Customer Reviews

Heath Zenith SL-5412-BZ-D 300-Watt Motion-Sensing Twin Security Light, Bronze

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

The Heath/Zenith products I bought in the past were well designed and worthwhile, but this DESA International "Heath/Zenith" motion sensor light is absolutely terrible.
The advertised range of up to 70 or so feet, along with a rated 180 degree coverage angle, is totally misrepresentative! I'm lucky if my unit senses motion from 20 feet away, and with even 70 to 90 degrees of coverage.
Basically it does not even come remotely close to functioning as advertised, which suggests to me that the company basically has an integrity problem.
More than that, they have virtually no customer service. I e-mailed them about my unit's flaws and they never responded, and the light's "operation manual" offers no email address or phone number (I had to find their e-mail access through their website).
Furthermore, the only comment at all about repairs or customer service in the manual is in very fine print and says that the user has to return the product to the place of purchase.

This is definitely the worst purchase I've ever made from Amazon. Do NOT buy this motion sensor light fixture....about all this company appears to sense is how to take advantage of the public. Not only that, this unit is dangerous, since it is advertised to protect you from intruders, yet it offers extremely limited protection as far as its advertised range and/or sensing angle.

We had one of these for about a year, and it died. The motion sensor was the culprit.

I replaced the sensor & did a postmortem on the dead one. Egads, judging by the algae at the bottom of the sensor there was about 1 inch of water retained inside the case for a significant period of time. The bottom part of the circuit board was disgusting.

Judging from the case construction, the water got in via the 'lip' which is formed by the back of the case joining the front. There was no gasket around the lip, nor sealant around the entire perimeter, etc.

...furthermore, the adjustment controls are assuredly not waterproof.

Yet, to be fair, one could not build that circuit for that price. It is just the absence of a sealed case & rust proof screws which prevents the heath zenith from being a solid product. Desa handles the Heath Zenith stuff these days.

I live in Ohio, with a real winter, spring & summer - which may have contributed to the sensor's early demise. Caveat Emptor!

2 years ago I bought one of these. It has worked fine. This past summer I got another identical unit. It worked fine until the cold weather set in. Below 20 deg F it will not shut off once activated. Thinking it was defective I exchanged it for another. It too would not shut off below 20 deg. Next I purchased an ACE brand. When I opened the box I discovered it was made by the same source as the Heath-Zenith (Desa Int.) unit. I installed it anyway hoping... It too will not shut off below 20 deg.

Don't buy any of these units! If anyone has suggestions on another brand that will work in the cold please post it here.

I bought two of these to give me a little more security at night. The Heath Zenith lights were not quite the cheapest available but almost.

After installation I found that, contrary to their claims, I could walk directly passed the sensor and about 75% of the time it would not turn on unless I was within about 10 feet.

I am now uninstalling them and sending them back.

Perhaps you get what you pay for, but you would get better security from a stuffed dog.

Have now had three of these fail. They're junk. What good is a warranty when they can't even send you back the same color light. Sent them a white one, and they send back brown!

First two were halogen purchased at Home Depot. Home Depot didn't even have the right replacement bulb.

This review may be in vain as I tried the company's website and it is gone. I had a couple of hits on a search that say they are out of business. I took the time to post this since I am currently looking for another replacement light and I see Heath is for sale all over the place, so I don't know what is going on.

I have purchased from this company for years and had very good luck. At least until my most recent purchase of this model. The old Heath lights I have still work, they are fifteen years old.

It all began about four years ago when I bought what I though was a good product for my newly wired barn. I purchased two of them and at the time they were around thirty dollars each. I mounted them (not an easy job as they are 15' in the air under a soffit) and tested in "test" mode.

All was well the first two years except they failed to turn off during the winter months. I kept climbing the ladder and adjusting stuff, thinking it was my fault. Finally one unit quit completely. I called the factory and they agreed to send a replacement since the store had gone out of business. Not bad customer service there.

That new replacement worked for one year, actually less than that as I shut both of them down quite awhile ago due to the fact that they never shut down themselves.

Today I climbed up the ladder again and installed an old Heath light I had laying around. I tested it and it checked out fine. I need to purchase another light to replace the other defective unit but it sure won't be one of these junkers!

Junk!!I purchased 2 of these. The first one worked for about six months.I thought maybe I just got a bad one.I replaced it and the second one only lasted 3 months!!

Heath Zenith products are JUNK! I have purchased their motion detector floodlights that do not even come on when I drive my car right under them!
Real crap.

I bought this SL-5412 motion sensor security light about three years ago. I bought it in Home Depot. I installed it under the deck, where it was protected from the rain by the deck itself; this minimized the possibility of water damage. When I installed it, I immediately discovered that the coverage angle is 90 degrees rather than 150 degrees and that the range is 30 feet rather than 70 feet (at maximum sensitivity). The unit worked for about three years, but recently it died for no obvious reason. The part that died is the motion sensor. The lights are off during the daytime, but during the night they are permanently turned on, regardless of whether there is motion or not. I tried to decrease the sensitivity to the minimum, but the lights still did not turn off. Then I took the motion sensor apart to see whether there was water inside the box. To my surprise, it was completely clean and dry inside the motion sensor box and also inside the bid round box on which the unit was hanged. The printed circuit board looks like new, with no traces of water damage or even dust. This means that after about three years of use the circuit will die even if it is dry. The reason is: DESA International uses cheap electronic components (specifically, cheap electrolytic capacitors) that do not last more than a couple of years.

I'm an electrical engineer with an AEE degree, a BSEE degree and a Master of Science degree in IT. I own a home with 21 outdoor light fixtures on it and a detached garage with 14 outdoor light fixtures on it. {Yes, I guess I like lights} All my motion lights used to be Intelectron by Brightmond and were purchased from Grossmans about 18 years ago when I built the house. The Intelectron lights worked GREAT! I did have a couple fail over the past 2 decades but I bought spares and swapped parts between them to keep them working. I just put an addition onto my home and replaced all my outdoor lighting. I used Heath Zenith lights available from Home Depot, Lowes and Valu. As a matter of fact these stores ONLY SELL Heath Zenith. I used 4 different models of Heath Zenith lights. They are all junk.
I have called Heath Zenith tech support and spoke with their engineering department to no avail. They have sent me replacement components and had me modify my own lighting to attempt to solve "their" problems, all to no avail. Do Not Buy Them.
Problems:
First, the lights turn on by themselves with no living organism and no source of heat near them.
Second, when the light turns on, it may not go off for hours or possibly all night even though the light is set to 5 minutes because they falsely trigger themselves to stay on from the heat of the bulbs.
Third, the lights will not turn on even though a person is doing jumping jacks under the light.
Fourth, in winter weather the lights will not detect anyone walking near them.
Fifth, occasionally when a light is triggered on, it will stay on day and night until the breaker is turned off.
Again, DO NOT BUY THEM!!!! They are JUNK!
I tried to find info on Intelectron by Brightmond and I think they are out of business. If anyone know of any motion lights that actually work, please post it here. Thank you and God Bless! Have a great day! > Daniel K. 4-13-2011