Electrical Wiring

By asking this question you are probably not quite ready to take on this particular task. You may or may not get lucky and receive some information in an answer here! If you hope to get enough information on this site to be able to do this job properly and safely, please do not rely on getting accurate information about such a potentially dangerous subject. Really, don't do this one yourself. Electricity is far too dangerous to handle if you have not been trained how to do this work. If you put just one wire in the wrong place you risk being killed by electrocution or you could even start a house fire.

How to do this job depends entirely on the Wiring Codes or Regulations for the locality (Town/State) and on the exact location of the junction box you wish to install. If it is anywhere that is subject to water splashes or spray - such as in any room supplied with running water pipes, like a kitchen, bathroom, shower room, etc., or in a pool-side area - in many places nowadays it is actually illegal to attempt to do this kind of work unless you are already a licensed electrician. If you don't want to go to your local library or bookstore - to find and read some books about electrical wiring and appliances and how to install them safely, and to find out about your local Wiring Codes and Regulations - then the best advice anyone should give to you is to call a licensed electrician either to do the job for you or to advise you what you may be allowed to do yourself. : ALWAYS CHECK WITH YOUR LOCAL WIRING SAFETY OFFICE BEFORE YOU ATTEMPT TO CHANGE ANYTHING : - BREAKERS, CABLES OR OUTLETS - :

: ON ANY ELECTRICAL POWER CIRCUITS

IF YOU ARE NOT ALREADY SURE YOU CAN DO THIS JOB

SAFELY AND COMPETENTLY

REFER THIS WORK TO QUALIFIED PROFESSIONALS. If you do this work yourself, always turn off the power

at the breaker box/fuse panel BEFORE you attempt to do any work AND

always use an electrician's test meter having metal-tipped probes

(not a simple proximity voltage indicator)

to insure the circuit is, in fact, de-energized.

Without knowing some more facts, there could be several different answers to explain why a ceiling fan's lights "go out":

• someone has turned them off at the switch for the lights on the fan unit;
• the light bulbs are "dead" and need replacing because their filaments have broken;
• there is a fuse protecting the lighting circuit and it needs replacing because it blew from the surge of high current that sometimes happens when a light bulb "dies";
• there is a timer in the fan unit which turns the lights off after a certain period of time;
• the wiring from the switch to the light has become disconnected;
• the switch in the fan that controls the lights is broken and needs to be replaced...

Some small appliances, such as electric shavers, etc., have been designed to run safely on different supply voltages and frequencies. If that is so, it would be stated on their rating plates. In many cases, where the power needed is low, such as (say) less than 30 Watts, a cheap and simple "International Travel Socket Adapter" is all that is needed to make such a 120 Volt appliance plug-in and work. Many international airports have shops selling such adapters.

Further information which may be useful to mention here but is not part of the answer to this question:

In general the answer has to be: "Not if it has been designed and wired to run only on the 60 Hz mains frequency system that is used in USA, Canada and elsewhere."

The mains frequency in Europe and other 230 Volt areas is 50 Hz (Cycles per second) compared to 60 Hz in US, Canada and other 120/240 Volt areas. Some 60 Hz appliances will work fine but others with simple motors will run too slow on the lower frequency of 50 Hz.

However the most important difference is in the way that the Neutral wire is connected in appliances designed to run on 240 Volt 60 Hz supplies: in addition to a safety "Ground" conductor there are 3 wires, a Neutral wired as a "central" common return conductor and two 120 Volt 60 Hz live "hot legs" which are wired in opposing phase to one another. When one hot leg is "+" (120 Volts positive) the other leg is "-" (120 Volts negative).

In 240 Volts 50 Hz appliances there are only 3 wires altogether, a "Ground" conductor, one single 240 volt "live" or "hot" wire and a Neutral wire connected as a return to the single "hot".

So there is a 240 Volt voltage difference between the "Neutral" and the "Hot" conductor in the 50 Hz system and only a 120 Volt voltage difference between the "Neutral" and the "Hot"conductors in the 60 Hz system. At the point where the "Neutral" gets connected to the "Ground" this difference will cause serious problems! That is why an appliance designed to be connected onto the 60 Hz system cannot be used safely on the 50 Hz system without first having proper technical modification work done.

A licensed electrician or electrical engineer would be able to consider whether or not a particular large appliance, that was manufactured to work on 60 Hz-only, could be modified safely to run at the lower 50 Hz frequency. However it won't usually be worth the expense of doing the work because it would be more cost-effective to buy (new or secondhand) an equivalent large appliance designed to work on 50 Hz.

