Changing 480V Parking Lot Poles to 277V

[JulieFW]

I ordered 120-277V LED parking lot light fixtures for an upgrade project. The maintenance electrician at the facility told me the poles were 277V, but when the contractor went to install the new heads, he discovered 480V at the poles. There are 3 wires, brown and orange = 480V and a ground. Can the 2-pole breakers be changed to single-pole breakers and the whole parking lot system be changed to 277V? The existing heads are 1000W MH (+ ballast), and the new heads are 428W LED, so the load should not be an issue, but we would have to use a brown or orange wire as the neutral. Is this a bad idea? Or are their other reasons this wouldn't work?

 

[iwire]

I ordered 120-277V LED parking lot light fixtures for an upgrade project. The maintenance electrician at the facility told me the poles were 277V, but when the contractor went to install the new heads, he discovered 480V at the poles. There are 3 wires, brown and orange = 480V and a ground. Can the 2-pole breakers be changed to single-pole breakers and the whole parking lot system be changed to 277V? The existing heads are 1000W MH (+ ballast), and the new heads are 428W LED, so the load should not be an issue, but we would have to use a brown or orange wire as the neutral. Is this a bad idea? Or are their other reasons this wouldn't work?

The code requires the neutral conductor to white in the sizes you are dealing with. The code does not allow remarking the existing wires white.

I know this is not what you want to hear.