Maestro OP153M - retrigger time???

[engrmp]

Hi folks,

Just got a MSCL-OP153M for a stairwell application... not happy.

The manual says "When the user manually turns OFF the light, the light will remain OFF for 25 seconds. After this time, the Maestro® Sensor Dimmer will turn lights ON if motion is detected."

I'm finding that when the auto-ON time times out, the light remains off for 25 seconds before it can be retriggered by motion. This is a bummer, and frankly, I can't see why it would operate this way. I'm guessing that I'm missing something in the programming manual. Is there a way to eliminate or reduce the 25 second off time to 0 (or near 0)? You can imagine the problematic situation:
- you go downstairs to get something.
- the light comes on, as expected, to light your way down the stairs
- you go rummaging around the basement to find what you're looking for
- just as you return to the stairs, the light goes out (it JUST timed out)
- ummmm... now you have to wait 25 seconds until the light can be retriggered by motion

Of course, you might ask... why use a motion sensor switch here if you're only going downstairs to get something. Well, of course sometimes you spend more time in the basement, working out, or there might be an office. You don't need the stairwell lights to stay on in those cases. So why not have a motion sensor to meet all of these uses.

For additional info, let me tell what does work to my liking:
- I want this dimmer/motion sensor switch to be powered by the 3-way external switches at the top and bottom of the stairwell. This motion sensing switch would be mounted half way down the stairwell, on a side wall. This works fine:
- I wire the blue and black terminals together, and then to the external switch
- when I turn on the external switch, this dimmer turns on and immediately (within 1-2 seconds) turns on the stairwell lights
- great
- When I turn off the external switch the light goes off
- When I turn on the external switch again, the dimmer level and auto-on time settings are remembered.
- The motion sensor picks up motion near the top and bottom of the stairwell

Now, if I can just eliminate that 25 second hysteresis, this will be perfect...

[Brandon W.]

Hello engrmp and welcome to the forums!

This 25 second grace period is exclusive to when the sensor is manually pressed. This allows the user to vacate the room without turning the sensor back on (and cannot be adjusted). However, if the sensor times out by itself, this rule should not apply and the lights should come right back on without delay. This raises some questions:

Does this sensor turn off by itself when you are standing in front of the unit?

I wire the blue and black terminals together, and then to the external switch

This wiring does not sound quite right, could you please give us a brief rundown of how the MSCL-OP153M and 3-way switch are currently installed? Have you also programmed the MSCL-OP153M into existing switch mode?

[engrmp]

Thanks for the reply Brandon,

I interpreted the wiring diagrams such that:
- I supply line power (through a 3-way external switch) to both the blue and black terminals (I didn't see a need to supply fulltime power to Black and then switched power to Blue... and in my wiring setup, I only have the switched power available where I want to mount this switch)
- The gold terminal then supplies power to the light (when motion is detected)

When I supply power (from the 3-way external switch), the light comes on and stays on for the programmed ON-time (1 minute, in my case). I'm testing this on the bench so I'm standing behind it. Once the light turns off (from timeout), I start waving my hand in front of the motion sensor. Nothing happens for 25 seconds. Then the light comes on for about 1 minute and turns off. At that point I can wave my hand in front of the motion sensor, but nothing will happen for 25 seconds. So, I think the unit is staying on through these ON/OFF cycles.

I didn't change the switch mode through programming... I only programmed the ON time and the Dimmer level.

[Will L.]

Is the MSCL-OP153M is wired in a three way setup with a mechanical switch per step 5b of this procedure https://assets.lutron.com/a/documents/0301660.pdf or are you set up differently? I was having trouble following how you have this set up.

[engrmp]

Hi Will,

I never really trust diagrams without the schematic view... I never really know if it's a "traveler" wire, or some other term for the wires... so, I have no idea if I'm wired like 5b (I looked at it, but it's not a schematic view)

So, the easiest way to understand my wiring:
- imagine two 3-way switches setup... one at the top of the stairs, and one at the bottom.
- they are wired to a light
- I wire the OP153 switch just before the light... so the 3-way switched hot wire goes to the OP153 Blue and Black terminals, and then the Brass terminal goes on to the light. Neutrals are not changed.

Here's how I interpreted the wiring diagrams in document "Application Note #480", page 19, "Dimmer Load Side" diagram:
- the black terminal energizes the OP153
- the Blue terminal is the ON/OFF request coming from the external switch
- the Brass terminal is the time and dimmer controlled power signal going to the load

I'm hoping that my wiring results in:
- when one of the external 3-way switches is "ON", the OP153 is energized and turns the light on
- if I leave the external 3-way switches as is (ON), then the OP153 times out after 1 minute and the light goes off
- but, the OP153 should still be powered, so I was hoping that if there was motion at any time after the light went off, the light would turn back on
- but, that doesn't happen: when the light turns off, there is a 25 second delay before the motion sensor will trigger and turn on the light again

I'm sure I'm doing something wrong, but I can't tell what it is...

[engrmp]

What might be confusing here is:
- I don't want to use the push button on the OP153. Instead, when it sees power I want it to go into motion control
- So, I don't want to replace either external 3-way switch with the OP153... the motion sensor would not be effective at the bottom or top of the stairs. Instead, I want the motion sensor half way down the stairwell, on a side wall... so, I would wire it just before the light