hi bay lite question

[carryallman]

im installing some "lithonia" -luminare 400 watt hi bay lites in my pole building -on the lites they say -120/208/240/277 on them ,how is the voltage wired ?inside the unit ? there is 3 wires hanging from lite/one is ground {green}do i need to separate ballst ? and do some wiring inside unit ? could not seem to find anything on the net on these lites ! i want to run them on 110 v-single phase of coarse! thanks

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Inside the top of the unit you will find a bunch of wires that are capped off with voltages marked on them. These are the hot wires into the ballast at various voltages. There will be one neutral. Should be a small metal box on top, one screw and it slides off in the direction of the screw. The wires should be inside. They may have been pushed down inside, at least the unused ones.

For your power wire to the light, be sure and use whatever temp rating is specified on the label, either 90°C or 105°C rated wire. Those things get hot!!!!!!!!

Charles

 

[SonOfOC]

As stated above. There will be multi voltage taps. One should be labeled "Com" / "Common. The com goes to your neutral lead, then your hot goes to the appropiate wire on the ballast labeled "120v".

These lights take a few minute to reach full brightness. If you quickly turn them off then on again, it will sometimes take 15 minutes to restart.

Lastly, make sure you use the correct type of bulb.

 

[carryallman]

thanks for the info /after posting -i played more w/ the lites and seen how to take them apart /the 110 v wire was buried and stuffed in bottom /suppose all will have to be disassembled to rewire to 110v ?any way lit 1 lite up and when it was warmed up MAN it bright! when done my shop should be bright inside this winter ! my lites didnt come w/ hook hangers ,did find some on e-bay /sure makes them easier to hang and dis-connect if problems arise? the hook kits give me an option of straight blades or twist locks on the power cord for the lites? what would anybody recomend

 

[Delta74]

should not have to rewire anything, just put your hot lead on the 120, the white on the common,( or com ) and ground to green, make sure the others are capped off, marrette over them is fine, stuff back in box and hit the switch.

the ballast that is in them in considered a Universal, they just make 1 with a few leads off them so the same ballast can be used all over ( except canada 347 is normal here ) it helps standardize the unit and reduce costs.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

should not have to rewire anything, just put your hot lead on the 120, the white on the common,( or com ) and ground to green, make sure the others are capped off, marrette over them is fine, stuff back in box and hit the switch.

the ballast that is in them in considered a Universal, they just make 1 with a few leads off them so the same ballast can be used all over ( except canada 347 is normal here ) it helps standardize the unit and reduce costs.

What is is referring to is just that, its connected on some other voltage and the unused pigtails are shoved back down in the ballast housing. To re connect it for 120v he has to take the housings apart or attempt to fish out the wires.

Personally I'd spend a while with a bright light and a hook trying to fish the wires up thru the hole. Housings are generally a pain to get apart and back together just to get a wire out.

Charles

 

[knobby]

be sure to use high temperature rated wire nuts for the power connections these things run hot and over time they will melt standard wire nuts
I would use regular straight blade for the power plug to keep everything simple but i would use specification/commercial grade receptacles even though the fixture only draws 4 amps

also if you disassemble the fixture bundle the wires and connectors with a ty rap to keep them off the hot transformer for safety

 

[nehog]

should not have to rewire anything, just put your hot lead on the 120, the white on the common,( or com ) and ground to green, make sure the others are capped off, marrette over them is fine, stuff back in box and hit the switch.

the ballast that is in them in considered a Universal, they just make 1 with a few leads off them so the same ballast can be used all over ( except canada 347 is normal here ) it helps standardize the unit and reduce costs.

Nope, nope, nope...

If they are wired 240, then he needs to rewire to 120 volts. As mentioned these lamps have four hot leads, one for each voltage. Each goes into an auto-transformer. The ballast is not universal.

These 'probe start' lamps are rather simple... An auto-transformer to convert the input voltage (120, 208, 240, or 277) to a higher voltage, a series capacitor to limit current, and the bulb.

Pulse start lamps add a higher voltage supply to start the lamp, which makes them more efficient (the bulb itself is slightly different to get that higher efficiency.)

 

[Charles (in GA)]

my lites didnt come w/ hook hangers ,did find some on e-bay /sure makes them easier to hang and dis-connect if problems arise? the hook kits give me an option of straight blades or twist locks on the power cord for the lites? what would anybody recomend

I intended to respond to this earlier and did not.

You can use a section of rigid conduit (essentially the same thing as galvanized water pipe) and proper nuts on the threads and hang them rigid, provided the fixture does not weigh over 50 pounds and the conduit stem is not over 18 inches in length. Beyond that, you will need a hook. I hung mine from heavy eyebolts attached to the unistrut (my lights had the hooks on them) and I installed cord and a straight plug. Twist lock plugs are horribly expensive. If you use commercial or spec grade receptacles, they bite so tightly on the plug, it won't come unplugged.

Also code requires the receptacle be attached to the same building structure (bar joist, roof purlin, etc) as the light is hanging from. You cannot extend the cord over to a receptacle on the next purlin.

Mount the ballast with socket and then after it is hanging, attach the brackets and reflector, and install the bulb last.

Charles