277V Lights on 110V Standard House Current

[Moth]

I have 2 175w Metal Halide Security lights (277V).

I was wondering if there is a way to get them to run on a standard 110V current.

I can get 2 breaker switches and run 8 gauge wiring out, but I need to know if they would run on the 220V that it would give them. Would these 2 run on 220V?

 

[waross]

Probably not, but I have much more experience doing things right than doing them wrong, so I can't say for sure.
I suggest that you look for a suitable transformer.
yours

 

[itsmoked]

I was running 5 of those in my living room(aquarium NOT pot!) They all had multiple leads that allowed either voltage. Are you sure yours don't?

Keith Cress
Flamin Systems, Inc.-

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[waross]

Hi Keith;
We have always taken your handle at face value, but you have inadvertently started some different thought trains.
No, on second thought, anyone who gets "high" by driving on railway trestles doesn't need pot.
LOL
Bill

 

[Moth]

Thanks guys, that really helps. Mulitiple leads would entail lose wiring inside of the ballast, correct? I would have to disconnect some other wires and replace them with the loose ones. Or so I have heard.

 

[jraef]

The easiest thing would be to just create a separate circuit for all 3 lights, then use a "buck-boost" transformer to boost your 240V to 277 (approx.) Go to this webpage about buck-boost transformers. On the left of the page are pdf files for selecting and wiring the transformer.

Sold/Hevi Duty buck-boost transformer link

(aquarium NOT pot!)

Hmmm..
Lives in Santa Cruz CA, the Pot capitol of the Central Coast.
Riiiight....

 

[itsmoked]

Yes Moth there would be some other flying lead/s coming out of your ballast usually just "nutted" off or taped. Often the ballast has a picture on it that shows all the possibilities.

Hey HEY! If I'd been growing pot I'd have still been able to afford running them the 18 hours a day I'd been using them.. But the fish couldn't muster the big bucks after the PG&E fiasco. (sniff sigh).

Waross... Who said I drove my 56 Chevy pickup over the Capitola train trestle? (oh and the San Lorenzo River one too.)I'm starting to wonder if you lived here..

Keith Cress
Flamin Systems, Inc.-

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[mc5w]

I have seen a service for parking lot lights that was 120/240 volts with a buck boost transformer to raise to voltage to either 136/272 volts or 120/152/272 volts. Most likely it was the latter voltage as National Electrical Code requires the use of the neutral wire as the common wire of an autotransformer with 2 exceptions. The exceptions are interchange between 480 volts and 600 volts and the other is interchange between 208 volts and 240 volts.

Also, a standard single phase transformer is 277 volts primary 120/240 volts secondary. The secondary is 4 wire and can be wired as a 120 volt 2 wire winding. You could use this in reverse to step up from 240 volts to 277 volts. Actually, if you need to test a bunch of 277 volt ballasts such as fluorescent ballasts, this would not be a bad item to have in a testing kit.

Mike Cole

 

[waross]

It's a little off thread, but I took my first drivers examination in my Dad's 56 Chev pickup.
respectfully