Ask the Electrician

Here ya go. Section f from the 2017 nec has gotcha covered.

Edit: section (A)1 is really the correct one, but it says the same thing

 

I knew it, thanks

 

Thats pure artistry right there, it should be in the Louvre.

 

Here's one for you electrickity guys. My shop has 6, 4 bulb, 4' florescent lights.They are probably 25 years old. For the last 5 years or so, when the humidity gets higher than about 50% some of the lights don't come on. Some no bulbs light, some 2 and sometimes all. The temperature in the shop does not matter. Cold or hot, if the humidity is high, no worky.

Here's the kicker... if I use a propane torch to heat them up, the lights will come on after a minute. If I light my weed burner torch they will come on fairly quickly. Just letting the heat ride up, not roasting them. So if it's humid and I want full light, it's a pita.

Things I've tried: cleaning the bulb pins and sockets.
tin foil between the bulb and reflector
ran a temp ground wire from a fixture to the ground rod outside
new bulbs

A couple sparkys I know were stumped, they said buy new lights. Well screw that!

Again, it's the humidity that seems to cause the problem, not the temperature.

Thanks for any suggestions you may have, I don't need to hear buy new lights. Although that may be the only fix.

And to tag the smart guy I know on TW @Jimmyh

 

My guess is its the ballast or the starter:
Starter: https://www.familyhandyman.com/electrical/fluorescent-light/fluorescent-light-repair/view-all/
Ballast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BonlObB8XgU

 

Fixtures that old probably have t12 ballasts with starters. Toss them and replace with t8's, or do LED retrofits. You'll save on energy bills and have more light

 

The ballasts do not have starters. I do have some spare ballasts. I am retired, I don't spend a lot of time in the shop. Back in the day, yeah many late nights, being self employed.

 

LED conversion is worth it!! We did a conversion here in my office... Paid for itself already, in parts, labor and utility bill!

 

Check to see if the GFCI is tripped or had a Red instead of Green light, if green light --> problem with the welder, if Red light --> GFCI.

 

I work in the electric shop on a college campus. We have been converting to led for a few years now (we've got some 200 buildings). A lot of times we replace 30-50 year old ballasts that are hot as a pistol when you take them out. It's definitely worth the swap.

 

If it didn't trip a gfci or a breaker check the receptacle it was plugged into. It may have melted the contacts causing everything downstream to be dead.

 

Um, that’s not even legal. lol

 

Inside of the outlet/plug the welder was connected to.
http://jacksonelectricalinc.com/tag/burned-outlet/

 

What, the tie wraps or the MC?

 

Did you take it out of the wall?

 

Thats not MC. That’s just flex tied down with tie wire run by a bunch of unskilled idiots that don’t know how to run pipe.

 

Looks like big gauge mc to me. I helped wire an arena and convention center with it. We had it as big as 250kcmil compact aluminum.

 

Look at the connectors. Those are flex connectors, not MC connectors.

 

Never seen mc connectors that big. Have always used flex connectors. Think about flex vs mc. No way would you by flex and run lengths like that and try and pull wire into it

 

Kind of blurry when you zoom in, i’d call it flex.