GFCI's monitor current in the hot and neutral wires to make sure they match. If they don't, it's considered a ground fault, and the GFCI trips. However: If you're taking this test, you're being tested on your electrical knowledge, the strength of which may cost someone their life one day. It's not about homework or test questions, but you're asking a homework or test question in a trade dangerous enough for people to need licenses. ----

If you do not understand the work well enough to accomplish it yourself properly and safely, don't try it. Consult a professional electrician, as they are proficient enough to do it properly and safely. When working on electrical circuits and equipment, make sure to de-energize the circuit you will be working on. Then test the circuit with a definitive means to make sure it is off (multimeter with metal tipped leads, voltage tester with metal tipped leads, etc., not a non-contact tester, which is non-definitive.)

Most often this ballast is actually 120/277. It could be 120-480 though. Look at the diagram on the ballast itself. Many times there will either be a black/white/green, black/red/white/green, or black/orange/white/green set of primary leads. If the ballast has only black/white/green, but it shows more than one voltage, chances are it is automatically adjusted for the line voltage. In this case, just connect the black/white/green to a typical lighting box, and the ballast will light your lamps. If the ballast has more than one color other than white or green, it is a multi-tapped ballast. Normally the black lead is for 120v line voltage and the red or orange is 277v. Don't assume though, refer to the diagram sticker located on the ballast for this information. Hook up the 120v, neutral, and ground to your lighting box, but be sure to cap the unused 277v lead with a wire nut. ----

If you do not understand the work well enough to accomplish it yourself properly and safely, don't try it. Consult a professional electrician, as they are proficient enough to do it properly and safely. When working on electrical circuits and equipment, make sure to de-energize the circuit you will be working on. Then test the circuit with a definitive means to make sure it is off (multimeter with metal tipped leads, voltage tester with metal tipped leads, etc., not a non-contact tester, which is non-definitive.)

If the tube always stays lit without any trouble after it has been "started" by tapping or twisting it then the problem is not likely to be inside the tube itself but its contacts may need cleaning. If the tube flashes but never stays properly lit then it needs to be replaced. The problem may also be caused by corrosion on the contacts of the tube's "starter" - a small white or metal tube that will be found screwed into its own special socket somewhere on the light fixture. If that is the cause of the problem, tapping anywhere on the light fixture - including the tube - can often get the starter to work. Or maybe the starter itself needs to be replaced?

The first thing to check is the tube's starter. Starters don't last forever, they can only be expected to have a useful life about the same as a fluorescent tube. Switch off the power supply at the main panel, take out the starter tube by twisting it slightly anticlockwise and shake it. If anything sounds "loose" inside then the starter tube may be faulty. Anyway it's worth doing this bit of cleaning: using a small craft knife or penknife, scrape the starter's two contacts to make them shiny all over, including all round the thinner "posts" under the mushroom-shaped tops. Also, if you can see them, clean the contacts inside the starter's socket, but that may be difficult to do if they are hidden inside the socket. Replace the starter in its fixture, turn on the power and switch on the light.

If that made no difference then the first thing to replace is the starter because they cost a lot less to buy than a new tube. It is always useful to have a spare starter in your spare parts box anyway! If that doesn't solve the problem the next thing to check is the tube. Switch off the power supply at the main panel, take out the tube and shake it. If anything sounds "loose" inside then the tube itself may or may not be faulty but it is worth cleaning its contacts before finally scrapping it. Using a small craft knife or penknife, scrape the tube's contacts and the contacts in the light fixture to clean them so that they look nice and silvery. Replace the tube in its fixture, turn on the power and switch on the light.

If the tube still needs tapping or turning to make it light up then it should be replaced.

If that doesn't solve the problem then the whole light fitting should be scrapped unless you really know what you are doing and want to check the internal wiring for bad connections or, if none are obvious, maybe try replacing the ballast choke. But, unless you already have a spare choke taken from a similar lamp, it's usually not worth doing all that work because it may be cheaper - and much less trouble - just to buy a new light fixture complete with new tube, starter, choke all coverd by a whole year's warranty period! <><><>

As always, if you are in doubt about what to do, the best advice anyone should give you is to call a licensed electrician to advise what work is needed.

Before you do any work yourself,

on electrical circuits, equipment or appliances,

always use a test meter to ensure the circuit is, in fact, de-energized.

IF YOU ARE NOT ALREADY SURE YOU CAN DO THIS JOB

SAFELY AND COMPETENTLY

REFER THIS WORK TO QUALIFIED PROFESSIONALS.