Hey gang, there is no end to my ignorance so let's get that out of the way up front.
I just finished my 40x60 shop and a friend gave me 4 large stadium light fixtures that someone gave him. One of them had a bulb and since it didn't work, I bought a new one like it, it is a 250w M58E metal arc with Hg (mercury I guess) stamped on it. I have no electric in the shop as yet except a construction panel loaned to me by my electrician. There is a white and black wire coming out of the ballast that are about #14, I think. So I got the bright idea to hook it up temporarily to have a light source. I hooked it up to a 120v cord and the new light doesn't come on or even try. I had some metal halide lights in my old shop and had a couple of bulbs, and though they were 175w and improper, I couldn't resist testing. I put the mogul based 175w ED 28 in the socket to see if it would explode and amazingly, it came on an seemed to burn normally, though it calls for an ANSI ballast H39 only. I only let it burn until it got as bright as it was going to, which seemed normal and then turned it off.
So, my question is this.....is it possible this is a 240v fixture? and won't run the 250w bulb on this low voltage. The wires didn't look like 240v wires, but what do I know.....very little. So, if any of you pros or knowledgeable folks can point me in the right direction, I would appreciate it as my electrician is gone hunting. Thanks for your time and reading the lengthy post. Please keep the verbal abuse to a minimum
I just finished my 40x60 shop and a friend gave me 4 large stadium light fixtures that someone gave him. One of them had a bulb and since it didn't work, I bought a new one like it, it is a 250w M58E metal arc with Hg (mercury I guess) stamped on it. I have no electric in the shop as yet except a construction panel loaned to me by my electrician. There is a white and black wire coming out of the ballast that are about #14, I think. So I got the bright idea to hook it up temporarily to have a light source. I hooked it up to a 120v cord and the new light doesn't come on or even try. I had some metal halide lights in my old shop and had a couple of bulbs, and though they were 175w and improper, I couldn't resist testing. I put the mogul based 175w ED 28 in the socket to see if it would explode and amazingly, it came on an seemed to burn normally, though it calls for an ANSI ballast H39 only. I only let it burn until it got as bright as it was going to, which seemed normal and then turned it off.
So, my question is this.....is it possible this is a 240v fixture? and won't run the 250w bulb on this low voltage. The wires didn't look like 240v wires, but what do I know.....very little. So, if any of you pros or knowledgeable folks can point me in the right direction, I would appreciate it as my electrician is gone hunting. Thanks for your time and reading the lengthy post. Please keep the verbal abuse to a minimum