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High Bay Surface Mount Wiring Question

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morpheusmac

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I picked up 9 Lithonia IBZ 454 housings high bay housings several years ago when I started my shop renovation and it has been a slow go unfortunately. Since then I've realized that I probably should've waited until I was ready for lighting to make a purchase. But since I've already invested in these I'd like to get them wired in once the lid is up.

I'll need to hang them down from the lid for air flow requirements. The lights have a 4 wire setup for inboard/outboard switching (all lights or half of the lights). I would like to keep this feature.

For wiring I was thinking switched outlets in the ceiling with plugs from each housing, but plugs and outlets for a four wire setup would be cost prohibitive...

What is the cheap and easy way to get these wired without being a fire hazard?

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Thanks!
 
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teamextreme

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Cost prohibitive? The cover costs the same. There's one extra outlet, that runs anywhere from under a buck to a couple of bucks, depending on what grade you want to get, and a cord end is $5 to $10. There are GFI requirements to address, but feeding a single GFI recep before going to the switches, or a GFI breaker takes care of that. Compared to the cost of those hi-dollar fixtures, that's peanuts. But, since you asked...

You can use the same setup as cord/outlet connected, but instead of installing a male cord end, run the cord into a 4 square box using a cord grip and put a blank cover on the box. It would be hardwired at that point.

There may be argument about using the fixture S.O. cord in a permanent, hardwired application, as technically S.O. cord can't be used for permanent installations, but it's a pretty commonly done thing. Is there an exception for a fixture install like this? If not, and you want to follow the letter of the NEC, you'll have to run a drop of flex conduit to each fixture instead of the S.O. cord.
 
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morpheusmac

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Finding pre-made 4-wire pigtails difficult. And buying new plug ends and outlets doesn't make too much sense if there is a better cost/time alternative.

Blank cover with a knock out like so and just run the cord grip through the knockout?

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tonyciambrone

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Maybe I am missing something but it seems like 14/4 BX Cable (armored cable)
would do the trick. Run it into junction boxes above/ near the lights using the cover plate shown with a knockout. Then run conduit to your switches with the 4 thhn or whatever conductors
 
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morpheusmac

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Junction boxes will be set into the drywall lid, trying to stay away from conduit if possible. I'd prefer not to work with BX cable, but I would if a 14/4 SOOW or STOW cable wouldn't be safe or to code.
 
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GRB

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Those lights have push in connectors at the light end. Just run flex to the fixtures and run two hot wires and 1 or two neutrals up to the box.
Great lights if you are using fluorescent tubes as the come with two 120-277v ballasts.
 
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sparky 1971

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I am ASSUMING that the switching allows for one half of the lamps, the other half of the lamps, or all of the lamps. If this is the case, I would make my own flex whips. 3/8 flex using screw in connectors with black, red, blue, white, and green #14 stranded conductors.

I don't know what you have for ceiling boxes, but if they are flush with the ceiling finish, the 4" square blanks with holes will look like ****. Get some metal blank plates (one or two gang depending on what you have installed) and drill a 7/8" hole through the center for the flex connector.
 
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alfredeneuman

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Referral from the "flexible metal conduit > minimum size" under "taps"

3/8 flex is addressed in 410.117(C)
C) Tap Conductors. Tap conductors of a type suitable for the temperature encountered shall be permitted to run from the luminaire terminal connection to an outlet box placed at least 300 mm (1 ft) from the luminaire. Such tap conductors shall be in suitable raceway or Type AC or MC cable of at least 450 mm (18 in.) but not more than 1.8 m (6 ft) in length
 
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cybrdyke

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morpheusmac said:
I'll need to hang them down from the lid for air flow requirements. The lights have a 4 wire setup for inboard/outboard switching (all lights or half of the lights). I would like to keep this feature.

For wiring I was thinking switched outlets in the ceiling with plugs from each housing, but plugs and outlets for a four wire setup would be cost prohibitive...
Click to expand...
The ballast has an extra wire on it that will control 2 of the 4 lamps, just as you described. That's pretty standard for almost all makes of 4 lamp T5HO ballasts. If you want the switching feature, you will connect that extra wire (usually gray) to a switch between it and the white neutral wire feeding the fixture. You will not be able to wire a cord onto this fixture and plug it into a switched receptacle if you want to keep this feature.
You'll need two switches, one to turn on all 4 lamps, and one to turn on/off two of them.
Here's the spec sheet for the ballast and the wiring diagram:
https://rexel-cdn.com/Products/PhilipsAdvance/ICN-4S54-90C-2LS-G.pdf?i=7176774D-3400-4ADF-835E-905D2BFFDF85
CD
 
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morpheusmac

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Seattle, WA
Sorry to bring this back from the dead, just wanted to finish up the story/decision on it.

My solution to this was to hang the high bays off the ceiling from hooks, chains and V-hooks into the housings per their specified distance to the lid for cooling the ballasts, then I bought some bulk computer cables that met the amperage specs of the lights cut them down into the housing and plugged them into switched outlets in the lid, I wired them to light up in two banks instead of all at once. Bummer that I didn't use the 4-wire setup on the housing itself, but what I did met my needs, capabilities and cost savings goals for using the housings. Had I bought lights later, I would've gone LED for sure.

IMG_7099.jpg
 
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getawheel

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FL
Four wire SJ cord with strain relief on each end, two switched circuits no receptacle.
 
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