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Fluorescent Light - proper voltage

D

David McCarroll

Jan 1, 1970
0
I have a fluorescnet light fixed in a new industrial paint booth
application. The data plate says 277 VAC .43AMP 110VAC .9AMP. On the
system I have 480V 3phae 60Hz with a neutral. When I measure from one
phase to neutral I get ~270V. If I hook one phase and neutral to the
balast wiring will this give me the proper voltage that is needed to
operate the light fixture? I do not have 110VAC available, with out
running new wires.
Any help with this would be greatly appriciated.
 
C

Charles Perry

Jan 1, 1970
0
David McCarroll said:
I have a fluorescnet light fixed in a new industrial paint booth
application. The data plate says 277 VAC .43AMP 110VAC .9AMP. On the
system I have 480V 3phae 60Hz with a neutral. When I measure from one
phase to neutral I get ~270V. If I hook one phase and neutral to the
balast wiring will this give me the proper voltage that is needed to
operate the light fixture? I do not have 110VAC available, with out
running new wires.
Any help with this would be greatly appriciated.

270 V should be well within its operating range. The fact that you are
asking this question causes me a little concern that perhaps you are not
qualified to perform the work.

Charles Perry P.E.
 
S

SQLit

Jan 1, 1970
0
David McCarroll said:
I have a fluorescnet light fixed in a new industrial paint booth
application. The data plate says 277 VAC .43AMP 110VAC .9AMP. On the
system I have 480V 3phae 60Hz with a neutral. When I measure from one
phase to neutral I get ~270V. If I hook one phase and neutral to the
balast wiring will this give me the proper voltage that is needed to
operate the light fixture? I do not have 110VAC available, with out
running new wires.
Any help with this would be greatly appriciated.

Take a break here..

I have been in the "bus" for 35 years and have NEVER seen and dual voltage
fluorescent ballast. I am not saying that they do not make it I have never
seen one. HID fixtures all of the time. HID's are usually not used on spray
booths.
There should be some red,blue wires going to the ends of the lamps. If this
ballast really has two transformers in it. Then there should be 2 sets of
line wires for the ballast.

If you get on the wrong set of input wires, you will let the magic (smoke)
out.
277 is nothing to play with. It flat hurts when you get hit. Please consult
a electrician locally before possibly making an huge mistake.

Please provide the manufacture and model number for this ballast, so I can
learn something new. Thanks
 
D

David

Jan 1, 1970
0
270 V should be well within its operating range. The fact that you are
asking this question causes me a little concern that perhaps you are not
qualified to perform the work.

Charles Perry P.E.

Thank you for the information. Yes, I probably am not the most qualified
person to tackle this. My part of the system was to program and control the
spray guns used to apply the coating to the product. However, the licensed
electrician was not sure either. I was just trying to use an available
resource for the answer.

Thank you,

David
 
D

David

Jan 1, 1970
0
Take a break here..

I have been in the "bus" for 35 years and have NEVER seen and dual voltage
fluorescent ballast. I am not saying that they do not make it I have never
seen one. HID fixtures all of the time. HID's are usually not used on spray
booths.
There should be some red,blue wires going to the ends of the lamps. If this
ballast really has two transformers in it. Then there should be 2 sets of
line wires for the ballast.

If you get on the wrong set of input wires, you will let the magic (smoke)
out.
277 is nothing to play with. It flat hurts when you get hit. Please consult
a electrician locally before possibly making an huge mistake.

Please provide the manufacture and model number for this ballast, so I can
learn something new. Thanks

I had never heard of this before either. Thanks for your input. I will
make sure, that is one thing I'm trying to do now, before I connect any
wires. I have worked with 480 V 3 phase before, just never used one phase
of it with a neutral for anything. So was just trying to make sure, and
ask someone who might know a little more than me.

Next time I am out on site I will get all the specific information from the
ballast and post it. Thanks again for your input.

David
 
D

David

Jan 1, 1970
0
Yes, but where are you getting your power from? This should be coming
from a 15 or 20 amp breaker, and not just tapped off of any old hot wire
nearby. 277/480 volt systems are dangerous to work with unless you
completely understand what you're doing. Also, you may have to run your
power in explosion proof conduit and fittings, so check with a qualified
industrial electrician.

Thank you for the information. I am getting power from a newly installed
sub-panel from an 80 AMP breaker that is feeding a control enclosure
through a 60 AMP fused disconnect. In the enclosure there is a
distribution block, I would be picking up one phase from the distribution
block and neutral from the neutral bar installed in the control enclosure.
This is all new wiring. I've worked with 480 V 3 phase power before going
to motors and such, but that was using all three phases, I have never used
1 phase and a neutral. I was just trying to verify with those who probably
know more than I, before hooking anything up. Again thank you for the
questions, give somethings to check.

David
 
J

JohnR

Jan 1, 1970
0
David said:
Thank you for the information. Yes, I probably am not the most qualified
person to tackle this. My part of the system was to program and control the
spray guns used to apply the coating to the product. However, the licensed
electrician was not sure either. I was just trying to use an available
resource for the answer.

Thank you,

David

277V is common for industrial/commercial lighting. As you have found, it is
the Phase to neutral of a 3 phase 480 volt system. The licensed electrician
did not know this?
John
 
D

David

Jan 1, 1970
0
277V is common for industrial/commercial lighting. As you have found, it is
the Phase to neutral of a 3 phase 480 volt system. The licensed electrician
did not know this?
John

I was surprised by this myself. I don't know why he didn't seem to know
this or why he hadn't thought about it. Anyway, thanks for the info.

David
 
U

uray

Jan 1, 1970
0
Take a break here..

I have been in the "bus" for 35 years and have NEVER seen and dual voltage
fluorescent ballast. I am not saying that they do not make it I have
never
seen one. HID fixtures all of the time. HID's are usually not used on
spray
booths.
There should be some red,blue wires going to the ends of the lamps. If
this
ballast really has two transformers in it. Then there should be 2 sets of
line wires for the ballast.

I've seen a lot of dual voltage ballasts. There are generally 3 input wires,
the voltage select wires usually have a stickers with either 120 or 277
printed on it. Use the one you need, insulate the one you don't.

Handy to stock them if your facility has both voltages, keeps inventory down
although the unit cost is usually a little higher.
 
U

uray

Jan 1, 1970
0
JohnR said:
277V is common for industrial/commercial lighting. As you have found, it
is
the Phase to neutral of a 3 phase 480 volt system. The licensed
electrician
did not know this?
John

I'm not surprised. I've had one who couldn't figure out a machines required
supply voltage (240 or 480) while staring right at the control transformers
input taps.
 
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