Lighting, Light Fixtures, Ceiling and Exhaust Fans - Adding Photocell to outside lamp

Hi,

I am trying to add a photocell to our outside lamp. Unfortunately the new photocell didn't come with many instructions. At the outside post there is a connection of 2 sets of 3 wires (Black, white, and bare) one from the switch andone from the lamp. My new photocell has 3 wires (black, white and red). I assume I need to insert this cell into this connection, but was uncertain of which wires to connect to which. So I punted....

I first connected all 3 blacks together, all 3 whites together, taped off the red and left the 2 bares connected. With this the light continued to burn. Duh, I thought, the power is still going directly to the light.

So, I connected the black from the switch to the black on the photocell. Then connected the red on the photocell to the black on the actual lamp. I left the whites all connected and the 2 bares connected. I hit the switch and the light went on.....then after maybe 30 seconds, it went off. I then went and covered the eye with a couple of layers of tape only to never have the light come back on. (No blown fuses either)

Help!!! What am I doing wrong?

It sometimes takes a while for the photocell to respond. Is the switch still on? Did you cover the "eye" completely with tape? Even a little sunlight will keep it from transferring. I believe you have wired it correctly but after you have made sure that the switch is on, the eye is completely covered and you give it a minute to respond then try swapping the red and black wires.

Thanks for your help. It was indeed not covered well enough. It's now working!