simple electrical question parallel vs. ???

Kart0oN

Active Member
ok so im custom building a cfl light fixture which has 8x 27w cfl bulbs my question is i know how to parallel wire but i would like know if a different way would work i have diagrams i drew up on paint if anyone could say yay or nay n explain maybe i would greatly appreciate it bc i dont wanna burn down the house or get shocked lol diagram 1.jpgfirst diagram is from my understanding how to parallel wire....diagram 2.jpgnow to cut out all those extra wire nuts why cant you run every black wire to the plug and every red wire to the plug so you only have 2 wire nuts and seems like it would be alot cleaner of a setup the only thing i could think of is that the volts/amps would not be distributed properly and/or the place @ which the wires meet could not handle all the transfer of electricty if anyone could explain/elaborate i would appreciate it and if something is not clear i can explain maybe in a different way thanks :leaf:
 

Polecat

Active Member
it would def. Work like that. What size wire will you be running? You may want to get a bigger junction box then a standard 4" square. Also that's seven wires per wirenut. And 21 wires per box also. It won't take you long to figure out way that isn't the preferred method.
 

Kart0oN

Active Member
i bought 16guage wire and i would most likely split it up by side so 4 black wires per nut and 4 red wires per nut x2 for each side i just wasn't sure if it would overload the power cord im hooking it up to the power cord is also 16guage 2 prong rated for 1650watts ... the first diagram is a simple parallel setup the 2nd diagram is the one i want to do but not sure of and dealing with electricity i want to be sure ya know? but thanks for the input i appreciate it
 

TruenoAE86coupe

Moderator
Yeah that is a completely safe way to wire it, plan on a fairly large box as mentioned, and watch your wattages, but only 6 bulbs with a 1600 watt capacity means you could in theory run 266 watts per bulb.
 

Kart0oN

Active Member
diagram 3.jpgthis is what i was really thinking i only put the positive on there because there would be alot of lines for both posi and negative, with that said there would only be 6 wire nuts in the junction 2 for each side then 2 connecting to the actual power cord if that makes any sense
 

Kart0oN

Active Member
yea exactly well i plan on running 8 bulbs @ 27watts each with .450 amps per bulb so that would be 216watts, 3.6amps i mean i know its a safe level of electricity im just worried about the actually connections of the wires if that was safe, and like i said i got the power cord its connected to is 16 guage wire rated for 1650watts, and 13amps so im deffinetly safe there but thanks guys i appreciate the input +rep for everyone! =) :leaf:
 
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