Hi LouF, Turns out I have 2 of these units. The earlier one I purchased does "remember" the setting ... The 2nd one does not "remember" the setting. I have them both open so in a day or two will report on what is actually different. I looked at them at two different times, if I recall correctly the board inside is the same, I will look across the components.
But somewhere you said that this is at your father's house, and it takes 2 or 3 times to get it working (I can't find your actual quote.) Can you let me know what you meant. Does it take 2 or 3 start times before is evens out and works pretty consistently? Is there any manual operation outside of the timer that might be required on occasion?
Once I get these two units open side-by-side, I will message back since I have now taken them down. Maybe I will find something else to do, but your solution if robust enough is certainly quick and easy. Thanks.
Thankyou for the info. between the two. Could the difference in the circuitry be so small that it is only a capacitor to save a state in memory?
Yes, 2-3 times of flipping the power switch (located indoor for the outdoor receptacle of which the unit is plugged into) to activated motion. That is, learning the timing of on-off at the switch. Once it starts motion, it is on. Activation it is not very consistent, but this year it has worked out better. I recall having a hard time during "design" trying to get a good R-C combination for timing. After I did, all of a sudden the timing seemed to change.
I'm not exactly sure of what you're asking "manual opetation our side of the timer", but if I got it, yes, the button can still be manually pushed on the unit. - But get this, one time the button did not work, and one time motion started and then stopped (I almost took the R-C out and was going to tell him I can't do it, LOL). So far, it has been reasonably functional (it's better than going outside every day, LOL), and I wonder if temperature affects the capacitor.
I would be interested in what you find between the two. Yes, quick, easy, and it was my "engineering economy" attempt, LOL. I had inspiration from my floodlight motion detector, where (by a much more consistent design), the floodlight will be switched on indefinitely if the power switch is turned off for 1 second and then back on - it works great as long as one counts an honest second.
I hope I explained clearly.
