Lighting, Light Fixtures, Ceiling and Exhaust Fans - Help finding 208 V ballast for fluorescent

Hi there,

I'm posting on behalf of my father, who has fluorescent lighting with 208 V ballasts that were installed in the 70's. The ballasts in several rooms are shot and he can't find replacements locally. Any hints on where I could find some of these for him? He says 240 V would also work. The lights are 48" ceiling mounted tubes (40 watt bulbs, I think). If there's just no way to get this voltage of ballasts, then does anyone know what he can do? I'd be thrilled to get these lights working in time for Thanksgiving.

Thanks!
Lee

Call your local electrical supply house and they should have it. The brand I recommend would be Advance.
First you need to know how many lamps are in each fixture. And if they are indeed F34 or F40's. If they are use the following part numbers.
1 Light bulb fixture Cat Number V2S34TP.
2 Light bulb fixture Cat Number V140TP.
If they are anything other than F34's or F40's than they would have different cat #'s. I am happy to help in anyway. If you can not find them in your area and you live in the US let me know I can supply them.

Thanks so much for your help. There are two light tubes per ballast and they are 40 watts, so the cat number would be V140TP, yes? I opened up the yellow pages and there are plenty of electrical supply companies. Funny--I've spent hours looking for 208 ballasts on the internet with no luck. Thanks again. My father will be so pleased.

Lauren

Leemiro, are these fixtures actually running on 208 volts? Is this in a house or a commercial building?

Advance does not list a 208 volt ballast, but they do list a 240 volt ballast for two F40 lamps. The catalog number is YQM - 2S40 - TP. You'll need an electrical wholesale house to order them - it's a bit of an oddity. I think Home Depot can order them as well.

If the fixtures really are running on 208 volts however, this 240 ballast probably won't work and even if it did it would represent a hazard. If this is the case, your best bet will be to convert the fixtures and the lighting circuit to 120 volt operation.

Also - the "V" series ballasts quoted above are made to operate on 277 volts. I doubt they'll run on 240 volts or 208 and again if they do, they would represent a hazard.

Cheyenps--Yes, the fixtures actually run on 208 volts. It's my father's house--although he does run a boat restoration business in the same building, so it's residential and commerical. Apparently, the whole building was once wired for 240 volts, but was converted to 208 because they couldn't run 110 volts on the 240.

My father was hoping that 240 ballasts would work instead, but I think he just really wants to avoid converting everything. But it sounds like you think that converting is really the only option. How big of a project is this? Do you have any very rough idea what it would cost to hire someone? My father can do it himself, but he never gets around to things like this.

Thanks for your help. I'm clueless when it comes to anything with wires in it.

It's a pretty simple wiring changeover, but not simple enough to describe here with any comfort. The amount of time it will take depends on several factors - number of fixtures, wiring method and existing condition of the wire used to connect the lights originally, length of circuit, number of switches, etc.

I've looked at all of the ballast companies I can think of, and none of them offer 208 volt fluorescent ballasts. In fact, I can't see where anyone has _ever_ offered fluorescent ballasts in that voltage.

What is the brand/model of the ballasts in the fixtures now? What is the voltage marked on them?

Cheyenps--
I'm not sure what make or model the ballasts are and can't reach my father to ask him, but he was positive the ballasts are 208 v and the fixtures run on 208 v. They are probably fairly old--twenty years old at least. Months ago, I did find one site that sells 208 v ballasts (http://www.specialty-lights.com/voltages.html) but after trying to order I was informed that they are meant for grow lights or "blue wave" lights (?).

Yes, I'd imagine that even a moderately simple procedure would be too much to explain on a message board. Like I said, my father can convert the breakers, but he's one of those people that won't hire someone to do what he can do, but never has the time to do all that needs to be done. I think maybe I should go ahead and hire an electrician as an early Christmas present, as it's not a job I can do myself.

Almost all the lights in the residential part of the house run on 208 v and have these ballasts. There are at least eight lights mounted on the ceiling (each fixture has two 40 watt flourescents per ballast). I have no clue how many breakers would need to be changed or the condition of the wiring, etc. I can get more details from my father in a week (he's out of town). I could spend up to $500 to convert the wiring/breakers that these lights run on. I guess my next step should be to get an estimate from a local electrician. I have no clue what it would cost and would hate to discover that it costs, say, a thousand dollars.