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Hooking up a balast 101

F

F R e N c H 3 z

This is for the light experts...

I received my 6 bulb T5 light system today began putting it together. Being such a newbie, I have no idea how to hook these ballasts up. Can I just remove the light socket in the ceiling and the proper hookups should be up there? Or is this a whole mess where I will have to call my local electrician?


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IMG_2878.JPG

IMG_2883.JPG

Thanks
 
whites to white, blacks to black and green to the metal housing of the fixture

looks like your fixture is a 6 bulb with 2 ballasts

most people just hook up a regular cord from an old monitor or computer so they can plug it in (much safer for the newbie as well)

no prob in wiring it to your light box though.... just not typically done that way in our application

(unless you have both the male and female ends, you would probably will have to remove the cute lil yellow quick connects and use standard wire nuts)

Legal disclaimer: of course you should always call a qualified electrician, my advice is purely academic :)
 
Quick, silly question (before someone else explains what to do) - you ordered the 120V version & not the 277V - right?
 
Thanks Av8,
Yes it is a 6 bulb with 2 ballast.

Ok so here is what I thought I should do.
Turn off power at the box; unplug the light socket at where the 2 black plastic fittings are; plug in the ballast where the light socket used to be.

If the cables dont reach would my local Lowe's carry extensions?

---------- Post added at 06:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:44 PM ----------
RL7836 said:
Quick, silly question (before someone else explains what to do) - you ordered the 120V version & not the 277V - right?
Click to expand...

The box reads multivolt ballast (120/208/240/277)???
 
RL7836 said:
Quick, silly question (before someone else explains what to do) - you ordered the 120V version & not the 277V - right?
Click to expand...


hehehe Ron, its a univeral ballast.... it dont care mate :p

ron is messin with ya french ;)

yes, just go to the electrical isle and ask for help... 14/2 or 12/2 with ground would be plenty

just be sure and ground it ok.... :p

---------- Post added at 06:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:48 PM ----------

Hey ron... deep thought question for ya

you have 3 ceiling lights in the attic, and 3 wall switches on the ground floor... you are alone and can only make one trip to the attic.

How can you identify which switch is for which light

;)

---------- Post added at 07:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:53 PM ----------

French.... there are loads of videos online about the subject

http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-install-ceiling-light-fixtures-229363_9/
 
Beat to the punch! I asked Butch about those connectors a while ago when I got my new lights. I've been meaning for a while to post a pic thread on how I wired mine; I still haven't dug my camera out of my moving boxes, though. :(
Basically I just matched black-to-black, white-to-white, and attached the ground to the green grounding screw that's on the other side of the slide-out access panel.
~Joe
 
dont mean to but in , but click and clack the car talk guys on PBS pondered this question, but i never got the answere , so Av8tor please dont leave us hanging:-( i havent been able to figure it out ,
Is it a riddle?
or an m i a pea brain.
Ron did you get it ,which fan which switch?
 
Jimmy,

You turn one light on and let it burn for 15 mins or so, then turn it off. Then turn a different light on. Now run upstairs real quick.

You will find one bulb burning, one bulb off but hot, one bulb off and cold
:)
 
pea brain just as i thought LOL, That's so cool.
It pretty easy to entertain me:0o:
Thanks.
 
  • #10
LOL, nahhhhh.... very few of my students ever answer it correctly

Av
 
  • #11
Ok so went to Lowes and talked with the electrical guy who was HUGE help. I ended up giving up on the light socket since I wouldnt be able to have the light turn on and off (it's a closet light so there's no switch) or have it on a timer. I ended up hooking it up through an outlet. I basically took an extension cord, cut the female end off and stripped it down to the wires to expose the white, black and ground wire. I cut a piece of the cord off and stripped both sides so as to connect both ballasts. Plugged it in a voila!
Looks like....well a make shift setup but as long as it works and it's not a hazard...dont care.

IMG_2886.JPG


And here is the finished setup. Those of you that have 6 bulbs T5 setups, are the plants on the floor too far from the fixture or will they be getting plenty of light? I figured with 31,000 lumens that distance would be acceptable???

IMG_2885.JPG_595.jpg







So did I pass Av8tor1? :-D
 
  • #12
Hey Yann, I would ground that connection. It looks like you just cut off the ground wire (green) and left it exposed. Nice light btw.
 
  • #13
ummmm, you need to ground first. Secondly, Im not familiar with those connectors... are they made to just slide the wire like that (Im guessing yes), or did you kinda cram them in?

