Question About Ballast Kit and 240 Volt.

[Dmartin95]

I purchased a Sylvania LU1000/Multi-Tap Ballast Kit and planned on hooking it up to 240 volt. The wiring has me a little stumped however.

Multi-Tap means the samething as Multi-Volt more or less. This ballast has Taps for 277, 240, 208 and 120.. and there's also a common (all coming out of the short side of the transformer)

Please correct me if i'm wrong as I'm not an electrician but as I understand 240 volt wire, it's more or less two 120 volt legs (red and black) to make up the 240, bare is ground and if the nuetral-white (aka common) is only used if it's 240 volt device that also has a 120volt (such as a dryer with a digital timer)...

So, my snag is this:

The Ballast has the 5 wires, 4 taps and the common..... Well, seeing as how 2 120's make up a 240, I was thinking I would hook red up to the 240 labeled wire and the black to the 120 volt labled tap.... But then I got to thinking, how would that complete the circuit?

So my conclusion after thinking it out was to actually wire the ballast common tap to the red and the 240 volt labeled tap to the black. Then of course I googled to try and find some verification and found a thread on a different forum suggesting this would be the correct way to wire it.

Anyhow, I've lurked here a while and think the fine people around here could help verify how to wire this ballast up or if I'm way off base and am about to zap myself.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

You get the COM line which goes through to the lamp Then your 120V Then your 208V Then your 240V Then your 277V

 

[Dmartin95]

In other words, the common wire tap will become a 120 leg?, the 240 wire-tap will become the other 120 leg?

Then when the circuit is completed (closed) it will operate at 240 volt... Correct?

 

[Mark R]

In other words, the common wire tap will become a 120 leg?, the 240 wire-tap will become the other 120 leg?

Then when the circuit is completed (closed) it will operate at 240 volt... Correct?

If you mean, connecting 'common' to one 120V supply, and '240V' to the opposite 120V supply, while leaving '120V', '208V' and '277V' unconnected and insulated. Then, yes. That will work.

However, it is not recommended, in view of it being a non-standard method of connection.

 

[PsiStar]

OP, do you have curly hair? If not then I suggest you prepare your family for the new you. This is after they have become accustomed to the stench of burnt flesh which will have thoroughly permeated the house. Just sayin' ... :\

 

[Dmartin95]

If you mean, connecting 'common' to one 120V supply, and '240V' to the opposite 120V supply, while leaving '120V', '208V' and '277V' unconnected and insulated. Then, yes. That will work.

Yes, that's exactly what I mean.

However, it is not recommended, in view of it being a non-standard method of connection.

What I am looking is for is the recomended way if you know of one.

I mean, it's a multi-tap ballast and is built to have different voltages... It appears, that hooking a hot to common is the only way to hook it up.

Here's a shot of the Wiring Diagram on the side of the Transformer:

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

In other words, the common wire tap will become a 120 leg?, the 240 wire-tap will become the other 120 leg?

Then when the circuit is completed (closed) it will operate at 240 volt... Correct?

The neutral wire connects the single phase equipment to the transformer. Voltages (115v) between any one of the three phase lines and the neutral wire can be used for power. Get it? COM--->Neutral Thats ! now what voltages do you use? 115 or 120v will be Common and 115v 208 = Neutral and the 208 second wire. 240= COM and the 240 wire. Your using it for lights its single phase.

 

[Paperdoc]

Look at the wiring diagram on the ballast as you posted. This ballast is intended to have connected to its input only TWO wires. One will go to "COM", and the other will go to the terminal labeled with whatever voltage you have between those two wires.

IF you were using it on a common 120 VAC system with Hot (Black), Neutral (White) and Ground (bare) wires, the Neutral (White) would go to COM, the Hot (Black) would go to 120V, and the Ground (bare) goes to the light fixture exterior body Ground terminal. But that is NOT how you say you want to do this.

You say you want to use a 240 VAC supply to the ballast. I'm not sure where you are getting that, but in a house system it is true that wires providing BOTH of the two Hot lines (really, L1 and L2 of the 120 / 240 V system) are normally color coded Black and Red. That usually occurs in a cable that also carries the White (neutral) line and, once again, a bare Ground line. If that is the kind of cable you have coming to the light fixture, and your intent is to use ONLY 240 VAC here, then the White (Neutral) line is completely superfluous - IGNORE IT and tape its end off safely without connecting it to anything. The bare line still must connect to the light fixture chassis Ground terminal. But the two lines that give you 240 VAC are the Black and Red. Since they are really no different from each other, it does not matter whether you put Red or Black on the COM terminal; just connect the other to the 240V terminal.

The only disadvantage of this is that, in most North American home and small business systems, the Neutral (White) line is grounded at the breaker panel (the "Grounded Neutral" system), so using it (on COM) plus a single Hot 120 VAC line means the COM side of the ballast winding is a very low voltage with respect to a true Ground. Using it as you plan makes the COM side at 120 VAC compared to true Ground. BUT that is still entirely acceptable - the COM terminal is not supposed to connect to anything except the lamp anyway, and we all should know not to stick fingers into lamp sockets!

OP, you did figure it out yourself correctly. I'm afraid some of the replies you got are just confusing you.

