any electricians? wiring fluorescent lights?

[smboudreaux]

in the process of wiring up my new shop. i've picked up power from another box on the circuit and brought it to the gang box for my switch. i know i need to run a switch leg up to the first light fixture. i plan on having 4 fixtures run on one switch. i guess my question in this. how do i actually wire the light in? wire nut the 3 wires of like color together and move on down to the next light? and on the bare copper ground, some of the diagrams i've looked at show the ground tieing into the light should. am i interpreting this correctly?

i play with radioactive materials and hazardous chemicals everyday but for whatever reason electricity is a mystery to me.

 

[Queequeg]

Re: any electricians? wiring fluorescent lights?

As a carpenter I can just say...Be careful!

 

[jcwarrior87]

Re: any electricians? wiring fluorescent lights?

very simple to do, when you get power to your lights, you should two pieces of romex (14/2 or 12/2) each will have a white and black and a bare, the whites hook together along with the white wire from the ballast, the blacks together along with the black from the ballast, then the bare gets tied to the other bare along with another piece of bare wire that is put under the green screw on the light. the green screw either came in a little bag or is all ready on the light some were. I hope this clears stuff up, if not let me know what needs a little more explaining.

 

[smboudreaux]

Re: any electricians? wiring fluorescent lights?

there will be a bare wire coming from the ballast also? or do i tied the bares in the daisy chain together at the green screw?

 

[jcwarrior87]

Re: any electricians? wiring fluorescent lights?

the latter, the green is to tire all the metal together.

 

[padronanniversary]

Re: any electricians? wiring fluorescent lights?

Essentially what you are doing is wiring them in parallel from the switch.

Imagine a water pipe. you would just tap into each section, like you did from the other circuit. The ground is on the light, or is a near the junction box or wiring of each light as JC warrior indicated

 

[smboudreaux]

Re: any electricians? wiring fluorescent lights?

i gotcha. that clear up quite a bit. thanks fellas

 

[The Mechanic]

Re: any electricians? wiring fluorescent lights?

Get one of those cheap little light up voltage checkers It is nice to just put them up agianst the wire to check for your hot as well as to verify you don't have power on as you are wiring. Make sure to verify its operation before you start though.

 

[jcwarrior87]

Re: any electricians? wiring fluorescent lights?

I can't second what the mechanic just said enough, it is one of the must haves of working with electricity. It has saved me so many times from getting hurt. It is about as important to working with electricity as a scale is to reloading.

 

[smboudreaux]

Re: any electricians? wiring fluorescent lights?

the main feed wire isn't tied into the panel in my shop or the panel in my house yet. thats the only reason i'm messing with it. i appreciate the head up though

 

[Switchblade]

Re: any electricians? wiring fluorescent lights?

Padron explained the same way I would. Mount your lights, then wire them. Put your lights on a completely seperate circuit from your working power plugs for your tools and such. Make sure your work plugs are not overloaded. If you plan on selling in the future, PLEASE DO NOT CLUSTERFUCK the wiring job. I say this because I am in the process of unclusterfucking the wire in my basement...
DIY network is your friend, and Lowe's/Home Depot have superb books on how to do this CORRECTLY. If you are squared away, ignore the former

 

[mexicanmatch]

Re: any electricians? wiring fluorescent lights?

unclusteringfucking. Is that in Websters? what do you know i just learned a new word. thanks

 

[Switchblade]

Re: any electricians? wiring fluorescent lights?

wellll I kinda like it. it goes way way back to a old gunny I used to have,"Boooyyy, one of these days you will unclusterfuck yourself and get your shit wired tight!" As a young entry level Lance Jack Technician that thought I knew it all he had plenty of opinion to offer my young ass.
Wiring, circuit cards, troubleshooting, and electronic repair were my specialties when I swung with the wing. I learned commercial and residential wire by experience in different union based jobs.
When I say I have to unclusterfuck the wiring in our house, it is a severe understatement.

I cannot help but wonder when something is so easy to do, some make it a complete disaster.

Bud Row(i have a hard time spellin cajun)
When you wire this all up get teh book at Lowe's. It shows you all the tricks to do it right so anyone will think it was professionally done to code(in my best Mike Holme's voice)

 

[Hink]

Re: any electricians? wiring fluorescent lights?

Agree with switchblade and others -- electrical can be dangerous but only when you fail to respect it. Take your time and do it correctly; you'll only do it right once.

 

[Downzero]

Re: any electricians? wiring fluorescent lights?

I think you need to do a lot of reading if you don't know what you're doing. Electricity is easy, but if you don't understand what you're working with, you could cause a lot of problems.

