Electrical Help with T5 Retro setup
- Thread starter joseney21
- Start date
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
WOW!
I am kind of impressed. Joseney you did a pretty nice job for having absolutely NO CLUE what you were doing. You may want to post an all inclusive photo before you hook this up, so that we can make sure you got it all right. Just get an overview of all the bulbs and endcaps wired and set out on the floor.
The lamps run off of high voltage (that is what the ballast is for). Whatever you do just be careful. When you plug this in for the first time, don't put your face near any of the endcaps or hold them in your hand. Simply set it up on a nice flat surface (the basement floor) step back and plug it in. If the bulbs don't fire, don't panic, plenty of us will be able to help (fred is doing a great job).
In any case, welcome to the wonderful world of electrical know-how. The HD book may not help to much with this type of wiring, but do read it and get an idea of how everythign else works. This is invaluable knowledge that very few people grasp. The more you know about electricity, the safer you will be when DIYing.
Bean
I am kind of impressed. Joseney you did a pretty nice job for having absolutely NO CLUE what you were doing. You may want to post an all inclusive photo before you hook this up, so that we can make sure you got it all right. Just get an overview of all the bulbs and endcaps wired and set out on the floor.
The lamps run off of high voltage (that is what the ballast is for). Whatever you do just be careful. When you plug this in for the first time, don't put your face near any of the endcaps or hold them in your hand. Simply set it up on a nice flat surface (the basement floor) step back and plug it in. If the bulbs don't fire, don't panic, plenty of us will be able to help (fred is doing a great job).
In any case, welcome to the wonderful world of electrical know-how. The HD book may not help to much with this type of wiring, but do read it and get an idea of how everythign else works. This is invaluable knowledge that very few people grasp. The more you know about electricity, the safer you will be when DIYing.
Bean
Zigzag Man
New member
First off, let me commend everybody helping out in this thread that resisted the urge to flame... I know I was somewhat shocked (pun intended) when I saw the original post, and was pleased to see that people here tended to help out rather than tell the person how clueless they were and to have somebody else do it. 
And kudos to you Fred, you're doing a great walk-through. :thumbsup:
I just stopped in because I retrofitted my 8-bulb T-5 setup last weekend and was seeing if I could help out... I will say in defense of the original poster that unless you know where the wires go on the endcaps, it's kinda tough to figure out (nothing comes with instructions these days it seems... even my Tek 5 kits).
Thankfully I'd retrofit some PC lights with bottom-fed endcaps in the past, so I knew what to look for.
And kudos to you Fred, you're doing a great walk-through. :thumbsup:
I just stopped in because I retrofitted my 8-bulb T-5 setup last weekend and was seeing if I could help out... I will say in defense of the original poster that unless you know where the wires go on the endcaps, it's kinda tough to figure out (nothing comes with instructions these days it seems... even my Tek 5 kits).
Thankfully I'd retrofit some PC lights with bottom-fed endcaps in the past, so I knew what to look for.
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6890612#post6890612 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Zigzag Man
And kudos to you Fred, you're doing a great walk-through. :thumbsup:
Yes, great job Fred. Sorry I had to duck out, but he was in good hands.
joseney21; Post some pics of the finished product, I want to see how the project comes out.
joseney21
Premium Member
will do, i should have everything done by tonight with pics and tomorrow i should be getting the lights.i'll FIRE it up as soon as i get the lights, lol.
ZigZag i see everyone else ask questions about other things and not get flamed, tablesaws (very dangerous), pressurized co2 tanks and connective hoses, auto top offs etc....so i really didn't understand the negative feedback (only one)in the beginning. i really wasn't expecting it, but i also didn't know how far up my a$$ my head was with the initial wire placement (im sure it was a good laugh).i did know something was wrong because it obviously wasn't waterproof in the configuration.
really thanks to everyone for your help.i'm hoping to shock all the pessimists in the end, lol.
