high bay temporary lights

[eastjmg7]

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]

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....

 

[frizbeedog]

maybe electricity is color blind....

Or the electrician is color blind.

 

[LarryFine]

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]

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]

My guess is he believes that, bceause one of the wires is white, that the fixture must be receiving only 120v.

 

[ultramegabob]

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]

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]

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?