Help - Plugs on lights are weird

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DannyGreenEyes

Well-Known Member
I think I may have made a newbie mistake. When I ordered lights I told them to wire it for 220v. I just got them today but they have strange plugs on the end and a sticker on the cord that says 240v.

The plug has a ground, the 2 other prongs are turned sideways so the go left & right instead of up & down.

The guy at Home Depot says I just need an extension cord special made with that weird plug on one end. (10 guage to run three 400w ballasts)

I'm worried that the voltage is going to be wrong. Can anyone help with some advice please.
 
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DannyGreenEyes

Well-Known Member
Sorry it took so long, took me a minute to figure out where the cam was saving pics.

I also found some info in the box. It says "Plug the ballast into any household grounded outlet or appliance-duty 15 amp (or higher amperage) timer."

It really doesn't look like one of those heavy duty plugs that I've seen used for wahsers & dryers though. I've never seen a plug like this.
 
oj1981

oj1981

Well-Known Member
you will need to plug that into the female end on your ballast.
you might need a 1kw contactor as well.
do you have a pic of the whole thing?
 
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DannyGreenEyes

Well-Known Member
OJ - not sure what you mean by female end of the ballast. The other end of the plug cord goes into the ballast and another cord comes out & goes to the light. Also not sure what a 1kw contactor is. Here's a pic of the whole light.
 

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DannyGreenEyes

Well-Known Member
Our voltage is based on 110v circuits, by running 2 circuits to each plug we get 220v.
So older houses are sometimes still 110v, but all new houses for the past 30 or 40 years has been built with 220v wiring.
 
HowardWCampbell

HowardWCampbell

New Member
High Time 420 said:
I thought you yanks used 110-120v?
Click to expand...
Most of our household circuits are 110v. But electric dryers, water heaters, etc have dedicated 220v circuits. 220v outlets that are not used by a major appliance are pretty rare here.

DannyGreenEyes,
Do you have a 220v circuit to plug that into? Most of your normal outlets are going to be 110v.

If you can return the light easily, that's probably your best bet. Unless it is 110/220v convertible. If it's not, and you cut off the 220v plug and wire on a 110v plug bad things will likely happen. If you are lucky you will just burn up the ballast. If you are unlucky you might burn your house down.

Don't start cutting off factory plugs unless you are absolutely sure you know what you are doing.
 
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DannyGreenEyes

Well-Known Member
The ballast sais "input: 120/208/240/277v 60Hz
Documentation that came with the light sais

"Plug the ballast into any household grounded outlet or appliance-duty 15 amp (or higher amperage) timer. Note: Ballast automatically turns on once it is plugged into a power source. If using other voltage is desired, please contact a qualified electrician to make the correct rewiring to the ballast cores multi-volt power leads. This ballast will accept 120/208/240/277v power sources, it comes prewired for 120v household voltage."

When I ordered the lights she asked if I needed 110v and I told her no, I need 220v. She said it had to be rewired, but I'm not sure if she just meant the end of the power cord or internal wiring. After inheriting a house in NY and upgrading the old 110v electric to 220v I thought I had a pretty good handle on the difference between 110v & 220v, but I guess I misunderstood some things.

I just got back from Home Depot, I bought 3 outlets that will fit the plugs, 3 outlet boxes, 3 face plates, some fasteners for electrical cords, a 10ft piece of 10 guage wire, and a regular end that I can plug into a regual outlet. Only cost $50 so I saved myself about $100 ($150 - the cost of 3 custom extension cords). I think I'm ok, I just need to know if I need to bring these things to an electrician to have the ballasts rewired. I hope not.
 
scooby33

scooby33

Well-Known Member
right m8 if it is a 240/220 v and you plug it in to a 110/120 outlet it will not set fire to your ballast or your house it just will not work simple as. if it dose work it is a 110, so when you plug it in if it dose not work put a 220/240 plug on it to fit your 240 outlet
 
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DannyGreenEyes

Well-Known Member
scratch that last question, I just opened the ballast. There's a shit load of wires, the one marked 120v is unattatched and the one marked 240v is jumpered in. So I'm pretty confident that it's wired for 220v. Question is, will our electricity work? The guy at Home Depot said when I'm wiring the 10 guage cable I'll be working with 2 hot wires, no ground or return. So if I have 2 hot wires each with 110v, then is that 110v or 220v? I'm so confused.
 
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