high bay temporary lights

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eastjmg7

Member
I was doing some demo, and took down high bay lights. i was going to put them in a new area of the building and checked the wiring and found it to be wired up 208v. Thats fine but the previous guy had just ran 2 wire and used the white as a hot. How was this light working?
 

ultramegabob

Senior Member
Location
Indiana
eastjmg7 said:
I was doing some demo, and took down high bay lights. i was going to put them in a new area of the building and checked the wiring and found it to be wired up 208v. Thats fine but the previous guy had just ran 2 wire and used the white as a hot. How was this light working?


maybe electricity is color blind....
 

LarryFine

Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
Location
Henrico County, VA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
eastjmg7 said:
I was doing some demo, and took down high bay lights. i was going to put them in a new area of the building and checked the wiring and found it to be wired up 208v. Thats fine but the previous guy had just ran 2 wire and used the white as a hot. How was this light working?
Because 'white' is just a wire color. Whether it's hot or grounded depends on how it's hooked up.

Congrats. You just learned a lesson: Don't assume anything about a conductor based on its color.
 

ultramegabob

Senior Member
Location
Indiana
after reading your post again, are you confused about it having a "white" wire for power and it working, or that it only has 2 wires going to it and working? if it needs 208 then all it needs to make the circuit is 2 wires, what exactly are you confused about?
 

LarryFine

Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
Location
Henrico County, VA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
My guess is he believes that, bceause one of the wires is white, that the fixture must be receiving only 120v.
 

ultramegabob

Senior Member
Location
Indiana
LarryFine said:
My guess is he believes that, bceause one of the wires is white, that the fixture must be receiving only 120v.

he does say that they used the white as hot, so im not sure what he is confused about.
 

frizbeedog

Senior Member
Location
Oregon
ultramegabob said:
he does say that they used the white as hot, so im not sure what he is confused about.

My guess would be he's looking at the common wire on the ballast which is white, but connected to one line or neutral, depending on the voltage supplied.
 

mivey

Senior Member
eastjmg7 said:
I was doing some demo, and took down high bay lights. i was going to put them in a new area of the building and checked the wiring and found it to be wired up 208v. Thats fine but the previous guy had just ran 2 wire and used the white as a hot. How was this light working?
I would be very interested to know why you think it would not work. Are there some missing details that you could fill in?
 
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