 

[Mark R]

Yes, that's exactly what I mean.
What I am looking is for is the recomended way if you know of one.

The ballast instructions recommend hooking it up between neutral and 1 phase. So, ideally, this is what you should do if you have a neutral connection available.

If you don't have a neutral connection, then the only way you'll get it working is to do as you suggest.
But there are some issues here:
1. You need to make sure the wiring is clearly labelled. So that, in case you forget, or someone else decides to service the equipment they can easily see that it is non-standard.

2. You will need to use a special '2 pole' switch, not a normal light switch.
Normally, you will connect neutral, and a put a switch in the hot wire, but leave neutral permanently connected. This way, when the switch if 'off', even though the neutral remains connected, there is minimal risk of injury (as neutral is of low voltage).
With a split-phase installation, you need to ensure that both hot connections are disconnected when the switch is 'off' (hence a 2 pole switch)- otherwise you will end up with dangerous voltage present in the lamp even when 'switched off', and you may get peculiar effects like the bulb glowing faintly or flickering (even when off) because of 'capacitative leakage' current from the connected hot wire.

 

[William Gaatjes]

I am confused.

Do you have in the US not 3 phase power ?
If i am reading correct, you want to connect between 2 phases yes ?
Would the voltage between 2 phases not be square root from 3 times 120V ?
Because of 3 sine waves moving 120 degrees out of phase ?


This would be 207.85 Volts. The closest selection tap would be then the 208 Volt.
And the voltage between the two phases would be then 207.85 Volts and not 240 Volts. Maybe i am missing something ? :hmm:

 

[Mark R]

I am confused.

Do you have in the US not 3 phase power ?

Not domestically. A standard US domestic electricity supply is 120 V/240 V 'split-phase'.

3 wires: Neutral; live 1; and live 2 (which is 180 degrees out of phase with 1).

3 phase (208 V) is reserved for industrial sites where 3 phase motors are required.

 

[William Gaatjes]

Not domestically. A standard US domestic electricity supply is 120 V/240 V 'split-phase'.

3 wires: Neutral; live 1; and live 2 (which is 180 degrees out of phase with 1).

3 phase (208 V) is reserved for industrial sites where 3 phase motors are required.

I see. It looks to me as a way to creates compatibility with the eu 230V single phase appliances. And afcourse, the increase in voltage allows for a lower current with the same amount of electrical power.
I did some digging : It is called split phase. When seeing the transformer it makes sense.

I have not seen this used before in my country. Must be some special cases. With the exception of symmetrical power supplies in electronic circuits.

 

[Mark R]

I have not seen this used before in my country. Must be some special cases. With the exception of symmetrical power supplies in electronic circuits.

It's uncommon in Europe, but it is used; I've seen it in the UK occasionally (but it's rare enough that electricians get confused by it, as most will not have ever seen such an installation).

It's only used in rural areas - where a single customer (or occasionally 2) is located in a remote area (e.g. a small farm), but the power demands are too much for a single phase supply, but not enough to justify a full 3 phase.

A 'split-phase' supply is cheaper, as it requires only 2 high-voltage conductors (instead of 3) and a cheaper transformer. The use of split phase as opposed to single phase reduces voltage drop, so allows higher load handling than a conventional single phase supply. However, the split-phase system is gradually being phased out, at least in the UK, and new installations are now either 3 phase or single-phase only.

 

[Dmartin95]

Hey all, thanks a lot for the all the great advice!

Mark R, double thanks to you for the advice about the 2 pole switch!

I have an additional question now......

Does a Ballast like this require it's own (dedicated) breaker/circuit or can I run 2, 240 Volt Ballast off 1 circuit?

 

[edro]

You can run 2 ballasts from the same breaker.

And what are you doing with 2 1000W HPS fixtures?
Are you by chance installing these in your basement?
Are you growing your own vegetables?

 

[Dmartin95]

These lights will be used to illuminate a very high ceiling poll barn....

As to your other two questions.... ???? I'm confused.... Why would I be growing vegetables in my basement????

 

[pcgeek11]

These lights will be used to illuminate a very high ceiling poll barn....

As to your other two questions.... ???? I'm confused.... Why would I be growing vegetables in my basement????

I think he means Herbs .... instead of veggies....

 

[Dmartin95]

I think he means Herbs .... instead of veggies....

In the words of Homer Simpson - DOH!!!

Yeah, I guess that one went right over my head.... But anyhow, no, I will not be growing anything with these light unless dust bunnies and cobwebs count! LOL!

Actually, while Googling and trying to figure out how to hook up these ballast I came across "herb" forum, after herb forum with discussion about HPS ballast....

However, no offense meant here to anyone, but about the last place I want info from (on hooking up electronic equipment to high voltages) is from a bunch of stoners on an herb forum...

 

[pcgeek11]

In the words of Homer Simpson - DOH!!!

Yeah, I guess that one went right over my head.... But anyhow, no, I will not be growing anything with these light unless dust bunnies and cobwebs count! LOL!

Actually, while Googling and trying to figure out how to hook up these ballast I came across "herb" forum, after herb forum with discussion about HPS ballast....

However, no offense meant here to anyone, but about the last place I want info from (on hooking up electronic equipment to high voltages) is from a bunch of stoners on an herb forum...