Wait wait... You don't want to power that 1000W MH flood on a THOUSAND foot of 16 AWG extension cord, do you? It's extremely unlikely to work!

Just do the calculation with a voltage drop calculator, there are plenty on the net. Using 1000ft of 16AWG extension, you'll end up with a whopping 72V of voltage drop, that's barely over 45V at the end! Your floodlight's NEVER gonna work... Halogen lights aren't as big of an issue since those just dim (then there's the overload issue due to the length, but that's another story). But an HID fixture is very unlikely to start with 45V!

I would need to check back my school notes about that, but I'd say you'll need something like 6 or 4AWG wire to provide an acceptable voltage to your floodlight.

Not that I want to break your bubble, but I prefer being honest here... Running a thousand foot of proper wiring (whether it's triplex, underground wire or PVC conduit with individual conductors) is quite an ambitious project, and it won't be cheap unfortunately...

The cheapest solution I have in mind, especially since it's only used during winter, is to splice several used triplex cables together (those cables that connect houses to the PoCo's poles), if you can find cheap ones, and run them in some sort of conduit, and make sure it's watertight. Then I guess it could simply lay on the ground with no major issue.

If we don't consider the electrical code issues, your idea of two 16AWG extension cords in parallel to make an 8AWG equivalent may work in fact. With 125V at the beginning you get just over 110V at the end, it could be fine! But I don't know how you're going to connect them in parallel, make sure it's not dangerous!

If you happen to find a step-up transformer you could pump up the voltage to let's say 240V and then run the light on that or if the light is 120V only you could then step the voltage back down again at the light. Anyways, i hope you can find a cheap yet safe and sucessful solution!

Personally I would just wire it up for 240v, that way you can still connect it with a cord but the voltage drop would be less than if you were running it on 120v.

Will this do good with 100/107 volts??

Ouuh... 100V is pretty low. I guess you can give it a try but the fixture may have issues starting, especially at lower temperatures. It may draw more current too. Odds are better with 107V though!

LOL on my battery/inverter system my line voltage can be like 102-106 volts! Everything still seems to work fine at that voltage...

Oh be careful! Unless you have what's called a "true RMS" voltmeter, the reading is not going to be accurate! The reason is, an inverter doesn't give exactly the same kind of AC as the AC coming from a receptacle. Lower cost voltmeters are built for and suppose the voltage is a pure sine wave. In other terms they measure the peak voltage and multiply it by 0.707. That works for the voltage from the grid but not for an inverter!

Well, since most stuff is rated @ 105-130V with 120V equippement, you may be alright so long as the voltage is >105. I'm not sure how underdriving affects the capacitor or ballast though a photocell would probably just dayburn below 105V since it's not enough voltage. I'd recommend getting some of these for the cords though so they don't pull apart. When you put the cord ends int he box, use this type of knot to truely ensure they won't come undone. Then you'll be all set safety wise. It won't solve voltage issues though.

I thought something might be amiss there...
However, florescent lights run noticeably dimmer, so it makes sense that the voltage is sorta low...How do you tell if it's true RMS?

Usually it's written somewhere on the voltmeter itself.

Fluorescent ballasts, like any sort of inductive load, don't work too well on inverters, I made the test myself. If the inverter doesn't simply trip, the light/motor will have poor performances, even if a proper voltmeter does read 120V.

So 107v is good?

Sort of. Give it a try. But if you can, measure the current as well and compare it with what the ballast should normally draw (in Amps). If it's close enough it won't cause serious problems. Maybe the lamp will have some issues starting if it's cold, but otherwise it's going to be fine.

ok. I was thinking street lights can go 90v \ 130v.

an incandescent lamp would easily work on 90V because it is a resistive load; it would just be dim. Same with a halogen floodlight. A ballasted lamp wouldn't likely do too well unless the ballast is a CWI, which it's most likely not unless it was custom ordered. The ballast you have is probably CWA, so becareful since I'm not sure what damage could occur to an underdriven capacitor (or even the ballast for that matter).

The light will get 107/112v.

90 volts will not work on streetlights, how do I know, I remember being with a friend who was doing work, reporting a long row of streetlights being out except one that actually worked.....the one that worked had about 109 volts or so, while the next one had around 96 volts and would not fire up. In this case it was all HPS though....

IT WORKS I am giving it 107v It can go down to 87v well I am giving it 107v so I am all set.
The drop cacu. said I would only get 102v but I get 107v

Just make sure the wires don't get warm....if the wires (check every inch of it) if its warm....it's not a good thing

The wire is 34amp and the light is 10/9 amp, Thank you! The lights will never be on when the temp. is over 50f.

Thanks for all the help guys I got 3 up now.