Metal Halide problem

[SS MAYFLOAT]

I had this 1000 watt ballast in my shop. Not knowing if it was good or not I hooked it up. I put one common wire to the neutral, the 120v line to the hot wire. One wire from the ballast goes to the capacitor and the other common wire goes to the lamp base. Then to complete the circuit a wire goes from the capacitor to the center pin of the lamp.<br /><br />It started right up, took about 5 minuets to fully light. Let it stay on for about 2 hours. (Boy was it bright in my shop) Seemed to work fine. So I put the ballast in my truck and headed off to a store that needs it.<br /><br />I installed the ballast and capacitor that I had just tried in the shop earlier. I went into the store and turned the breaker on. It was a single pole breaker so it should be a 120 volt line. I flipped the breaker on, went to the door and watched the light start up. I then went to my truck to put some of the pylons away. About 2 minuets later, I look up and it was like looking at the flash of an arc weld! I don't think I ever saw anything as bright as that. So knowing something wasn't right, I headed back into the store and shut off the breaker. But before I could get there, it had tripped. <br /><br />I went back out and put the pylons out and raised the boom up to the light. Opened it up and no broken bulb, no smoke/smell, no melted wires. I checked that I had the 120volt tap of the ballast. It was getting late and the boss sent me on a priority run so I had to stop. I did unhook the wires to the ballast as for them not to be able to turn it on. I double checked everthing. The only thing I didn't do was check the voltage.<br /><br />If the voltage is 208 volt, it should be on a double pole breaker. That is the only thing that I can figure that made that light too bright to look at. Then also if it was 208, the wiring should not have a white wire (which it does), it should have two colored and one green. Any other thoughts?

 

[rattana]

Re: Metal Halide problem

Where I work almost all our lighting is 347 volts single phase. The panel should indicate the voltage on the nameplate.

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: Metal Halide problem

rattana, all of our stores has 208 3 phase. So it would either be 208 single phase or 120 for those lights. Most of our other stores has 208 for the parking lot lights. <br /><br />I'm thinking someone may have taken off the metal bridge that ties two single poles together. I'll probably have to wait til next week to find out what voltage is at the pole. Ice strom to start tonight and end sometime Thrusday. Dang weather.

 

[rattana]

Re: Metal Halide problem

Okay good luck with the weather.

 

[heyttown]

Re: Metal Halide problem

Most store lighting in our area is 277 single phase......The breaker should have the rating on it....Double check and make sure its was a 120v breaker.<br /><br />Even if it is a 120/208 voltage system.You cant have 208v on one single pole breaker.......Even if someone took the "handle tie" off a double pole breaker, as long as you only hooked the wire to "1" hot wire on a 120/208 system the highest voltage is 120v, you would have to have "2" hot wires to achieve 208v

 

[Ben Konopacky]

Re: Metal Halide problem

what ever happend to the volt meter.old <br />" wiggie " ? better to be safe then sorry !!!

 

[crab bait]

Re: Metal Halide problem

yeah,, it's probably 277 v... ( one leg of a 480 3phase system .. i know the 277 doesn't add up/make sense,, but that's what one leg of 480 gives ya )

 

[Indymike]

Re: Metal Halide problem

All about the sq. root of 3

 

[rc581]

Re: Metal Halide problem

u might want to check and see if its the old ungrounded delta system, which will give you 240 on the high [or wild leg]. this is still a common system out there.good indication it is when every 3rd breaker slot is empty, on s/pole breaker