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This one takes the cake. I go to Home Cheapo and get a 1x4' LED ceiling panel for laundry room remodel. I have a similar unit in a bathroom and it seems to suit the purpose well. After opening the box I do a double take when the specs say it's for 240-277v!
I must therefore be a complete fool to assume that what a suburban HD sells is meant for normal, US domestic use, cause it didn't occur to me to check the voltage. It's just a goddam ceiling light panel. Are we supposed to check if they're selling 120v light bulbs too? My first reaction was to return it but then I'd have to find the receipt and then find a substitute. And then they'd argue that I should have read the friggin' label.
Or, maybe no problem after all. By coincidence, I have several continuous duty, step-up/down transformers sitting around from my days overseas. Awesome! Problem solved! But not so fast. The most suitable unit is an odd 250w Japanese transformer with 100v, 120v and 220v taps. All are on female unpolarized sockets. It came with a double male-male cord (!!) for the input side and you just plug in the load on whatever tap you want. OK, I tested it, it works great. But what to do with the transformer? I have a funny feeling that I can't just wire it up and bury it behind sheetrock.
I'd like to make this work in a legitimate way. What's the solution here without a getting a new fixture? Can I install an outlet and the transformer behind the wall with an access panel? Is regular wiring of any kind allowed behind sheetrock (standard Edison plugs)?? Thoughts on this idiotic mess? thanks.
Instead of doing a 1/2 assed Rube Goldberg job, just go exchange the fixture. Unless HD is 100 miles away you are going to spend more time and effort to end up with a crappy job than a good one. If you don't want to exchange the fixture for some reason, just get a replacement ballast and do it right. Don't hide anything behind sheetrock, for one it isn't legal to do so, and another reason is it is just a crappy, crappy job in the end that is just asking for trouble.
Return the fixture. They should let you exchange it without the receipt - just no refunds without receipt. (Note I keep ALL my receipts - just stick them in a 9 by 12 cardboard box.)
As for selling commercial items, contractors shop at HD and they carry items for them. Contractors do a lot of work for businesses. Some auto parts stores can sell items for farm tractors, RV's, or heavy duty trucks - depends on where they are located and what the needs of the local area are. So consumer stores are not necessarily limited to consumer items only!
Instead of doing a 1/2 assed Rube Goldberg job, just go exchange the fixture. Unless HD is 100 miles away you are going to spend more time and effort to end up with a crappy job than a good one. If you don't want to exchange the fixture for some reason, just get a replacement ballast and do it right. Don't hide anything behind sheetrock, for one it isn't legal to do so, and another reason is it is just a crappy, crappy job in the end that is just asking for trouble.
Yeah, I'm exchanging it today. Even I have a hard time stomaching the idea of a step-up transformer behind a wall.
But I do have to say, most of you guys have been helpful in dissuading me from taking expedient shortcuts. That's the purpose of such forums, no?
Too bad some others can't do it without copping an attitude.
What is so bizzare that HD sells something listed for 240/277v ? Do you think the store revolves around DIYers only? I'm an electrician I buy a ton of materials there that aren't used in residential. 240 is a residential voltage. Did you read the ballast specs itself or just the box? Usually the ballasts are multi tap and can use 100-277 input voltage. They probably didn't list the lower voltage on the box because most people don't install commercial grade troffers in their homes. Check the specs on the ballast itself.
What is so bizzare that HD sells something listed for 240/277v ? Do you think the store revolves around DIYers only? I'm an electrician I buy a ton of materials there that aren't used in residential. 240 is a residential voltage. Did you read the ballast specs itself or just the box? Usually the ballasts are multi tap and can use 100-277 input voltage. They probably didn't list the lower voltage on the box because most people don't install commercial grade troffers in their homes. Check the specs on the ballast itself.
I returned the unit today and went back for a closer look. They may well sell some 240v stuff, but virtually none at the location I go to. In the whole strip lighting section (fluorescent fixtures etc) there was only ONE 240 item, and it's the one I got. The box did say 240v, to be fair, but on a tiny panel on the side of the box. And it was in the middle of a bunch of otherwise identical 120v fixtures. And there's no ballast involved, no taps, nothing to rewire. Just black and white. A multitap ballast would have been great.
It's a little like the tile cutter I got a few years back. Turns out it had an oddball euro-standard blade size. 25mm arbor if I recall right. Gee, it didn't occur to me to check that either until I went back for a replacement blade. No dice. It was cheaper to get a new saw than order a euroblade off ebay.
It's easy for you "pros" to make fun of DIY'ers, but this is just nonsense.
I returned the unit today and went back for a closer look. They may well sell some 240v stuff, but virtually none at the location I go to. In the whole strip lighting section (fluorescent fixtures etc) there was only ONE 240 item, and it's the one I got. The box did say 240v, to be fair, but on a tiny panel on the side of the box. And it was in the middle of a bunch of otherwise identical 120v fixtures. And there's no ballast involved, no taps, nothing to rewire. Just black and white. A multitap ballast would have been great.
It's a little like the tile cutter I got a few years back. Turns out it had an oddball euro-standard blade size. 25mm arbor if I recall right. Gee, it didn't occur to me to check that either until I went back for a replacement blade. No dice. It was cheaper to get a new saw than order a euroblade off ebay.
It's easy for you "pros" to make fun of DIY'ers, but this is just nonsense.
If it's just a black and a white it sounds like it can be wired 120 or 240.
I don't make fun of DIYers most people DIY lots of stuff in life not just electrical work. I just don't understand why people want to attempt to do work with something as dangerous as electrical work. I could care less if people paint, put laminate floor down stuff like that. You wont kill someone or burn a house down from a bad paint job. By the way you don't need to put "pros" in quotation marks like it's bad to be a trained professional at something.
If it's just a black and a white it sounds like it can be wired 120 or 240.
I don't make fun of DIYers most people DIY lots of stuff in life not just electrical work. I just don't understand why people want to attempt to do work with something as dangerous as electrical work. I could care less if people paint, put laminate floor down stuff like that. You wont kill someone or burn a house down from a bad paint job. By the way you don't need to put "pros" in quotation marks like it's bad to be a trained professional at something.
The unit in question was absolutely, 100% 240v. No option to rewire anything. 2 leads behind the tiny access panel, that's it.
As for pros and DIY, this is the internet. Somebody may in fact be a trained/licensed professional but that in no way means that they have a professional demeanor. I've also seem plenty of "pros" who had no idea what they were doing. On a board like this it isn't always easy to tell the difference. As for the dangers of electricity, I'm a chemical engineer and spent a lot of time in labs and production environments where the electrical stuff was the least troublesome. The principals of domestic wiring aren't hard if you've studied physics or electronics. But what IS hard is knowing the code and best practices. Theoretical understanding is rarely a substitute for experience, hence the value of boards like this. It's interesting, in fact, that there is often so much apparent disagreement here on code and best practices.
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