Electrical Ques. If I can help someone I will...

[NoWayOut]

Ok, heres a question for you I recently set up a 3 light bulb vanity for my closet, clipped the wires of an extension cord, tied those to the vanity, and have it plugged into the timer. My question is, can I take a computer fan, and put the fan wires inbetween the vanity and the extension cord wires? Will it blow, not work, etc?

the computer fan runs on dc current and your wall outlet is ac so in order to do that is you have to put a transformer between the ac feed and the load on the fan.... iman electrician so any other questions dont be afraid to ask me.

 

[4maggio]

This thread has morphed into the :
Electricians Answering Questions thread!!

Haven't seen kushmonster in a month.. Hey KM.. good thread.
But the answers keep coming... I'm learning!

No really.... in the absence of KM others have taken over.
All answers seem to be real and no one has said
"you don't know shit, asshole" .. I LOVE IT!!!!

And everyone seems to be on the same page with the answers...

tHANKS.y'all

 

[ganjagoddess]

I got told I dont know shit about ten pages back, haha...

I think I proved it wrong by now...

And KushMonster where did you Go??

Big Bud Balls is a VERY Knowledgeable person when it comes to Electricity though...

 

[violated]

Thanks spark1 i was so close except i had the white power cord running to the white ballast and the white socket running to the white cap instead of all 4 together. Hooked them up and the bulb started to flicker to life.

 

[spark1]

Good deal,man! Glad I could help you. That's as close to doing electrical work as I plan to get until Monday.LOL I haven't been checking this thread lately,because there seemed to be lots of other licensed electricians already helping people

 

[4maggio]

Good deal,man! Glad I could help you. That's as close to doing electrical work as I plan to get until Monday.LOL I haven't been checking this thread lately,because there seemed to be lots of other licensed electricians already helping people

They're not all liceneced, but I'll bet all are certifiable! LOL!!!!

 

[B4 Time]

Fan control VS dimmer switch?
So can someone explain why it's bad to run a fan off a dimmer switch?
Thanks in advance

 

[spark1]

Do I have to type out the long explanation,or will you just believe an electrician with 25 years experience? A Dimmer will work,but your motor will hum and it's life will be shortened.

 

[B4 Time]

So a dimmer will work but a fan control is better?
Thanks, I believe you

 

[spark1]

A dimmer will work for awhile, at the expense of your fan. Just buy a fan speed control. You are only talking about a few dollars difference. Doing it right will save you money,since you won't have to keep replacing fans.

 

[BigBudBalls]

A dimmer will work for awhile, at the expense of your fan. Just buy a fan speed control. You are only talking about a few dollars difference. Doing it right will save you money,since you won't have to keep replacing fans.

Its fun how people think a motor works like a light bulb, huh?


now just a general statement:
Think it is like a floro. Can't just dim them with a normal dimmer either.


Speed control done *correctly* on an AC motor is pricey. Also should have a motor to match the control. (ie:inverter and inverter motor)

The typical speed switch on a fan is a mechanical connection to different coils inside the motor with different phasing to control the speed.

 

[lorenzo08]

I've always loved working with 12 volt dc. so much easier and safer, usually. pick up fan speed controllers from a computer store. they can handle up to 5 or 6 inch computer fans, or maybe more with modifications.

once, I had a wall switch for a ceiling fan. the ceiling fan itself gets set on high and stays there, then the wall switch has high, medium, low and off. it just routes the power through high voltage capacitors inside the switch. granted, not the perfect way to slow a motor, but I never noticed any degrade in performance or excessive heat, and I ran the fan constant. I think I was starting to wear out the barrings. lol

 

[4maggio]

Hello electricians and other normal folk.
NO, no, I dont meen 'normal'.. LOL,

I have a strange happening.

I have an extension box with 6 outlets, it services the res area of my grow only..
It gets power from being pluged into a battry backup 24/7.

Pluggged into that extension are:
2 water pumps, 1 IceProbe, an air pump and my grocheck meter.

I have found that I can drop res temps by usning only one of the water pumps primarilly,
so I turn one on for only 10-15 minutes durning the time that I spend with them, each day,
then off the rest of the day (keeping the res colder by about 2 degrees) .

Delema: If I unplug (or plug in) the water pump without turning the Grocheck off,
the Grocheck goes into hyroglifics (<< better spelling thru phonics, LOL!) and then shuts off, every time!

What!????? It does turn back on and readings seem to be consistant.

Something isn't grounded correctly?

Thanks electricians....

 

[ganjagoddess]

When you say Battery Backup what do you mean.

