Gallery of Lights


Home Login
Album list Last uploads Last comments Most viewed Top rated My Favorites Search
Home > Public Albums > American Streetlights
New Wiring for Outdoor Display
Since the new arm is 6ft instead of 24", I had to replace the wiring going up the arm (which was getting worn from being bent around a lot).

I wanted to use stranded THHN/THWN single conductors since stranded wire would be more flexible and wouldn't get brittle from constant fixture changeouts. Originally I had UF cable going from that outlet box all the way up to the light but the solid cable wasn't working out too well. Since THHN/THWN cable is not sunlight resistant, I wrapped the exposed portion and about 4" up the arm in electrical tape. The tape might not be 100% sun resistant but it will at least buy the wire some time. Would take a few years before anything started happening. 

You can see the not-wrapped green THHN/THWN ground wire, which I didn't bother wrapping since it's only a ground. You can also see I simply bonded the ground to the lag bolt flange rather than running it up the arm to the light. When the utility actually grounds the street light this is how they do it (NGrid does it when there's a transformer on the pole that has to be grounded, thus already a ground running down the pole; otherwise they don't bother).

Might not be the prettiest looking thing (if this was permanent the UF cable would be replaced with PVC conduit and I'd run the THHN/THWN inside the PVC and just make it exit out of a miniature weatherhead. The PVC would be run on the inner side of the deck post so as to not be seen by people in the yard (or at least painted the same color as the deck). But this is just "temporarily permanent" as I like to put it. It's here to stay for probably a few years but once I move out this is all being ripped out.
Keywords: American_Streetlights

New Wiring for Outdoor Display

Since the new arm is 6ft instead of 24", I had to replace the wiring going up the arm (which was getting worn from being bent around a lot).

I wanted to use stranded THHN/THWN single conductors since stranded wire would be more flexible and wouldn't get brittle from constant fixture changeouts. Originally I had UF cable going from that outlet box all the way up to the light but the solid cable wasn't working out too well. Since THHN/THWN cable is not sunlight resistant, I wrapped the exposed portion and about 4" up the arm in electrical tape. The tape might not be 100% sun resistant but it will at least buy the wire some time. Would take a few years before anything started happening.

You can see the not-wrapped green THHN/THWN ground wire, which I didn't bother wrapping since it's only a ground. You can also see I simply bonded the ground to the lag bolt flange rather than running it up the arm to the light. When the utility actually grounds the street light this is how they do it (NGrid does it when there's a transformer on the pole that has to be grounded, thus already a ground running down the pole; otherwise they don't bother).

Might not be the prettiest looking thing (if this was permanent the UF cable would be replaced with PVC conduit and I'd run the THHN/THWN inside the PVC and just make it exit out of a miniature weatherhead. The PVC would be run on the inner side of the deck post so as to not be seen by people in the yard (or at least painted the same color as the deck). But this is just "temporarily permanent" as I like to put it. It's here to stay for probably a few years but once I move out this is all being ripped out.

022217_004.JPG 022217_002.JPG 022217_003.JPG 022217_005.JPG IMG_7428b.JPG
File information
Filename:022217_003.JPG
Album name:Mike / American Streetlights
Keywords:American_Streetlights
Filesize:599 KiB
Date added:Feb 22, 2017
Dimensions:1536 x 2048 pixels
Displayed:58 times
URL:http://www.galleryoflights.org/mb/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=21508
Favorites:Add to Favorites