Went to check my job today. I think at this point it is obvious what the problem is. (32) (2x4) 2 tube (2x4) lay in fixures on 1 circuit, not counting 13 exit lights on same circuit, all pulling constant load. Another 7 outside emergency lights that only come on with the exit light battery when power is off. Total amps on circuit is 19 amps, on a 20 amp breaker. All lights are controlled from 8 locations. The light furthest away from the electrical panel is operating on 95.3 volts. The light I actually started working on, (on the original trip) was working at 90 volts(actually looks closer to electrical panel, but who knows how the conduit is run). From one end of the hallway to the other is 184 ft. (by the scale on prints), not counting the hallways that branch off to the front and back of building at the different entrances.
Total sq. ft. of building is 13,254 sq. ft.
As far I can tell now, all the lights are left on 365 days of the year. There are no emergency lights that stay on when the hall switches are turned off. The emergency lamps only come on when the power to the circuit goes off. Out of 13 emergency lights (2x4 layins) shown on the prints, only 8 are working. Probably the reason they leave the lights on all the time, is for security reasons. Looks like the archetect would have designed for some lights to stay on constantly. I looked at the wiring diagram for the emergency ballast, thinking that the brown leads may need to be connected for this purpose, but not so according to the Notes they include.
Voltage on the unswitched feed is 120 volts.
Voltage on the switched feed, (which controlls all the lights)ranges from 90 volts to 95 volts.
Conclusion #1: Looks like I get to schedule another Saturday trip to replace 5 emergency ballast.
Conclusion #2: Looks like "Voltage drop" is causing the low voltage through all the switches. (No feasible way to remedy except to do "major, major" dividing of the circuits and switches).
Conclusion #3: The effects of low voltage on the lights and ballast will give me more service work:)
This building is only about 2 years old.
If you have any ideas on my "conclusions" please let me know. It took me about 4 hrs including drive time
(this clinic is about 25 to 30 miles from my office).
In my opinion, the archetech made some errors and the inspection dept. that reviewed the plans missed them.
Thanks again for replies... Steve
P.S. One more question: Wondering why the emergency ballast I originally checked was causing the regular ballast not to work in the fixture, yet the other lights in the hallway that have bad emergency ballast, are still working?? Thanks again..
Last edited by sparkync; 10/29/11 04:43 PM.
