# Need a Spotlight to Turn Off Streetlight Photocell



## ProLawn (Sep 27, 2009)

I do a very large computer controlled Christmas display and my nextdoor neighbor has a streetlight w/photocell in the front yard. Its one of the decorative kind that the whole neighborhood has. I need to shine it on the photocell to turn the streetlight off. It puts out a lot of light and takes away from the wow factor of my display. Can someone recomend a powerful spotlight that can be plugged in as well as be used cordless. I will also have to have it on every night from 6:00 to 9:30 Dec1-Dec31. So I will need one that can be on for long periods of time and be rain proof. The light is about 100 ft from my house. I also dont want a $300+ light. Any recomendations under $100. Replacement bulbs should also be readily available. If anyone can help me out with this I would greatly appreciate it


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## Patriot (Sep 28, 2009)

Sorry, I'm not aware of any AC powered spotlights that are inexpensive. Almost everything we post about here is DC powered. Green lasers of 30+W will turn them off but they come back on after 10 or 15 minutes. I can't imagine running a laser continuously as most wouldn't hold up to that and if they did would be far over your price range.

Any chance you could contact the city and work something out?


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## Sgt. LED (Sep 28, 2009)

Pellet rifle


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## bobby_7 (Sep 28, 2009)

get a ladder and put tape or something over the window of the photocell


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## Larbo (Sep 28, 2009)

Maybe a laser on some kind of timer will do it.


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## Patriot (Sep 28, 2009)

bobby_7 said:


> get a ladder and put tape or something over the window of the photocell




Don't they usually require the opposite stimulus....light to turn off, dark to switch on?


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## DimmerD (Sep 28, 2009)

Sgt. LED said:


> Pellet rifle



I am a dead on shot and am for hire!
What about putting some lights on it close to the photocell? Sneaky huh?


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## Alaric Darconville (Sep 28, 2009)

ProLawn said:


> my nextdoor neighbor has a streetlight w/photocell in the front yard. Its one of the decorative kind that the whole neighborhood has.



If it's your neighbor's personal property (which is what I'm getting from it since you say it's in the yard and decorative), then can't you ask him to remove the bulb or otherwise disable it?

If it belongs to the city, then maybe they could disable it (but may be loath to for fear of some sort of liability should a crime occur that the streetlight could have been a deterrent).

I hope the replies of "pellet gun" and "football oops" are in jest, as suggesting that the streetlight be damaged purposefully is contrary to the forum rules.


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## Sgt. LED (Sep 28, 2009)




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## bobby_7 (Sep 28, 2009)

Patriot said:


> Don't they usually require the opposite stimulus....light to turn off, dark to switch on?




haha, maybe i should have thought before i spoke. yes you are correct.

what i meant to sayyy......is tape a flashlight to the light fixture (assuming the photocell is on top of it) and point it at the window of the photocell :wave:


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## ProLawn (Sep 28, 2009)

Ok, I understand where everyone is coming from. I will check with the city. Just curious now...What would be the best spotlight, all the way around, under $100.


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## Patriot (Sep 28, 2009)

...lol. no prob. 

Now he just needs to find a way up there. The one's around my "hood" appear to be about 30' tall.


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## Flashanator (Sep 28, 2009)

i too wanted to disable my st light. i got on my house roof with my lights but none disabled it.


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## Patriot (Sep 28, 2009)

Flashanator said:


> i too wanted to disable my st light. i got on my house roof with my lights but none disabled it.




Some now have white plastic shields around the perimeter of the plexiglass dome, preventing them from being shut off with spill light. In other words, it requires that light comes in from nearly straight above.

Considering the output of some of your light cannons Flash, this may be what's happening in your case. Mine are about 11 years old and can still be shut off with a laser and most of my HIDs.


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## Lynx_Arc (Sep 28, 2009)

take 2 D cells, solder a 5mm LED to it and stick the LED on the photocell... should give you a few days perhaps if the light output is enough.


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## get-lit (Sep 28, 2009)

Lynx_Arc said:


> take 2 D cells, solder a 5mm LED to it and stick the LED on the photocell... should give you a few days perhaps if the light output is enough.


 
Hmm, you could also add your own photocell circuit so that your LED only powers on at night, and even make it recharge.

