I bought a house that has a solar sensor on the side wall. The solar sensor controls 2 wall led lamps. The writing on the blub has PTL E479302 led lamp 4SF0. I need to purchase new bulbs. Can someone help me with this? What bulbs will work in those fixtures? Thank you

 

The bulbs used to turn on at night and off during the day. They are controlled with a inside wall switch that is always set in the on position.

 

The first step will be to learn what voltage the fixtures were supplied with. The next challenge is to discover if the fault is failed LEDs or is it missing power, or is there a ballast style power module in the fixture. ? Either condition will prevent lighting.
So the TS needs to obtain a multimeter to see if there is voltage applied to the fixtures or not. I have seen lights not function because of a loose wirenut.

 

Welcome to AAC!

The writing on the blub has PTL E479302 led lamp 4SF0. I need to purchase new bulbs. Can someone help me with this?

A picture would be helpful. The base type is most important, followed by bulb size, voltage, brightness, ...

 

Welcome to AAC!
A picture would be helpful. The base type is most important, followed by bulb size, voltage, brightness, ...

Thank you. I will do that.

 

The first step will be to learn what voltage the fixtures were supplied with. The next challenge is to discover if the fault is failed LEDs or is it missing power, or is there a ballast style power module in the fixture. ? Either condition will prevent lighting.
So the TS needs to obtain a multimeter to see if there is voltage applied to the fixtures or not. I have seen lights not function because of a loose wirenut.

Great advice. Thanks

 

Fire off an email to PLT https://www.pltsolutions.com/
They may have a customer service contact.
(I assume the PTL was a misprint?)

 

Fire of an email to PLT https://www.pltsolutions.com/
They may have a customer service contact.
(I assume the PTL was a misprint?)

Yes should have typed PLT. I will email them. Thanks

 

Sounds to me like you're asking about a porch light that comes on in the evening and shuts off in the morning. IF that's the case, and the base of the lamp is a standard screw base lamp then any LED bulb rated for outdoor use will work. If the lamp you have now has a specialized base then you'll need to find the same base lamp for the socket. Of course, this is on the premises that my assumption is correct, that you're talking about a porch light. The porch lights I have incorporate both motion sensing and dusk to dawn operation. They're off unless at night they detect motion, then they come on. Available at any hardware store in the US. Don't know about other locations.

 

Sounds to me like you're asking about a porch light that comes on in the evening and shuts off in the morning. IF that's the case, and the base of the lamp is a standard screw base lamp then any LED bulb rated for outdoor use will work. If the lamp you have now has a specialized base then you'll need to find the same base lamp for the socket. Of course, this is on the premises that my assumption is correct, that you're talking about a porch light. The porch lights I have incorporate both motion sensing and dusk to dawn operation. They're off unless at night they detect motion, then they come on. Available at any hardware store in the US. Don't know about other locations.

Yes these are porch lights. But what puzzles me is the solar sensor is on the side of the house about 20 feet away from the fixture. The base is a standard base. So I am wondering will any led bulb work in that fixture?

 

Yes these are porch lights. But what puzzles me is the solar sensor is on the side of the house about 20 feet away from the fixture. The base is a standard base. So I am wondering will any led bulb work in that fixture?

Here are some pics. The bulb says suitable for damp locations and for totally enclosed fixtures. I switched the bulbs and the problem followed the bulb. One side works other does not.

 

Here are some pics. The bulb says suitable for damp locations and for totally enclosed fixtures. I switched the bulbs and the problem followed the bulb. One side works other does not.View attachment 300542View attachment 300542View attachment 300543View attachment 300544View attachment 300545View attachment 300546View attachment 300547View attachment 300548

Maybe my terminology is wrong. I guess it's a solar cell instead of a sensor on the side of the house.

 

My sensor ignores short duration light drop, there has to be low light for a certain period before it comes on.

 

My sensor ignores short duration light drop, there has to be low light for a certain period before it comes on.

ok now I am thinking the object on the side of the house is a photocell not a solar cell. Since the wall switch in the house has to stay on at all times. So I am thinking any led bulb good for damp locations and enclosed fixtures would work.

 

Zooming in on the wall mounted device, it sure looks like it has a CDS sensor or photo resistor used to detect light levels. I agree that you’ll likely need any outside-rated LED Bulb.

