Okay, so what the hell is this?!

Macdaddy4738

Macdaddy4738

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2005
I moved into my apartment about a month ago, and we have this light outside our door.

Our light is always on, while our neighbors, and everyone else's turns on at night. I took apart the light today to see if it had some sort of obvious sensor, and it definitely doesnt.

I went over to all the power boxes and stuff to see if they had maybe a sensor there, or a timer somewhere...and found this...

I have no idea wtf happening here...can anyone explain?


aimg.photobucket.com_albums_v220_Macdaddy4738_6d626d07.jpg

aimg.photobucket.com_albums_v220_Macdaddy4738_9f748609.jpg


Are those black things the photoreceptors for the patio lights? And wtf is going on with that A/C Adapter? Im no Electronic wiz, but that looks downright scary.
 
So, I'm going to assume you are in unit # 3, and there are 6 in your flat?

Yes, I'd also guess the little black knob deals are photo diodes, but it's really hard to tell from these pics. W/o your story I would have just guessed knobs.

Did you follow the thin wires going from the AC/DC coverter?
Couple of possibilities here. Really hard to knwo w/o knowing where teh wires to that thing go...
My first thought is that there is some other kind of device that's been added somewhere that runs off of of 12v (or 9v or whatever that transformer puts out). Maybe at the time, the landlord/cheapskate installer didn't have a power source available anywhere around, not feel like doing the (right) work to run a line. So they figured, hey/ what the hell, there's 120v behind these boxes, so they removed your photodiode and direct wired that circuit so it was bypassed, and tapped into the line to install a plug... then plugged that transformer in.

Hey, at least they put a cover over it!

Is that RTV all around the box???
 
Im in number 4 actually.

Number three are friends of mine though.

They have an Air Conditioning unit, so thats what I think the thing is for...but none of the other ones have it hardwired in like that...at least the onces with A/C units. Yeah thats all RTV. Looks super sketchy to me.
 
Id be willing to bet thats the power supply for a cable signal amp. Trace the wire down and see where it goes, Im betting into a large cable box.

I dont think those are photocells. Picture isnt good enough to tell, but you could test easily. Put some electric tape over one and wait 5 minutes and see if one of the lights come on.
 
the wire goes into a locked box on the right side, you can see the corner of it in the pictures.

The box is locked, presumably by the electrical company, or the apartment owners..so I gues they know about it.
 
The little black things are more than likely photoreceptors for the lights. They look like a lot of them that I've seen. Yours is probably dead, and it defaults to ON for safety's sake. The wall-wart transformer is probably for some low-voltage (12vDC) accent lights, maybe around a walkway.
 
those black things are indeed the photoreceptors.

I rigged up a flashlight to shine against my neighbors. Theirs works fine, off when the light is on, on when the light is off.

I suppose since the photoreceptor is part of the building like that, I need to get the apartment owners to replace it?

EDIT**

Now that I think about it, Im SURE that that thing is for the Air Conditioner...I remember the girls told me that the apartment owners came in and installed it for them. Im sure they had to install it to get into that box.

What a crappy install.
 
I'm no electrician, and I didnt even stay in a Holiday Inn last night, but there's no way an AC unit would run off that little AC/DC thingy.
 
RenegadeT said:
I'm no electrician, and I didnt even stay in a Holiday Inn last night, but there's no way an AC unit would run off that little AC/DC thingy.
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Yeah, no way you can pull enough current through that little converter to run an AC unit. If it runs into a box outside, it's probably for the cable or something. Like someone else said, it's probably an amplifier for the signal coming into the appartments, everyone sharing the cable? disconnect it and see who gets pissed :)
 
That box looks like a cable box and it looks like it has coax running out of it.

Im sticking to my cable amp guess.
That plug in is an AC/Dc transformer. Aint running A/C on DC. But you would power a cable amp with DC....


Unplug it and cable reception will get shitty.

At some point when cable internet first came out all of a sudden the increased bandwidth made everyone's picture shitty. Someone is a cheap ass and just tapped the existing electrical wiring to add an outlet and plugged in the cable amp.

The photocell should have a sensitivity adjustment, but id get the apartment to replace.

I can tell you a ton about the property owner by those 2 pics ;)
 
I'm an electrician the little round black things are photocells, cheap ones, they are not adjustable. They either work or not, if not have it replaced by the apartment owner. The plug in power converter could be for low voltage lighting, cable amp, telephone board, who knows but Jerry "Jerry rigged". Fallow the wire and see where it goes.
 
SkyHiK5 said:
Never would have thought to ask one of those
:shaking:
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Hm.
I didn't know we had anybody with that kind of expertise on thsi board. :flipoff2:
 
RatLabGuy said:
Hm.
I didn't know we had anybody with that kind of expertise on thsi board. :flipoff2:
Click to expand...

Shut Up Yankee.....
:flipoff2:

BTW I owe you, I have a chip of drill bit stuck in my WileyX clear lense....i probably would have been bare faced if not for those

:beer:
 
SkyHiK5 said:
Shut Up Yankee.....
:flipoff2:
BTW I owe you, I have a chip of drill bit stuck in my WileyX clear lense....i probably would have been bare faced if not for those
:beer:
Click to expand...

You'll put yer eye out kid !
 
Blkvoodoo said:
You'll put yer eye out kid !
Click to expand...

I wont tell you what I was drilling...its stupid...and could have been bad...Dave saved the day...
 
I didn't finish reading the whole thread so I dont know if anybody has suggested this but :flipoff2: in advance.

As to the reason your light stays on all the time, I think it has to do with fire code, same crap with us when I lived in Mountianeer village.
 
so i went to file a maintenance request today.

The woman there tried to tell me the lights are on a timer set twice a year :shaking:
 
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