Ok, here's what you do... *Just get one of those solar rechargeable LED lawn lights at Walmart or Home Depot and tape it up there. $10 fix, no work, and problem solved for years!!*


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## matrixshaman (Sep 28, 2009)

This should do the trick Click here

 

might be a tad over budget though


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## SFG2Lman (Sep 28, 2009)

well if its a city light you could complain about light pollution...but then again thats kind of what you are going for eh? If you did happen to see an animal that is considered a nuissance on the light you could inadvertently miss with your pellet gun/sling shot and disable it, short of scaling the light pole and affixing a solar powered lawn ornament you may be out of luck


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## StarHalo (Sep 28, 2009)

I also have attempted to turn off my local streetlight using an HID, which failed even after holding it on the sensor for several minutes. However most streetlights have a small in-ground utility box located near them; inside this box there should be a master switch that will turn the light off. The bolt that holds the box closed will probably be a pentagon-head, and the neighbors who are not aware of your plan will probably start calling the utility about a broken streetlight at sundown. Place an action figure or other small toy inside the utility box, so if utility workers find the switch turned off, they blame area rugrats.

The HID I used for the experiment is the one I would recommend in your price range; the Stanley HID3000, $70. But buying it just for turning off streetlights would be seriously selling it short..


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## bobby_7 (Sep 28, 2009)

or.....you could just make your christmas light display so bright that it turns it off....


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## BVH (Sep 28, 2009)

I can report that my carbon arc did, in-fact, shut a Los Angeles street light off in front of the club I worked at a couple of times. The cycle was: beam hits top of light - light goes off. Light restrikes in about 35 seconds or so (after 2nd CA pass) and gets to full or near full brightness and then on 3rd pass of CA, goes out again. Repeat, repeat, repeat etc.


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## SFG2Lman (Sep 28, 2009)

why not incorporate it into your christmas display? dress it up like the star and have the wise men stare at it...problem solved


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## get-lit (Sep 28, 2009)

Unplug the lamp and run an extension cord to your house to help with christmas light electricy costs.


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## bshanahan14rulz (Sep 29, 2009)

I think the original poster's intent was to rationalize buying a nice spotlight. But if not, my vote for building "throwies" and having a competition with the local kids: "ok kids, who can get their throwie to stick closest to that round thing on top of the light pole!"


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## Juggernaut (Sep 29, 2009)

bobby_7 said:


> or.....you could just make your christmas light display so bright that it turns it off....


 


> Unplug the lamp and run an extension cord to your house to help with christmas light electricy costs.


 
I’d go for one of these.


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## StarHalo (Sep 29, 2009)

get-lit said:


> Unplug the lamp and run an extension cord to your house to help with christmas light electricy costs.



That could replace step two of the idea I came up with last year for Christmas lighting:



StarHalo said:


> 1. Purchase a dozen ballast housings for this specific bulb [_Philips 400W sodium halide, 37,000 lumens each_], and tint (paint/dye) the lens/Fresnel assembly for each a variety of colors.
> 
> 2. Purchase a trio of small surge protector strips (four lights/1600 watts per strip, most strips will only handle ~1800)
> 
> ...


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## Patriot (Sep 29, 2009)

ProLawn said:


> Ok, I understand where everyone is coming from. I will check with the city. Just curious now...What would be the best spotlight, all the way around, under $100.





Lights under $100 are going to be very basic. All HID's in this price range will have SLA batteries and wall-wart chargers. The best value seems to be the Stanley HID from Warlmart stores.

There is a huge thread about it HERE


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## Flashanator (Sep 30, 2009)

lightning seems to work fine, straight after a flash in the sky the whole street lights shut off for about 3-4mins.


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## SFG2Lman (Sep 30, 2009)

Flashanator said:


> lightning seems to work fine, straight after a flash in the sky the whole street lights shut off for about 3-4mins.



you could build a collosal tesla coil and create your own local lightning 24-7 to keep the street light off!


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## RobertM (Sep 30, 2009)

SFG2Lman said:


> you could build a collosal tesla coil and create your own local lightning 24-7 to keep the street light off!



This is an awesome, but expensive plan! :devil:

To the OP: you neighbor is aware of your plans, correct?

-Robert

EDIT: I just noticed this is my 666 post on CPF and the only smiley I used was the devil one, LOL. Weird...


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## jamie.91 (Oct 3, 2009)

a laser is definatley the way to go

check out "laser pointer forums" and have a look at some of the 80mW blu rays, that should do it

i have neve baught from him but a member on LPF called IgorT always has a good rep try him

jamie


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## BlueBeam22 (Oct 3, 2009)

StarHalo said:


> The HID I used for the experiment is the one I would recommend in your price range; the Stanley HID3000, $70. But buying it just for turning off streetlights would be seriously selling it short..


 
+1 to StarHalo’s excellent recommendation. I own the Stanley HID 3000, and it I can attest to the fact that it is unbelievably bright and powerful. It can be found in the automotive lighting section at Wal-Mart.


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## IgNITEor (Oct 8, 2009)

Streetlights,.........sometimes on when you really need 'em, some never shut off, and some cycle endlessly .

Where's the neighbor who works for a company that has a bucket truck?

