277V Metal Halide on 220V

[olf20]

Will a 277v metal halide light work on 220V.
I have a chance to purchase several at almost
nothing.
Thanks
olf20 / Bob

 

[acme thread]

Open up the ballast can, and check if your inside ballast transformer is a multi-tap. A lot of them are, Then all you have to do is remove the line wire over to the 120 v. tap.
dave [acme thread]

 

[olf20]

I have not opened one up yet but most of the multi
taps I have seen have the voltages on the outside.
These just have 277V.
I'll look at one tomarrow.
Thanks for the reply!
olf20 / Bob

 

[rdhem2]

The probable reason these lights are so cheap, and why they were removed in the first place, is because thanks to our great leader you will soon not be able to get lamps for the anymore. Light fixtures are pretty lame with no bulbs in them!

Oh great 0bummer, we bow to you.
Oh speaker of nothing but great truths.

 

[amdinc]

The probable reason these lights are so cheap, and why they were removed in the first place, is because thanks to our great leader you will soon not be able to get lamps for the anymore. Light fixtures are pretty lame with no bulbs in them!

Oh great 0bummer, we bow to you.
Oh speaker of nothing but great truths.

They make a florescent bulb that will directly replace the metal halide bulb. It is a screw in replacement. I have two of them installed but do not really like them.

John

 

[Hdpg]

????? Metal halides are gas discharge not incandescent. I know incandescent are going to be prohibited but is your govt also going to ban high efficiency metal halides?

 

[JST]

????? Metal halides are gas discharge not incandescent. I know incandescent are going to be prohibited but is your govt also going to ban high efficiency metal halides?

They will have a heck of a time...... pretty much every streetlight in the nation is some form of gas discharge, mercury arc, LP sodium, etc.

There may be some varieties that are on the list, I recall hearing about that.

But even incandescent are not completely banned. Specialty types are not, for one thing (rough service bulbs, and the like), and the halogen incandescent types with higher efficiency are not banned either.

The probable reason these lights are so cheap, and why they were removed in the first place, is because thanks to our great leader you will soon not be able to get lamps for the anymore. Light fixtures are pretty lame with no bulbs in them!

Oh great 0bummer, we bow to you.
Oh speaker of nothing but great truths.

If you are interested in facts..... the enabling legislation for most incandescent bans (Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007) was NOT passed under Obama, but actually in 2007, under Bush II. You can look it up.

The legislation dealing with mercury vapor ballasts (Energy Policy Act of 2005) was passed in 2005.... with the ban starting in 2008 again under BUSH II, BEFORE Obama was in office.

 

[TDegenhart]

Depends on the ballast, 277 v 240. I take it these are magnetic ballasts from the sounds of it. The ballast does two jobs, it must supply enough voltage to strike the lamp and regulate the current. My guess is that they will not have enough voltage output to start the lamp. Not sure what would happen if the lamps did start, since the voltage needed to maintain the lamp will go up. They may start and then extinguish. Sounds very iffy to me.

Tom

 

[DaveKamp]

Most I've found have a nice cast aluminum housing with screws over a cover... remove the cover and you'll find wires with markers, and a diagram on the inside of the cover. Takes about 20 seconds to open it up and find out.

Mine all have 120, 208, 230 and 277...

 

[wippin' boy]

I have a chance to purchase several at almost
nothing

you know bulbs for those things are upwards of 50 bucks right?

and I'm with dave it would be uncommon for those fixture to be 277 only

 

[Zonko]

Are they banning mercury (hi pressure) arc or metal halide (metal halide mercury high pressure arc) ?

Mecury arc should be banned because light quality and efficiency are both crap.

Mercury metal halide.....i don't think they can ban that because it is the only efficient light source which is mostly visually indistinguishable from sunlight.

 

[Edster]

you know bulbs for those things are upwards of 50 bucks right?

I thought that too buying from McMaster. Local electrician said to shop around he gets them for 10 bucks each.

Standard Metal Halide - MH400-ED28-U-4K: Lightbulbdirect.com

Wish I would have know that before I bought 10 of the oeo big lights

http://biglight.oeo.com/?gclid=CILwieLT4r0CFeY-MgodelcAlA

 

[TDegenhart]

When you think of fluorescent, high pressure sodium and metal hylides, all contain a small amount of mercury needed to strike an arc in the lamp. Not sure about low pressure, about the only use for them is highway.

Tom

 

[Grumpy365]

I buy straight 277 ballast all the time (one leg of 460 & neutral).

I could buy the "multi-volt" but they are more expensive. I call it the fee for not being able to make up your mind.

I say he puts 1 leg of 220 to the neutral leg of the ballast and all the magic smoke comes out.