Why would you yun the EB off a battery backup box? Why not just normal 120v power from a wall outlet.

I can gurantee your problem lies there.

Most likely Why the Intial Pull Amperage of the pumps turns on, the amps in the BB get to low for the Grocheck and it glithces for a second due to a temporary amp loss, then when the Intial amp pull goes to normal running amps it restarts.

Most likely the Battery Backup doesnt have enough amperage rating to take the fire up hit of the pump and run the Grocheck at the same time.

 

[4maggio]

When you say Battery Backup what do you mean.

Why would you yun the EB off a battery backup box? Why not just normal 120v power from a wall outlet.

I run DWC.. pumps, air & water, are more important than light. This part of FLA we get many 1-30 minute power interuptions, more in the day time than night time. The battery backup (like a computer backup) will hold the light (400w) with the pumps for about 30-40 minutes but it will hold just the pumps and iceprobe for about an hour and a half.

I exclude the light from this backup, it is on a small Backup of its' own, to handle 10 second to 10 minute outages

I can gurantee your problem lies there.

I like guarantees GG.. lol!!

Most likely Why the Intial Pull Amperage of the pumps turns on, the amps
in the BB get to low for the Grocheck and it glithces for a second due to a temporary amp loss, then when the Intial amp pull goes to normal running amps it restarts.

Most likely the Battery Backup doesnt have enough amperage rating to take the fire up hit of the pump and run the Grocheck at the same time.

I see where you're going GG but 1 pump and the IceProbe run 24/7.. It is only 1 380 gph pump that I'm pluggin in.. I do not know shit about electricity so I gotta go with what you're telling me.. I'll try it directly plugged into the wall.

Don't know about BB amp rating.. will check it.

Thanks for the ideas GG.

 

[ganjagoddess]

Ahh I see, I Would have to say somewhere in the backup to the wall outlet somethings a miss.

Just a guess though, sucks you guys have such bad outages down there...

 

[Charred]

alright i'm looking at purchasing the 6" cool tube from htgsupply but it comes with a built in 5kv pulse rated mogul socket. I'm from australia and my 600w HPS light is using at 4kv pulse rated socket...
would it still work?

 

[lorenzo08]

if the socket is for the same shape bulb and can be mounted the same, but it's just a higher voltage rating, that is perfectly fine to use.

most battery backups don't actually do anything to your power in the outlets while your source is stable. they usually have a relay inside them that switches your outlets over from normal household power to the power generated by the batteries. if you unplug the battery backup from the wall while it's still turned on, you usually hear a click and some beeps. the click is the relay. if you don't hear it, your battery backup might have what's called a line conditioner. it could cause more constant problems with things like pumps.

it's more then likely a loose wire or plug someplace. maybe inside your outlet box, or a cord someplace. one thing easy and obvious to try is unplugging the battery backup and plug your extension box right into the wall. see if you have the same problem that way.

 

[spark1]

Hello electricians and other normal folk.
NO, no, I dont meen 'normal'.. LOL,

I have a strange happening.

I have an extension box with 6 outlets, it services the res area of my grow only..
It gets power from being pluged into a battry backup 24/7.

Pluggged into that extension are:
2 water pumps, 1 IceProbe, an air pump and my grocheck meter.

I have found that I can drop res temps by usning only one of the water pumps primarilly,
so I turn one on for only 10-15 minutes durning the time that I spend with them, each day,
then off the rest of the day (keeping the res colder by about 2 degrees) .

Delema: If I unplug (or plug in) the water pump without turning the Grocheck off,
the Grocheck goes into hyroglifics (<< better spelling thru phonics, LOL!) and then shuts off, every time!

What!????? It does turn back on and readings seem to be consistant.

Something isn't grounded correctly?

Thanks electricians....

OK, this is another easy one (since I use a Hanna Combo Gro Chek). When you connect/disconnect the pump,it moves the outlet box slightly, and the weight of the Gro Chek transformer makes it wiggle,losing connection for a millisecond. If you hold the transformer down,while you connect/disconnect your pump, I bet it doesn't shut down. I zip-tied mine to the plug strip, and that solved the problem.

 

[Charred]

if the socket is for the same shape bulb and can be mounted the same, but it's just a higher voltage rating, that is perfectly fine to use.

thanks heaps, the site said it can carry any HPS globe so my 600w should fit. my current mount is horizontal so will work in the cool tube as well.

can anyone(preferably qualified electrician) just confirm wether it will still work, just want to be definate that i'm not going o come home and find my house on fire

thanks again