The utility version's have a quick change photo eye with a twistlock base.
Since you wrote that all the lights are similar in your 'hood, this may be the style they're using. If you can get up there, twist that thing off.

This is a cheap option if you can get a good angle and it may take up to fifteen minutes of shine time to take effect:

http://www.stagelightingusa.com/PAR36-PIN-SPOT-with-PLATINUM-4515-Spotlamp-2298-prod.htm

It's strictly indoor. Nothing a little duct tape won't fix!


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## Flashanator (Oct 8, 2009)

is that legit? so many lumens


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## IgNITEor (Oct 8, 2009)

Well, it's cheap, right?
It has a dinky transformer, unknown brand 4515 lamp, but a nice tight beam. Good for almost a hundred feet.


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## IgNITEor (Oct 10, 2009)

Flashanator said:


> is that legit? so many lumens


I scrolled all the way down and the saw the typo. That's got to be BCP in their specs. 
Now that I think about this, I'd like to try pushing this lamp a little harder.

If it can't take care of ProLawn's streetlight, maybe a little mirror ball action
could work with the Christmas display?


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## Flashanator (Oct 10, 2009)

id like to have a tripod mounted on my roof with a small laser pointer running on ac power aimed at it & timed to send a pulse of light ever few mins to keep it off all night.


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## FGS (Oct 13, 2009)

matrixshaman said:


> This should do the trick Click here
> 
> 
> 
> might be a tad over budget though



Nice one!


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## mtbkndad (Oct 14, 2009)

This is a bit out of your price range, but the Titanium Inovations Mega Illuminator can run plugged in to AC.

http://www.batteryjunction.com/mega-illuminator.html

It has a very tight spot that can be directly focused on the photo sensor and 100 feet will be no problem if the sensor is facing the right direction.

Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:


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## spoonrobot (Oct 14, 2009)

This is a really weird thread, reminds me of the one about the guy who needed a light to catch his neighbors using a wood-burning stove. Seems like a very passive-aggressive action; why don't you just walk over there and talk to your neighbor? If you know them well enough to shine a very bright light on their property for several hours a night for an entire month you should be able to get them to just turn the thing off. If not, respect their decision and don't sweat the small stuff.


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## IgNITEor (Oct 14, 2009)

Weird? :thinking: But that's what we do here. Present a difficult situation and together we work to help each other out. 
Seriously, this streetlight issue has potential to get real crazy.
I'm suggesting to steer clear of getting inside the base, where the hand-hole allows access to the wiring. Even in smaller developments, some street lighting systems operate at 277 Volts to ground (you) and you DO NOT want to get in there and mess with anything. 
ProLawn, if you think you can work with your neighbor, maybe you guys can get a heavy black plastic lawn & leaf bag and slip it over the head of the light and it's all over until someone complains.
Otherwise, I've got another idea in mind. 
And it could get REAL weird!


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## BowHunterk (Oct 22, 2009)

ProLawn said:


> I do a very large computer controlled Christmas display and my nextdoor neighbor has a streetlight w/photocell in the front yard. Its one of the decorative kind that the whole neighborhood has. I need to shine it on the photocell to turn the streetlight off. It puts out a lot of light and takes away from the wow factor of my display. Can someone recomend a powerful spotlight that can be plugged in as well as be used cordless. I will also have to have it on every night from 6:00 to 9:30 Dec1-Dec31. So I will need one that can be on for long periods of time and be rain proof. The light is about 100 ft from my house. I also dont want a $300+ light. Any recomendations under $100. Replacement bulbs should also be readily available. If anyone can help me out with this I would greatly appreciate it


 
Red Rider BB gun $95.00. Box of wadcutter pellets $2.50. 1000W HID bulb $84.39. 1000W HID bulb $84.39 1000W HID bulb $84.39. your neighbor eventualy get the message or just run out of money to keep replacing them, leaving you display $PRICELESS$


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## bshanahan14rulz (Feb 8, 2010)

jamie.91 said:


> have a look at some of the 80mW blu rays, that should do it


Earlier poster stated 30W laser is needed (sounds like too much)
You stated that 80mW should suffice. My blu-ray doesn't turn off the street lamp by my apartment, though! It was labeled as 10mW, but after pot modding it can perform optical trapping, smolder anything dark or green, light sharpied matches instantly, and stings when I focus it on my arm, leading me to believe that it is up there in power.


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## sqchram (Feb 8, 2010)

matrixshaman said:


> This should do the trick Click here
> 
> 
> 
> might be a tad over budget though


 
A lummi wee?


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## TooManyGizmos (Feb 8, 2010)

Hey Guys ...... CHRISTMAS IS OVER

DISPLAY IS PACKED UP

O.P no longer has need to turn off streetlight .


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