 

[clos9009]

Re: any electricians? wiring fluorescent lights?

you also need a neutral at either the light fixture or at your switch box. so if i am reading your post right you have three wires at your switch box. should be a green or copper bare, white and a black. from that switch box take a piece of 12-2 romex up to your first light fixture. you will go bare to the green screw, white to you ballast white and black to your ballast black, then daisy chain color for color to the rest of your fixtures.

no back at the light switch box you have your incoming power which consists of a black (hot) white (neutral) take you black to the top screw on your swithc and tie the whites together and tuck them back in the box, now take the black going up the the lights and put that on the bottom screw on your switch.

and i am a licensed electrician in Denver CO.

 

[clos9009]

Re: any electricians? wiring fluorescent lights?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: smboudreaux</div><div class="ubbcode-body">there will be a bare wire coming from the ballast also? or do i tied the bares in the daisy chain together at the green screw? </div></div>

no bare wire form the ballast, that get grounded out or bonded to the light fixture by the screw that hold the ballast to the fixture. just be sure to ground the fixture withe the green screws.

 

[mexicanmatch]

Re: any electricians? wiring fluorescent lights?

Watch those bare wires hot or not, Even if the meter is out of the base safety at all times.
i got hit with 220 one day on the back of my hand abt 20 yrs ago and still have the scar and memory, i shit like a rabbit for a couple of days after that. stay safe. Dennis

 

[Switchblade]

Re: any electricians? wiring fluorescent lights?

clos, he still needs to go read the darn books at Lowe's or Home Depot to know what he's doing so he doesn't screw it up.
Dude, do yourself a huge favor and get the home repair and home improvement books on electrical stuff. If anything, you might learn something valuable, but my guess is you will learn to do what needs to be done properly and that's what counts.
I am trained in levels of electronics, have experience in electrical, plumbing, framing, layout and other stuff, but I STILL READ THE BOOKS. It's the only way I know I am doing the jobs here in our house correct, so they look good, and to code.
If it's not to code, it's wrong. If it's done shoddily, it's wrong. If it's done 'almost right' or 'almost to code' it's still wrong.
There is only one right, and a job well done by one's self is superbly satisfying at the day's end

 

[smboudreaux]

Re: any electricians? wiring fluorescent lights?

i got it squared away. one of my neighbors came over and showed me on a couple fixtures and i took it from there. all thats left it to tie in the panel. gonna leave that one to the pros

 

[jcwarrior87]

Re: any electricians? wiring fluorescent lights?

the panel is the easy part if it is just one piece of romex, it it is many then it could be a little harder. if you want help with the I am sure we could help you though it. But if you don't feel save or comfortable, leave it to the pros. that is a rule we go by here with the apprentices, only have them do what they are comfortable with and work them up to working on more challenging stuff, because people that are scared in live panels hurt themselves. all about habits in a panel.

 

[smboudreaux]

Re: any electricians? wiring fluorescent lights?

the box is full. 6 110 circuits 2 220 drops and a breaker to use to backfeed into my house. its another one of those situations where i have an idea how it works but i'm not really comfortable with it.

 

[jcwarrior87]

Re: any electricians? wiring fluorescent lights?

yeah then leave it to the pros since you are not comfortable with it... we need all the shooters in this country we can get!! stay safe

 

[Switchblade]

Re: any electricians? wiring fluorescent lights?

SOunds like you need a larger box man. Working live wire is a type of fun I still enjoy as long as it's 110. 110 doesn't bite like main hanger power in 220 or 440. That stuff will knock you 20' sitting on your ass with burned meter leads looking starstruck around going,"WOW! What a RUSH!" as your Marine buddies hover around asking if you are all right

Really though, if you spend a little dough on some Klein ELectrical tools, you needn't fear any voltage in the house as all their stuff is rated way above that.

 

[jcwarrior87]

Re: any electricians? wiring fluorescent lights?

110????? are you kidding me give me 480 any day.... 110 kills more people than any other voltage out there due to the higher amps that it take in order to drive the same thing at a higher voltage(but I bet you know that) Some of the worse shocks I have gotten have been from 110 under load. (damn apprentices turning on power when you tell them not to) but since it is a sub panel he should be able to turn in off at the main panel and do it all dead, which is the safest way to do it, live lines can do some interesting stuff that you need to be train to understand. so if he can shut it off at the main. there is no reason he can't put in a larger panel himself. we can walk him though it!

 

[Ol' RD]

Re: any electricians? wiring fluorescent lights?

110 kills more people than 480, only because there's more of it out there. Them electron don't give a rip about what color the wire is or the person! If your in the circuit your FRIED! 480 will throw you most of the time, if not it will be a closed casket visitation.

 

[wirehand]

Re: any electricians? wiring fluorescent lights?

Give me 14,000/24,900v before 480v.

The clearances around 480v typically don't allow for mistakes.

A fire ball in a panel,switch gear or transformer is just badass because of the arc flash being reflected back.

Having stories about getting shocked or flashed regardless of voltage show a lack of awareness or training.

Like was posted, if you absolutly don't need to work it hot than don't.