How to wire this switch

[bugzapper]

Hi,
I'm a complete amateur, so this is probably a completely obvious and stupid question, but here goes. I've wired up two LEDs to a 12v battery with a 270 ohm resistor. It worked! (Sorry, but for me that's a great achievement). So what I want to do is wire in a photoelectric switch into the circuit, and then charge the whole thing during the day with a solar panel. I know I have to wire it all through the charge controller, which looks pretty straight forward, but where do the switch wires get hooked up to. The three wires are load, neutral and line. I have pictures of my setup and components if that helps.

 

[kpatz]

For the charge controller I'll be using the numbers (1-6) on the plastic cover over the terminals to tell which terminal to connect to.

Solar panel + (red) wire to terminal 1. Solar panel - (black) wire to terminal 2.

Battery + (red) to terminal 3. Battery - (black) to terminal 4.

Line (black) on the photo sensor to terminal 5. Neutral (white) on photo sensor to terminal 6. Connect the load (red) wire on the photo sensor to the positive (red) wire going to your LEDs. Connect the negative (black) wire for your LEDs to the neutral (white)/terminal 5 on the charge controller.

 

[(*steve*)]

Connect the negative (black) wire for your LEDs to the neutral (white)/terminal 5 on the charge controller.

For consistency, this perhaps should be terminal 6, not terminal 5.

I'm a bit concerned that the black lead goes to positive...

 

[kpatz]

For consistency, this perhaps should be terminal 6, not terminal 5.

I'm a bit concerned that the black lead goes to positive...

You're right, that should be terminal 6. My goof.

The photo sensor uses AC mains color convention, where black = hot and white = neutral, even though it's designed for 12V. Maybe because it's compatible with 12V AC or DC so it's not polarity, but identifying which wire is common.

 

[(*steve*)]

For us out here in the boonies, the convention would be brown/blue or red/black (for ancient wiring), but I take your point.

 

[KrisBlueNZ]

Terminals 5 and 6 are for the load, not any photosensor. The symbol on the front panel is a light bulb. I guess it detects the light level by monitoring the voltage coming in for the solar cell.

 

[kpatz]

Terminals 5 and 6 are for the load, not any photosensor. The symbol on the front panel is a light bulb. I guess it detects the light level by monitoring the voltage coming in for the solar cell.

I found a manual for the CMP12 charge controller here: http://www.elvet.co.rs/Solarni kontroler 3 KEMO.pdf

It doesn't switch the load on/off based on light level, it only cuts power if the battery charge gets low. The OP wants the LEDs to only go on at night, so the photo sensor he's using is a light-activated relay that (presumably) closes when dark and opens when light, so my suggested wiring puts it between the load output of the charge controller (terminals 5 & 6) and the actual load (LEDs).

 

[(*steve*)]

Terminals 5 and 6 are for the load, not any photosensor. The symbol on the front panel is a light bulb. I guess it detects the light level by monitoring the voltage coming in for the solar cell.

That's correct. The load is switched by the photo sensor. We were discussing how to connect the photosensor so it would correctly switch the load.

edit: I think I just repeated exactly what kpatz said.

 

[KrisBlueNZ]

I get it. Sorry.