No. This is no better than using a single 120V light between the hot and ground.
If that ground ever separates upstream, very bad things happen. Ie: the pump housing (and maybe even all of the OP's plumbing!) goes hot.
Bad bad bad.
You MUST NOT provide any current path to ground wire outside of the main panel.
If two lamps in series are to be used, the wire between them MUST NOT be connected to anything else.
couldn't this happen anyway "if something goes wrong with the ground" ? after all, they are connected together in the panel, if something goes wrong on one neutral, all other neutrals and grounds will equally suffer.
Careful; that's an autotransformer. Take a look at the low-power isolation transformers on this page:
Bob
But.... This is an unoccupied pump house. So wouldn't violate that section of the code.
How did you get 50 cycles?
BB
Could probably find a lot of them in the luggage section at your local wal-mart. travel converters would be what they would call them there.
According to j j :
Not at all.
Take the OPs situation. It's a dark and stormy night, there's rain water everywhere. You've used the ground as a neutral. A squirrel chews thru the ground wire between the shed and the panel.
And the pump quits for some reason. If it's a 120V pump, it'd quit simply because the ground is gone.
So, you tramp out into the dark and stormy night, flick the light switch "Ah nuts, the bulb's blown", lean over and touch the pump.
The next thing you hear is harp strings. Because the hot wire fed thru the bulb, into the now "disconnected from the panel" grounding system in the shed, and hence to the pump housing. You touch it completing the circuit thru all the wet stuff, and you're dead. Probably didn't draw enough current to even make the bulb flash.
Instead, if it's wired properly and the ground separates, the ground is at worst "floating", and touching the pump housing will not give you a shock unless something else is also wrong.
In other words, using the ground as a neutral (or vice-versa) means you're betting your life that that that one wire remains connected.
To make the hazard doubly clear, by connecting the neutral and ground together, that's implicitly connecting everything "grounded" to one side of the circuit in a vastly more hazardous way than that one neutral-ground interconnect in the panel.[*]
When wired properly (separate ground and neutral), at _least_ two faults are needed to make it dangerous (a ground separation _and_ a hot-ground short).
[*] but of course, ground/neutral (especially open service neutral) faults in the panel are extremely dangerous too. But the interconnect is essential if you want a hot-to-ground short to trip the breaker.
For electric shavers and portable electronics, it generally doesn't matter whether they're fed from 50 or 60hz. Induction motors and transformers care, but often not enough to worry about.
I didn't. Tghe motors just run 20% faser.
RB
B>
It would be interesting to understand the thought process that went into this requirement. Older versions of the NEC (I looked at a 1981 copy) prohibited 240 volts for circuits fused at 15 amps or less. The implication being that a 20 amp circuit was/is permitted to operate at
240 volts. This may explain why my inspector signed off on it.RB
Chris Lewis wrote:
Wire 2 lamp sockests in series and be sure to use the same size lightbulbs in each.
How many you want? What VA? I will have them by noon tomorrow! You just need to know where to look, and no, Google is not the place to look! Greg
WELL... LA-DEEEE DA!
The night was sultry!
That's funny. Now really, youse guys making fun like. I do declare. Now what did I do with that 440 volt panel? joevan
a) wire up a 220v outlet, and use a travel converter, that works on
60Hz, to generate a small amount of 110.b) wire up a 220v to 12vac transformer, and use 12 volt light bulbs, either the small halogen, or automotive bulbs, or get 12 volt bulbs for standard bases. The light switch and wiring can all be low voltage.
The second option sounds like the best one to me, as long as it isn't
110 volt power tools you want to run out there. This is like what they do for RV users, or battery run lights.I sorta liked the 240 volt light bulb replies. So I found some 60 watt 240 volt bulbs from grainger.com and ordered them. John Hines comment made me unsure about their use. I like your suggest about a 220 volt outlet. I can just plug my 240 volt lamp into it when needed.
Thanks all
My advice is dont take advice on this from a newsgroup. Way too dangerous an operation for you and for your property. Get a licenced electrician.
how about two 110 volt lites is serys to use the 220 volts no need for a nut. or use a step down tranfromer
safemale
Go to the nearest "Light Bulbs R Us" store and get them to order you a
220v bulb. They are available and relatively cheap Here is a 100watt example you can order on-line for $5.50 eachHomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.