Help wiring these T5HO's

[5mall5nail5]

Hey guys - so I picked up these T5HO fixtures. They look great, anxious to blast some light beams out of them. Anyway, they come with these connectors:


Light connector by Jon Kensy, on Flickr

I was tempted to cut them off and wire nut to whatever existing wire is there, but then I realized if I have to replace the ballast that'd be harder. So, what do I do with that thing there?

Next, my actual existing wiring is interesting. I have 3 porcelain fixtures holding a 60w bulb each. The central light has a whole ton of nonsense going on in the box. The two end units must be chained off of this. They don't look like they have a ground in the cable but they do as I confirmed when peeling back some paper/vinyl. That said, what should I do? I am essentially replacing the 3 60w conventional fixtures with one 8' T5HO (or thats my plan so far). Can anyone make sense of the wiring in the center fixture pictured below:


Existing fixture by Jon Kensy, on Flickr


Existing fixture by Jon Kensy, on Flickr

And then this is one of the end fixtures:


Existing fixture by Jon Kensy, on Flickr

Here are the lights I am using:


T5HO Lights by Jon Kensy, on Flickr

And here is a view of the garage:


Garage Lighting by Jon Kensy, on Flickr

Anyone have an opinion on where to place the fixtures?

I have two 4' and two 8' fixtures.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lithonia...T5HO-MVOLT-1-4-GEB10PS/202516724#.UiJBRj9c8iN

Also can these be direct mounted to the ceiling? I saw a thing on the back that says for hanging or something...

Thanks as usual guys!

 

[akjose]

The easiest thing to do is place the lights over the existing boxes. I would place the 8' strips on the beam in the center of the garage and your 4' strips on the wall either parallel (maybe over a bench or something) or perpendicular on both sides of the garage.

Those fixtures do not necessarily need boxes. The wires are supposed to be wire nutted inside the fixtures. So you will need a few 3/8" wire clamps and punch out the holes accordingly. They can be flush mounted but unless you get a plate/cover, some of the boxes will be showing.

 

[pattenp]

Kind of hard to tell what's going on in that box with all the wires crossing each other. My guess is there's a switch loop with the hot source being at that box.

 

[garydog]

Hey dude,

Let me help on this wiring thing you got going. That center light fixture is where the switch on the wall is connected to. The other two fixtures are energized from this fixture. That little connector you found inside the fixture is just what it looks like, a quick disconnect. In commercial installations they are required. But since you have them...... use them. You can mount those fixtures right to the ceiling if you like. But I would suspend them to where they hang below that beam I see in one of you pic's. Also I see the ground wires in the center box of the pictures. Make sure that your fixtures are grounded to that connection. You will find a green screw inside your new fixture, this is the connecting place for the ground. Good luck!

 

[5mall5nail5]

Thanks all and Gary, thanks.

I intend to ground the fixture to that screw totally. I am going to put covers over the two side fixtures I guess. So I can, in theory, disconnect everything except the main feed (power, neutral, ground?) from the switch to this lone light?

I'd like to mount them direct to the ceiling.

Oh, another question - 54w per bulb, two 8', two 4', thats 12 bulbs, 54 * 12 = 648w / 120 = 5.4A draw? These things only draw 5.4A in total? That's pretty amazing.

Oh, where do I get the quick disconnect for the other end?

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Those fixtures are not very wide. If you indended to mount the fixtures right over the boxes, you may need to get cover plates for the boxes that have a hole in the middle for the wires to come thru (make sure you don't have any edges that can chafe the wires).

The lights will have knockouts in the top of them, I don't recall how many, but I think there are a couple. In any case, if the wire in the ceiling will not reach far enough into the light, wire nut on additional wire inside the light to reach the connector. The connector is a push in type, just match your white and black wires, and connect your ground to the screw in the fixture.

Porcelain fixtures do not need grounds, so someone cut them off. You will need to strip back the insulation enough to expose some of the ground and wirenut additional ground wire onto it, to reach into the fixture.

The connector you show IS both halves. Push where it says PUSH and pull the two halves apart.

Charles

 

[5mall5nail5]

Thanks Charles I forgot I did get the other side of the connector. Whoops! So just push the wire in? Sounds simple enough.

 

[pattenp]

The actual amp draw of the fixture is listed on the ballast tag. You don't get it by adding up the wattage of the tubes.

...........

Oh, another question - 54w per bulb, two 8', two 4', thats 12 bulbs, 54 * 12 = 648w / 120 = 5.4A draw? These things only draw 5.4A in total? That's pretty amazing.

 

[LandR]

Did you get it figured out? If not PM me I did the same install multiplied by 4 in my garage this past weekend.

Was very simple affair

Thanks
Sam

 

[5mall5nail5]

Did you get it figured out? If not PM me I did the same install multiplied by 4 in my garage this past weekend.

Was very simple affair

Thanks
Sam

Yes I did figure it out Sam. Got the two 8' and two 4' units up, man is it bright!

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Hey dude,

Let me help on this wiring thing you got going. That center light fixture is where the switch on the wall is connected to. The other two fixtures are energized from this fixture. That little connector you found inside the fixture is just what it looks like, a quick disconnect. In commercial installations they are required. But since you have them...... use them. You can mount those fixtures right to the ceiling if you like. But I would suspend them to where they hang below that beam I see in one of you pic's. Also I see the ground wires in the center box of the pictures. Make sure that your fixtures are grounded to that connection. You will find a green screw inside your new fixture, this is the connecting place for the ground. Good luck!

Really? According to who? Have a code reference? Every commercial fixture Ive installed or worked on has been hardwired with either FMC or EMT(schools)!