From Quora:

 

Zooming in on the wall mounted device, it sure looks like it has a CDS sensor or photo resistor used to detect light levels. I agree that you’ll likely need any outside-rated LED Bulb.

From Quora:View attachment 300565

Thank you to everyone that replied. This forum has helped me greatly.

 

Sounds to me like you're asking about a porch light that comes on in the evening and shuts off in the morning. IF that's the case, and the base of the lamp is a standard screw base lamp then any LED bulb rated for outdoor use will work. If the lamp you have now has a specialized base then you'll need to find the same base lamp for the socket. Of course, this is on the premises that my assumption is correct, that you're talking about a porch light. The porch lights I have incorporate both motion sensing and dusk to dawn operation. They're off unless at night they detect motion, then they come on. Available at any hardware store in the US. Don't know about other locations.

The last few outside lights that I installed did not contain screw in bulbs, but rather LEDs bonded to a reflector. The one that I replaced had an electronic module that powered the three LEDs. That module had failed to supply any output.

 

The last few outside lights that I installed did not contain screw in bulbs, but rather LEDs bonded to a reflector. The one that I replaced had an electronic module that powered the three LEDs. That module had failed to supply any output.

Yes, I have both styles. The porch lights the TS is questioning about have screw base bulbs. In that case any bulb will work as long as it screws in. There ARE different sizes and styles of connectors for light bulbs. But in the TS case, it's simply an LED lamp with a standard screw base.

This is not a solar panel, it's a photo resistor.

It changes its resistance value slowly. By "slowly" I mean it's not instantly reactive to changes in light intensity. Should a cloud pass by the lights don't come on and off for such a low change in brightness. Things like photo sensors, transistors, diodes, etc. react quickly. The photo resistor has a slow transition. Hence, a flash of lightning will not flicker your lights every time there's a flash. To further reduce the chance of interruptions the electronics inside the daylight sensor also incorporate a hysteresis. On a scale from 1 to 10 (as an example) when it gets dark and the light goes low, say "3", the light comes on for the night. But if the light goes to "4" it doesn't go off. It has to go up to some degree, say, maybe "6" before it shuts off for the morning.

 

OK, now finally I see that these do have screw in bulbs. So the very first thing is to try the bulbs in another fixture to see if they light. No complex equipment required.
Or maybe that has been checked all ready.
Next is to try some known good bulbs in the fixtures, and verify they do not light.

BUT after seeing the photo of the sensor, my bet is that the sensor has either a failed connection, or it has itself failed.
Remove the two screws from the plate and pull out the sensor assembly. It should have three leads, white, black, and red. White is the mains neutral, black is the mains supply (hot side), and red is the output to the lights. The next step I do with the power on, That is to very carefully untwist the mains feed wire (usually black) from the sensor black wire, by turning the wire nut counter clockwise. Then separate the black wires, being careful to not let the mains feed touch anything. Next, disconnect the red wire from the black wire that goes to the light fixtures. Finally, connect the two black wires together with one wire nut. If the power is on then the lights should illuminate.
Often the sensors get wet and fail, or just fail for no apparent reason.
One last thought is that the bulb types may not be dimmable, and the sensor may be electronic control, in which case the LED bulbs may not work.

 

OK, now finally I see that these do have screw in bulbs. So the very first thing is to try the bulbs in another fixture to see if they light. No complex equipment required.
Or maybe that has been checked all ready.
Next is to try some known good bulbs in the fixtures, and verify they do not light.

BUT after seeing the photo of the sensor, my bet is that the sensor has either a failed connection, or it has itself failed.
Remove the two screws from the plate and pull out the sensor assembly. It should have three leads, white, black, and red. White is the mains neutral, black is the mains supply (hot side), and red is the output to the lights. The next step I do with the power on, That is to very carefully untwist the mains feed wire (usually black) from the sensor black wire, by turning the wire nut counter clockwise. Then separate the black wires, being careful to not let the mains feed touch anything. Next, disconnect the red wire from the black wire that goes to the light fixtures. Finally, connect the two black wires together with one wire nut. If the power is on then the lights should illuminate.
Often the sensors get wet and fail, or just fail for no apparent reason.
One last thought is that the bulb types may not be dimmable, and the sensor may be electronic control, in which case the LED bulbs may not work.

This doesn’t make sense since the problem exists in one of two light fixtures. He had swapped the bulbs and the problem followed the problematic bulb.

However, your idea of trying the bulbs in a standard lamp is a good one.