Metal Halide lights 110 or 220 V ?

[49tandc]

HELP!

I found some used (affordable) 400W metal-halide lights taken down when a warehouse was renovated & sprayed with insulation. The PO doesn't know if they are 110 or 220 Volt and says there are no tags on them. They have a wierd non-standard 110 plug above the balast/transformer.

My shed is wired for 110 lights and these would certainly work in my 14' ceilings better than fluorscents. Please let me know if these would be 110 or 220.

Thanks,

49T&C

 

[litljay]

HELP!

I found some used (affordable) 400W metal-halide lights taken down when a warehouse was renovated & sprayed with insulation. The PO doesn't know if they are 110 or 220 Volt and says there are no tags on them. They have a wierd non-standard 110 plug above the balast/transformer.

My shed is wired for 110 lights and these would certainly work in my 14' ceilings better than fluorscents. Please let me know if these would be 110 or 220.

Thanks,

49T&C

Most of the one's I've seen can be wired @ 120 or 240 (I have some for sale that can be wired @ 120/208/240/277).

Word of advise though. Don't run a 400W @ 120. The amp draw is massive @ 120

 

[Charles (in GA)]

The "weird" plug is probably a twist lock, commonly used on plug in lighting. As for voltage, have you inspected for labels or tags? They could even be multi-tap. You need to remove the hanging hook/box on the top of the unit, at least the cover that allows you to access the cord connection inside. If you find a bunch of wires deadended, pull them out and closely look at the printing on the wires coming from inside the transformer housing. The will have the voltage printed on them every inch or so. If this is a really big warehouse, it probably has 277v circuits for the lighting.

Other issue, how tall was this warehouse? Do these lights have metal reflectors? With 14 ft ceilings, the open bottom of the reflector will be 12 ft or slightly less. If these are high bay lights (much more common than low bay) then they are designed to be installed from about 20 ft up (it varies, some brands categorize high bay as 15 ft and up, most usually say 20 ft. You end up with lots of bright or "hot" spots, and lots of shadows in between.

A 400 watt Metal Halide light will draw 4.0 amps on 120V and consume about 480 watts total. They are not energy efficient, thats for sure.

Here is what mine look like, classified as either high bay or low bay, depending on how high or low you mount the reflector in the mounting bracket. Translucent polycarbonate reflectors and base of reflector is at 15 ft.

Charles

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Word of advise though. Don't run a 400W @ 120. The amp draw is massive @ 120

Lithonia currently shows only single voltage transformers, or multi-tap 120/208/240/277.

4.0 amps is "massive"??? Thats four light fixtures on one 20 amp circuit breaker at 120v (16 amps) and staying legal by the code for continuous loads.

If using 240V (probably not real common except in multi-tap transformer units), be sure and use double pole switches and run both hots thru the switch.

Charles

 

[rsanter]

Most of the one's I've seen can be wired @ 120 or 240 (I have some for sale that can be wired @ 120/208/240/277).

Word of advise though. Don't run a 400W @ 120. The amp draw is massive @ 120

what he said...

bob

 

[tojoski]

Here is what mine look like, classified as either high bay or low bay, depending on how high or low you mount the reflector in the mounting bracket. Translucent polycarbonate reflectors and base of reflector is at 15 ft.

Charles

Sorry to resurrect such an old thread, but what are the supports you have in the pictures between the purlins that are holding the lights up?

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Sorry to resurrect such an old thread, but what are the supports you have in the pictures between the purlins that are holding the lights up?

This shows it fairly well. I used common Unistrut™ or Superstrut™ bolted between the purlins, with ½-13 cone nuts inside the strut and flat plates on the outside, with ½-13 threaded eyebolts from Home Depot screwed thru with a jam nut and lock washer. Much cheaper than the commonly used cast electrical outlet box and light hangar that is normally used in commercial installations. My lights came equipped with the hooks, but the cords had been cut and I had to remove them and make new ones.

Be sure and use at least 90°C rated cord on the lights, or better yet, like I did, use 105°C rated cord. The lights do get hot. Regular extension cord is generally only rated to 60°C and the lights require at least 90°C rated wire as specified on the label.

Here is my install thread.

Charles

 

[tfi racing]

To the OP,sell them off and get flourescents,you will not be happy.They use too much energy for a small shop,take forever to restrike so you have to leave them on continuously,and your ceiling is too low for them,the bottom of the fixture will be barely 10' off your floor.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

To the OP,sell them off and get flourescents,you will not be happy.They use too much energy for a small shop,take forever to restrike so you have to leave them on continuously,and your ceiling is too low for them,the bottom of the fixture will be barely 10' off your floor.

This is an old thread, almost 4 years since the OP made the first post. I'm sure he has done something with those lights by now.

Someone brought the thread up from the dead to ask how I hung my lights. Then a spammer posted in it this morning, that is gone now.

Charles