Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;andy21us, post: 377170, member: 2452&quot;]<b>Electrical 101</b></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Niel, not to get into a electrical argument but your calculations are wrong. A Volt is a practial unit of electro-motive force, being the pressure which causes current of one ampere to flow through resistance of one ohm. Light blubs or lamps are rated in watts not in volts so in order to calculate if 3 lamps will work in a series system then you will need to consider the wattage of the lamps and the resistance of each lamp not the voltage(the higher the watts the less resistance). A series circuit is the simplest circuit. The conductor, control and protection devices, loads, and the power source are connected with only one path to ground for current to flow. The resistance of each device can be different or the same in which the same amont of current will flow through each device. The voltage across each device will be different but as long as the resistance or wattage of the lights does not exceed the capacity of the system the lights will work properly.</p><p><br /></p><p>When current flows in a circuit, the presence of a resistance in the circuit will cause the voltage to fall or drop as it passesd through the resistance. The resulatant different in the voltage on each side of the resistance is called a voltage drop. </p><p><br /></p><p>In order to see if the system will work as a series we need to know the voltage, the wattage or resistance, and the number of lights that will be used. We do know that Daggarjon will be using three lights or lamps and the system will be powered by 120 volts, the only unknown is the wattage of the lamps which will be the biggest factor because the higher the wattage the lower the resistance which means more lights can be use. If Daggarjon use three 60 watt light then we can calculate if the system will work by using a voltage drop calculation.</p><p><br /></p><p>In order to use this calculation you will need to convert wattage to ohm by the following forumal:</p><p>R=E2/P which R= resistance, E= voltage, and P= power or watts.</p><p><br /></p><p>R=120 volts squared divided by 60 watts equals 240 ohms.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now that you know the ohms you will need to add up the the resistance of all the lamps which is 240+240+240 = 720 ohms. Now calculate the current or amps that each light will use. I=V/R= I=120 volt/720 ohm = 0.1666 amps. Now calculate the voltage drop across each light. V=R X I = 240 ohm X 0.1666 amps = 39.38 volts. 39.38 X 3 =119.952 volts.</p><p><br /></p><p>So in this case, a series system would work but if he used 4 lightsat 60 watts it would not because it would require 157.52 volts which would dim the lights. With that in mind he could use 5 - 100 Watts lights and use about the same amount of voltages. 100 watts = 144 ohms, which 144 X 5 = 720 ohms which use the same amount of current as 3 - 60 watt lamps. 144 ohms X 0.144 = 20.74 which 5 X 20.74 = 103.68 volts.</p><p><br /></p><p>As I said before, a parallel lighting system would be the best way to wire in this box, but either way would work if you use the math.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in