voltage drop for high bay lights

[Stevenfyeager]

a "lighting" relay on line:

 

[ptonsparky]

the relay I bought:

Supply power to the black & white.
Touch two control wires together. Contacts change state. No power to the control wires. Dry contact only.

 

[ptonsparky]

 

[ptonsparky]

Do you still have questions how?
You would need to keep your 3 & 4 ways isolated from other wiring per Class 2

 

[Stevenfyeager]

Do you still have questions how?
You would need to keep your 3 & 4 ways isolated from other wiring per Class 2

Thank you so much ! so in the diagram, I power up both the blk and orange wires with 120 v, ie, together ? And the yellow sends the 120 v to the load when switched ? And the dry switch just means it doesn't carry the 120 v but low voltage for communication. For 170' length for 3 - ways, 4 ways, low voltage switches, I would use 12-2 mc or can I use smaller wires between switches ? Sorry to ask all these but,... Also, I would need to use some kind of divider in a switch box or a separate switch box because of low voltage not being able to be with 120 v switches, correct ?

 

[Strathead]

Two possibilities. If your job requires all wire in conduit then stick with this. You will use 120V to your 3 way and 4 way switches with the switch leg going to the coil of the relay. Then placing the relay near your first light fixture, run the home run through the relay contacts. If you have more than one lighting circuit you can put the relay coils in parallel and each circuit to a contact.
If you don't have to have it in conduit, then return this one. Buy a 24V coil Rib, and a class 2 power supply such as a BZ-50 Wattstopper. Use the 24v instead of the 120 to the coils with class 2 wiring methods. Much cheaper.

 

[ptonsparky]

Look at the diagram. The two wires to the dry contact are now the feed to your switches, 3&4 ways, and the return back. Just as you would have in any switch loop. Do not apply any power to those two wires.

Power it up on your work bench. Don't worry about an actual load. Use a spool or two of any wire size to simulate the length of the switch loop. Short the control wires and listen for the relay. Both ends of a 250 coil of Romex would work.

 

[curt swartz]

The advantage of using this type of relay is you can run class 2 cable. Don't waste time and $$ on MC or pipe. If this is going to surface mounted I would drop down to the switches with EMT or Wiremold. For cable 22/4 security cable, 18/3 Tstat cable, etc.

 

[Stevenfyeager]

Look at the diagram. The two wires to the dry contact are now the feed to your switches, 3&4 ways, and the return back. Just as you would have in any switch loop. Do not apply any power to those two wires.

Power it up on your work bench. Don't worry about an actual load. Use a spool or two of any wire size to simulate the length of the switch loop. Short the control wires and listen for the relay. Both ends of a 250 coil of Romex would work.

Thank you. I did temporary wire it up like this using 3-way switches in my garage last night and it worked great

 

[VirutalElectrician]

Also, why not use 240 for the lights? I've yet to see a commercial quality high bay that wasn't multi voltage.

 

[Stevenfyeager]

I roughed in 400' of 4 wire thermostat wire and temp. tried the lights, using the RIB, it works great ! Thank you so much ! One question: How do I install the RIB ? Since the threaded fitting on the device has both line voltage, load wires, and the two low voltage wires coming through it, don't I need to separate them in the junction box somehow ? I thought a conduit or fitting like that can't have line v and low voltage together? Use a divider in the j box like I'm going to in the 4 g switch box for my 3 way low voltage switch ? Which leads me to another question, they sell mc 12-2 cable with low voltage wires for dimming lights I'm told by my supply house. How is it allowable to have low v in the same mc cable as 120 or 277 v ?

 

[cadpoint]

300.3 (C) (1)

 

[ramsy]

roughed in 400' of 4 wire thermostat wire

Your RIB Ctrl circuit 120v, but what is the voltage rating of your class-2 thermostat wire?

 

[Stevenfyeager]

Your RIB Ctrl circuit 120v, but what is the voltage rating of your class-2 thermostat wire?

300.3 (C) (1)

hm., thank you, but what about 310.10 H 1 ? the ampacity of each individual conductor is sufficient to carry the entire load... 300.3 C 1 sent me there.

 

[Stevenfyeager]

Your RIB Ctrl circuit 120v, but what is the voltage rating of your class-2 thermostat wire?

the engineer on the phone told me 24 v DC

 

[Stevenfyeager]

I've often wondered how we are able to have low voltage thermostat sensor wires going to under the tile floor in the same switch box as 240 v or 120 v wires for heated floor thermostat

 

[cadpoint]

One has to have 300.3(C)(1) to continue on to use 310.10 (H) (1). Your counter salesperson stated what you need.
Another example was also mentioned.
Because of the Weird (reference to verbage on wire) aspect of Class 2 thermostat wire isn't listed in the low 310's, so your not suppose/ going to
combine them in a box. I'm sure there's plenty of wires that have been snuck around the isolation blades in device boxes.
Also mentioned was putting the RIB at the light and with power to light first and work backwards.
Class 2 has to be separated or even isolated from itself if not shielded.
Great concept possible weird wiring... not!

 

[Stevenfyeager]

One has to have 300.3(C)(1) to continue on to use 310.10 (H) (1). Your counter salesperson stated what you need.
Another example was also mentioned.
Because of the Weird (reference to verbage on wire) aspect of Class 2 thermostat wire isn't listed in the low 310's, so your not suppose/ going to
combine them in a box. I'm sure there's plenty of wires that have been snuck around the isolation blades in device boxes.
Also mentioned was putting the RIB at the light and with power to light first and work backwards.
Class 2 has to be separated or even isolated from itself if not shielded.
Great concept possible weird wiring... not!

Thank you. Sorry, I'm kind of slow... how do I mount this device,... whether I mount it on the top side of a light or outside of a junction box, the threaded fitting on it will feed both 24 v wires and 120v wires into the same "box." How does one keep them separate when there is only one exit from the device ?

 

[synchro]

The RIB01BDC is UL Listed, and so a reasonable assumption is that the RIB's White/Red and White/Blue wires have an adequate voltage rating to be run along with wires that are at a 120V potential. To meet 300.3(C)(1), you could route the White/Red and White/Blue wires into a separate partition of the same box (or to another adjacent junction box) and connect them there to your thermostat wire. You could also connect these two RIB 24V wires to 120V rated wires or cable, and then route that to a connection made with the thermostat wires in a junction box at an arbitrary distance away from the RIB, if you so choose.

 

[Stevenfyeager]

The RIB01BDC is UL Listed, and so a reasonable assumption is that the RIB's White/Red and White/Blue wires have an adequate voltage rating to be run along with wires that are at a 120V potential. To meet 300.3(C)(1), you could route the White/Red and White/Blue wires into a separate partition of the same box (or to another adjacent junction box) and connect them there to your thermostat wire. You could also connect these two RIB 24V wires to 120V rated wires or cable, and then route that to a connection made with the thermostat wires in a junction box at an arbitrary distance away from the RIB, if you so choose.

Thanks so much ! I've just never done this before.