ZigZag i see everyone else ask questions about other things and not get flamed, tablesaws (very dangerous), pressurized co2 tanks and connective hoses, auto top offs etc....so i really didn't understand the negative feedback (only one)in the beginning. i really wasn't expecting it, but i also didn't know how far up my a$$ my head was with the initial wire placement (im sure it was a good laugh).i did know something was wrong because it obviously wasn't waterproof in the configuration.
really thanks to everyone for your help.i'm hoping to shock all the pessimists in the end, lol.
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
In some cases the "seek professional help" stuff needs to be said. However, there is always a nice way to say it. You will also find that there are a few folks in every crows that always say "seek professional help". A lot of electricians, hvac guys, plumbers, and other "skilled trades" take offense that a guy off the street could do what "they do" and do it well. I am not saying that there isn't a lot to be learned, but some folks like to paint it as impossible for the average joe (joseney) to even contemplate delving into.
The funny part is that one day before they were "skilled tradesmen" they were as clueless as you were when you took on this project!
These guys and the "pull a permit" guys kill me. You know the type, their advice is to go downtown and pull a permit when you ask if your 10 gallon tank will be ok on the second floor or if you want to build the tank into the wall. You better be sure to get engineering drawings with structural analysis for that inwall setup. Non-load-bearing 2x4 walls with sheetrock sure are something you should pull a permit for and get inspected! Rember though if you put wires in that wall, thats another permit and another inspection! The local zoning inspector will even take care of scheduling the tax assesment for you! The new In-wall may just be nice enough to raise the value of your home and property tax!
[SACRCASM OFF]
Good luck luck with your lights! Be safe and ask for help if you are not sure about anyting. When youre in over your head it's nice to look up and see people willing to help instead of telling you your an idiot for jumping into such a deep hole! With your new found skills, you will soon be able to help other T5 newbies out!
The funny part is that one day before they were "skilled tradesmen" they were as clueless as you were when you took on this project!
These guys and the "pull a permit" guys kill me. You know the type, their advice is to go downtown and pull a permit when you ask if your 10 gallon tank will be ok on the second floor or if you want to build the tank into the wall. You better be sure to get engineering drawings with structural analysis for that inwall setup. Non-load-bearing 2x4 walls with sheetrock sure are something you should pull a permit for and get inspected! Rember though if you put wires in that wall, thats another permit and another inspection! The local zoning inspector will even take care of scheduling the tax assesment for you! The new In-wall may just be nice enough to raise the value of your home and property tax!
[SACRCASM OFF]
Good luck luck with your lights! Be safe and ask for help if you are not sure about anyting. When youre in over your head it's nice to look up and see people willing to help instead of telling you your an idiot for jumping into such a deep hole! With your new found skills, you will soon be able to help other T5 newbies out!
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
Yup.. but your the helpful type paul! I don't image that took 40 years to learn, people either have it or they don't.
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
Paul, I sometimes find m,yself staring at a 3 way switch knowing that I should be able to do it in my sleep, but not able to figure out which 3 way configuration I am looking at and what switch to put where. It sometimes takes a few mintues for that part of the hard drive to become usable.
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
In any case, I patinely await the photos of the t5 setup in this thread.
Fast Fred
New member
Thanks Bean! Thanks Paul!
I been a Lectrishan for 15 years now and still can't spell it. I'm just glad to see that some people know enough to ask for help when they need it. And it always makes me feel good to know I've done my best, whether it's pulling wires, or giving a little guidance on RC. (Or helping to put bombs on target, on time, for that matter).
I'm looking forward to seeing a finished product from Joseney. Post some pics soon, OK?
I been a Lectrishan for 15 years now and still can't spell it. I'm just glad to see that some people know enough to ask for help when they need it. And it always makes me feel good to know I've done my best, whether it's pulling wires, or giving a little guidance on RC. (Or helping to put bombs on target, on time, for that matter).
I'm looking forward to seeing a finished product from Joseney. Post some pics soon, OK?
