outside lighting system controlled by a contactor and time switch.

[spex]

hi guys, need abit of advice for a job i am looking at, there are 7 outside lights controlled by a contactor and a time switch on a sub board. the contactor kicks in for about 15 seconds then kicks back off again, i have changed the contactor as advised by a friend who said he had the same problem on one of his jobs but it runs a little deeper than this. i am a domestic installer and have not come across this type of job before and while i know what a contactor is and what it is supposed to do im unsure of what this problem could be! any info would be a big help......cheers guys.

 

[Spudnik]

Hi spex and welcome to www.electriciansforums.net!

 

[MarkieSparkie]

Hi, welcome to the forum.

 

[RogertheBodger]

Are you saying that you have changed the contactor and the problem is still there?
The fault could be with the time switch, if it has a selector switch on it , try switching it to 'manual' if this doesn't cure it, try bypassing the time switch.

 

[spex]

hi roger, yeah i have changed the contactor and the problem is still there, it still kicks off when i override the time switch, how would i go about by passing the time switch? i thought maybe one of the lights had packed in and this could be a factor?

 

[RogertheBodger]

After you have isolated the circuit, you would disconnect the live and switch live (to the contactor) from the time switch and connect them together temporarily, re- energise and see if the contactor stays in. If you had a fault or an overload on your circuit it would normally trip the cpd. you could also check for loose connections on the coil circuit.

 

[timbobelfast]

You could just link it out with some strip connectors.

 

[brucelee]

Hi and welcome to the forum

 

[CRAGS]

Hi and welcome

 

[Amp David]

Welcome to the forum

 

[Geordie Spark]

Welcome