I know recepticals usually have places for that... but never used those before so I dunno... Ive not wired a house in many moons and my fixtures didnt have those.

actually french, you need some help mate... that plate on the light has a punch out (circular), you need to get a box adapter to clamp the wire with and protect it from strain and chafing

and the clear tape...

the ground wire is ubber major though

Ill take some pics for you tomorrow k, for right now be very careful... it works and that is something to be proud of, but you have some major safety issues

Av

---------- Post added at 09:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:03 PM ----------

look here: http://www.sealconusa.com/romex.htm

here is one a lot of people use: http://www.galesburgelectric.com/Bridgeport-665-DC2-1.187-1.490in-SE-Cable-Two-Screw-Strap-type-Connectors-w-K.O..html

---------- Post added at 09:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:24 PM ----------
F R e N c H 3 z said:
Those of you that have 6 bulbs T5 setups, are the plants on the floor too far from the fixture or will they be getting plenty of light?
Click to expand...

For neps it might be alright.... However, for best color and growth I would decrease the distance by about 1.5-2.0 feet and use that as a starting point.

I keep my neps 30-36" from mine with helis being the closest at 6-9 inches
 
  • #14
Ya I did have a question about the ground wire, I stripped it and was going to insert it but there are no spots to insert it like there are the black and white wires...
The plugs really are for sliding the wires in, they dont secure or anything...hense the clear tape :S

The directions do say to punch out the circular plate since the wires barely arent securely attached to the plugs I really dont know how to go about it without displacing everything. I'm going to see what I can do about that ground wire tonight, if I cant figure it out I'll just leave it unplugged until I can figure out how to do right.

I certainly wasnt expecting such a mess when I ordered this...


Thank you all for all the help and links.
 
  • #15
Its not a biggie, you just haven't done one before... just place the green wire under a screw on the fixture so it clamps it against the fixture housing.

ill take some pics tomorrow, I'm in Ky too French so i can send ya what you need... no worries mate, we got your 6 covered

;)

---------- Post added at 10:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:34 PM ----------

IMG_2886.JPG


see the circular areas in the cover plate that you have open. Those are "knock outs", they are designed to be removable for the wires to run through. That way you don't have to leave the access panel open and you can use stuff like those strain reliefs that i sent to links of.

Does that make any sense?

Kinda hard to explain, but once you do your first one then its a "duh, that was so easy"

And for the wires, from what you say about those connectors... I would remove those and use plain old wire nuts. Very old school but very simple and effective.

PM me your mailing addy if you want, and Ill send wire nuts and a box adapter (strain relief)

Its less then a 2 minute job once you understand what to do ;)
 
  • #16
I cant stress the thanks part enough, I probably would have fried my arse by now if it werent for you guys ;)

Here are a couple pictures just to help clarify. I'll go ahead and place the green wire under a screw as you said for now.

Input - extension cord into 1st plug. 1white to white input, 1 black to black input, no 3rd input for ground wire.
IMG_2887.JPG



2nd plug connecting from 1st plug. Again only 2 input but output has black, white and grey swirled in with red.
IMG_2888.JPG



Here's the 'great' manual that came with the fixture...This is the only part that refers to the actual wiring
IMG_2891.JPG


---------- Post added at 10:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:40 PM ----------
Av8tor1 said:
see the circular areas in the cover plate that you have open. Those are "knock outs", they are designed to be removable for the wires to run through. That way you don't have to leave the access panel open and you can use stuff like those strain reliefs that i sent to links of.
Click to expand...



Yes that totally makes sense.
My problem is that if I move the plugs inside the fixture and use that plate; there's a very good chance that the wires will fall out of the plugs and I'll just have to pull them back out to insert them back in. Is there any way that I can secure the wires from the extension cord to the plugs?
 
  • #17
Those yellow connectors actually look like they should work, but no worries.... lets keep it basic and use wire nuts.

They will solve the problem you mention, and they will be on the inside of the fixture. That way the "strain relief" will prevent any tugging on the wire nut connections when any "unintended" tension is put on the cord.

That is its whole purpose in life, that and to prevent chafing from the sharp edge of the knock out hole.

so you only need a couple dollars worth of goodies and 2 mins and it will be both professional and bullet proof

Av

(calling it a night, ill check PM's tomorrow... ive got spares of everything you need)
 
  • #18
dont mean to step in but in the 3c diagram you can see the wire nut type Av8tor1 is talking about you hold the wires together facing the same way and screw this nut designed for the porpose of twisting the wires together and holding them tight while covering all the exposed striped wiring , they will hold and you can put them inside.
 
  • #19
No please dont hesistate to step in, any help is appreciated.
I did see it on the diagram when I read it and tried to install the first time but those plugs come out directly from the ballasts. That means I dont have 2 wire ends to place in a wire nut. I may be missing something clearly obvious but I just cant see how I can get wire nuts on there unless I strip the wires from those plugs.
 
  • #20
yea cut them right off, but wait till Av8tor posts some pics for you , you'll have to remove the factory ends , and use the wire nuts insted , you wont need both, and the wire nuts will work much better:-D, and be safer they wont fall off once you have the screwed tight in place.
 
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