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
Pulling wires....
hrmm I got a job at 10 tomorrow morning pulling and fishing a few bundles of cat5... i could use the sleep if you could use the work.
In all honesty, The lack of instructions with these and similar products is very sad. I purchased several intermatic wall timers, and my jaw dropped when I looked the instructions that with them. Poorly worded is an understatment, these things are borderline criminal. In a similar fashion, some of us know how to install cieling cans, but for a good chuckle, read the instructions that come with the HALO cans. I never thought twice about it until I needed to determine what type of insulation was suitable for IC cans between floors. Thw instructions were no use, they didn't even list the correct trims, so I called HALO, which is now part of COOPER, which is held by another company, that owns 50 compaines. NOBODY could answer my question. They are just people in offices that sell products to other people in offices who sell them to distrubution, who in turn sells them to suppliers, who sell them to us. The "tech support" lines are just corporate call centers with people who read from scripts. They don't even know how to get ahold of the "real company" employees. They [NOBODY] have any idea what they make, or how it works. So we come full circle, and joseny isn't so clueless afterall. We have just played with enough "electrical things" that we were able to make an educated guess on our first T5 or similar setup. I helped wire a kitchen E-stop system last month, same deal, the instructions were translated from some other language, the control panel was not labeled at all, nor were any of the bus bars or tie points.
Sorry for the rant...
Bean
hrmm I got a job at 10 tomorrow morning pulling and fishing a few bundles of cat5... i could use the sleep if you could use the work.
In all honesty, The lack of instructions with these and similar products is very sad. I purchased several intermatic wall timers, and my jaw dropped when I looked the instructions that with them. Poorly worded is an understatment, these things are borderline criminal. In a similar fashion, some of us know how to install cieling cans, but for a good chuckle, read the instructions that come with the HALO cans. I never thought twice about it until I needed to determine what type of insulation was suitable for IC cans between floors. Thw instructions were no use, they didn't even list the correct trims, so I called HALO, which is now part of COOPER, which is held by another company, that owns 50 compaines. NOBODY could answer my question. They are just people in offices that sell products to other people in offices who sell them to distrubution, who in turn sells them to suppliers, who sell them to us. The "tech support" lines are just corporate call centers with people who read from scripts. They don't even know how to get ahold of the "real company" employees. They [NOBODY] have any idea what they make, or how it works. So we come full circle, and joseny isn't so clueless afterall. We have just played with enough "electrical things" that we were able to make an educated guess on our first T5 or similar setup. I helped wire a kitchen E-stop system last month, same deal, the instructions were translated from some other language, the control panel was not labeled at all, nor were any of the bus bars or tie points.
Sorry for the rant...
Bean
joseney21
Premium Member
here we go....
i daisy chained the endcaps to the yellow wire in pretty much the same manner that i did it with the red ones (twisted to join 2 wires and pushed into the endcap until i felt it was seated and couldn't pull it out). all endcaps on the yellow wire had two wires going into each hole of the endcap. each had a pair of wires used as jumpers and a pair to carry the connection from the previous endcap (or ballast) and to the next encap. all except for the last one which only had 2 wires in 1 hole and 1 wire in the next.i also plan on dropping some liquid elec. tape into the twist caps i used to join wires to further waterproof the setup.
here are pics of the lights without reflectors
and pics with the reflectors
i daisy chained the endcaps to the yellow wire in pretty much the same manner that i did it with the red ones (twisted to join 2 wires and pushed into the endcap until i felt it was seated and couldn't pull it out). all endcaps on the yellow wire had two wires going into each hole of the endcap. each had a pair of wires used as jumpers and a pair to carry the connection from the previous endcap (or ballast) and to the next encap. all except for the last one which only had 2 wires in 1 hole and 1 wire in the next.i also plan on dropping some liquid elec. tape into the twist caps i used to join wires to further waterproof the setup.
here are pics of the lights without reflectors
and pics with the reflectors
