Electrical wiring question (Lamp)

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railrider1920

railrider1920

Member
Joined
Nov 8, 2007
Messages
237
Location
NW Fla Panhandle, USA.
Hi Folks,
I am looking for some help in wiring a lamp set. It is 4 sockets. I will be using spiral fluorescent bulbs. I want to be able to plug them in and have all 4 lights come on at one time, having all the lamps on one cord.

On the side of the bulbs is the following information:
Helical 26 W---------------- 26 x 4 = 104 watts (?)
120VAC
60 Hz
390mA--------------------- 390 x 4 = 1560 mA
FLE26HT3/2/D-------------(what is this stuff?)

What I'm mainly concerned with is if I can hook them up like I want to and what size of wire to use. I'd like to use an orange extension cord that I have because the one end is messed up, but I don't know what gauge the wire is. It is a two wire cord, no grounding plug on it. I think that it is 14 or 16 gauge. If I remember correctly, amps are the main thing to be concerned with when deciding on wire size.

Below is a bad diagram on how I want to hook it up.
Thanks for any help offered
lightingdrawing.jpg
 
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Rob,

I am not an electrical engineer, I don't play one on TV and I did not stay at the Holiday Inn Express last night.

But, I do make a lot of fixtures for shows.

4 flourescent fixtures will be no problem on 16 guage wire. However, some shows WILL REQUIRE a grounded plug. FIRE hazard otherwise (they say).

So, yes it will work but NO you probably can't use it at shows.
 
Thanks guys.

Well, it isn't for a show. I forgot to mention what it is for. It's for a light fixture that is going over a salt water fish tank. I'm using outside sockets, wire nuts, electrical tape and there will be glass on top of the fish tank, below the light fixture. With the fixture being about 6 inches above the glass.

I imagine that this will change things. 2 wire still ok or should I go with 3 for a ground? The cord is 16 gauge.

Thanks again.
 
railrider1920 said:
Thanks guys.

Well, it isn't for a show. I forgot to mention what it is for. It's for a light fixture that is going over a salt water fish tank. I'm using outside sockets, wire nuts, electrical tape and there will be glass on top of the fish tank, below the light fixture. With the fixture being about 6 inches above the glass.

I imagine that this will change things. 2 wire still ok or should I go with 3 for a ground? The cord is 16 gauge.

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

You like deep fried fish???
 
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Mikey said:
You got it right. 14 or 16 doesn't matter with 100 watts total.
Click to expand...

Even though the cord I'm thinking about using is 16 gauge? I thought that the total amount of Amperage is what is supposed to be taken into account before the wattage?

ed4copies said:
You like deep fried fish???
Click to expand...
Yeah I do... That would be some expensive food!

ed4copies said:
In which case, you get deep fried fish!!! UUUUUUUm mmmmmm, tasty.:eek::eek::eek:
Click to expand...

Think that if I put flour in the tank and if this ever happens, I can reach in and get battered ready to eat fish?? :biggrin:



We were given this stuff one day. My neighbor said if you want it, come over and get it. I'm tired of it. Well, it came with a sump, which is a smaller tank that sits under the main tank. Water goes into it, filtered, then pumped back up and into the main tank. I had to put a heater in the sump. Well, one day the pump in the sump (say that 10 times fast) shifted and put pressure on the thermostat and it broke. Well, the breaker was tripped. I got home and my wife told me what had happened. I'm just happy that she was ok and everything else was too. Fish lived. The freaky thing is that the water had been a little cloudy. After the shock, the water was crystal clear.
 
railrider1920 said:
Thanks guys.

Well, it isn't for a show. I forgot to mention what it is for. It's for a light fixture that is going over a salt water fish tank. I'm using outside sockets, wire nuts, electrical tape and there will be glass on top of the fish tank, below the light fixture. With the fixture being about 6 inches above the glass.

I imagine that this will change things. 2 wire still ok or should I go with 3 for a ground? The cord is 16 gauge.

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

I would go with three wire and install a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) in the outlet the you plug into. The fish are replaceable. You are not. Salt water conducts electricity, and you don't want it to conduct through your body!
 
16 guage is fine for the load that you will have. Your sockets probably don't have a location for a ground. If they do I would use a 3 wire cord. Normally you would want the hot (black) wire to be connected to the terminal screw that is connected to the center of the socket and not the outer shell. Hope this helps a little!
 
Please use a 3 prong in a GFCI. You won't have fried fish -- they will be boiled -- and you might get fried in the process.

Rudy
 
I'm not an electrical engineer either, but I believe the drawing you have would be considered wired in parallel. I know with DC power, when wired this way, the voltage stays the same, but amperage goes up. If wired in series(from one bulb to another) it would require more voltage but amperage would stay the same. Not sure if the same rules apply for AC power.
 
Wire gauge is determined by the amperage the circuit will carry. but as an example 14 gauge wire is good up to 15 amps. your lamps are drawing only 1.5 amps. go with 16 gauge wire and no ground will be needed.
 
Thank you everyone for all the replies. I got it wired up today. 4 bulbs. 6500K (color of light) each. It lights up a 10 x 10 deck like it's daytime!! I'm thinking that it might be overkill.

I'm going to change out the shop lights I have in my shop for some of these bulbs. What a difference. Instead of a yellow tint to the light, it's more natural. When I do, I'll try to take some before and after pictures and post them if they show the difference.

Again,
Thanks for your help.

Forgot to add this: I will be installing a GFI outlet for all the stuff for the tank, all on it's own breaker. I did use a 3 wire. On the shop lights I have, there is a grounding wire that is connected to the frame.

I'll get a picture of the light when I come back from NY. I just hope that this storm doesn't strand me in the middle of nowhere.

Be safe, especially those of you in the path of the storm.
 
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