stupid electrical question...

[BruceLeeroy]

i've heard it said in other threads that "bare wire" should not be used for ground when wiring 240 (or all wiring for that matter)...

the 10/3 i purchased has three insulated wires, and one uninsulated "ground" all bundled together.... is this considered "bare wire"? or by bare wire do they mean not wrapped in ANYTHING, just a copper wire with no rubber OR insulation?

 

[SPARKY420]

the ground in the 10 3 is a bare wire and you can use it for a ground but do not use it for a common for a ballast or anything like that. what are you using this for anyway. is it a four lite controller or something?

 

[Libalau-Timmay]

Its pretty common for the ground wire not to have a cover on it. Wire sold as Romex or simillar never has a cover on it.

If you were using THHN or some cord type wire like SJ then the ground would have a cover.


What type of wire are you using and where are you locating it ?

 

[BruceLeeroy]

lol. right on.

so now let me ask another stupid question... this one about rewiring 120v multitap ballast to run at 240v.

before i ask my question let me assure you that i have no intention of doing this myself. i've been hit with 240v juice while working in a shop about 8 years ago and since have been downright phobic about power (anyone thats gotten a good 240 knows what i'm talking about). for those who haven't, imagine getting hit by a car travelling a good 25 or so MPH (and thats assuming it DOESNT ground through your body). i have a friend that does all my wiring for me, i'm just trying to understand the basics/principles, if for no other reason than to make sure he knows what he's doing and it's safe.

according to the wiring diagram on the ballast, there is a 120 wire coming off a ballast and a 240 wire coming off the ballast. the cord that the ballast came with is a standard 120v grounded cord, so three wires 1 hot that connects to the 120v wire on the ballast, 1 common that connects to the common on the ballast, and 1 ground which is grounded to the case.


My confusion is that 240 coming off the sub panel is 4 wires, two hots(2 each @ 120), 1 common (N) and a ground.

i've talked to several different people and gotten several different answers, none of which satisfy me entirely. one person said to wire both 120 hot's to the 1 240 wire into the ballast, the common from the subpanel into the common on the ballast, and the ground from sub panel into the ground inside the case. i'm relatively certain that is incorrect and guaranteed to blow the circuit. putting two hot 120's together will just spark and blow correct?

another told me that one hot (120) should go to the 240v wire on the ballast, one hot (120) should go to common on the ballast, and then connect the ground from the panel to the ground inside the case, not using the common (N) from the panel at all. this doesn't make much sense to me either, as the common (N) is needed to complete the circuit correct?

yet another person told me the answer is to wire 1 hot(120) into the 240 spot on the ballast, 1 hot(120) into the 120 spot on the ballast, the common from the panel into the common on the ballast, and the ground from panel to ground in case. this seems like a good way to fry/explode the ballast to me.

as you can see, my knowledge of electricity is mediocre at best. has anyone rewired a 3 cord 120v ballast into 4 wire 240v?

luckily none of these people are doing my wiring! lol. these are opinions i've gotten from cyber friends on here and other boards. i'm just trying to figure out the way it should be properly done before my buddy arrives to do the wiring. yes i should just leave it to him, but i'm a safety freak and while he is an experienced electrician, i'm not sure he's ever wired anything quite like this before, and IMO it's ALWAYS better to double check and be safe. any input you have would be greatly appreciated, and for any that read this and are thinking of experimenting trying it yourself, please understand that it would feel much better to get hit by an NFL linebacker at a full run that the feeling you get from a nice tap on the shoulder from 240.

peace

 

[BruceLeeroy]

is there some equipment i'm missing? the double pole single throw breaker from the box has two leads coming off, these are both 120 correct? is there some way to combine the two into a single 240 lead, or is it all in the way you wire the ballast?

 

[Blunt_69]

No the 240 line is hot, the rest are the same. 120 hot line is not used when wireing 240. Funny you should mention getting snapped by power. I was working on a digi cam last night, took a 330V shock from the flash capacitor...Fucking such a newby mistake, first thing you do is discharge those things before doing anything same rule goes for a TV. I have a nice 2nd degree burn on my thumb tip(the size of a cap lead).
My hand didn't work for a half an hour or so but that wasnt so bad cause i was puffin back a fatty at that time Mabe toking and playing with electronics is a bad combo.....hmmmmmm

 

[BruceLeeroy]

but how can the 240 line be hot and all the rest the same when you have two hot 120's on a 4 wire 240 line? 2 hot 120's, 1 common and 1 ground right (coming from breaker panel)? do you wire both the hot 120's into the 240 wire on the ballast? sorry to hear about your experience with 330, i bet that sucked

 

[BruceLeeroy]

ok so after speaking with a friend who is a journeyman electrician, i've been informed that a 240v ballast/HID doesnt need a "common" or N, and that the two incoming hots should indeed be wired 1 to the common tap on the ballast and 1 to the 240v tap, ground to the case and cap off the incoming N. can anyone confirm or dispute this? thanx again for the info

 

[Blunt_69]

Yes the two 120 hots are out of phase with each other(check out your dryer). taking one as the common and the other as the hot get you 240V. Remeber to ground everything.

 

[BruceLeeroy]

right on blunt, thanx again this issue was troubling me but leave it to the electricians to sort me out lol. i cant believe some of the misdirection i recieved from people on other boards, if i was actually doing it myself and following their advice i'd have either fried my ballasts, had a fire/minor explosion or nothing at all! lol

peace, and thanx again for your replies, i'd give you more rep but i have to spread it around first lol

 

[SPARKY420]

i am a journeyman electrician and bruce is correct

 

[BruceLeeroy]

thanx again for your info blunt and timmay and sparky. almost thou makest me think i could wire it myself. give me a shrink for the fear of 240 and i'd be all ready to go lol. thanx again all

 

[vhGhost]

there is no such thing as a stupid question!!! especially with Electricity!!!