Tekton automotive

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box timers Resource:
Compare box timers
DPDT timers
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Control water heater w/ Z-wave
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Intermatic control centers: and parts
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programmable timer Resource:
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