sub panel? or just add breaker?

[GrowUrOwnDank]

Same question how many times? Waiting for an answer you want to hear? The math is simple...if youre going to put 2400w on a 15amp circuit you might as well light the match yourself....

Well. You just might have a point in there somewhere. I love your eloquent use of tact in getting the point made.

"you might as well light the match yourself...."

That's some straight up Shakespeare bro.

 

[fandango]

One space in main panel?
change the single pole breakers to wafer breakers(2 for one space)
Now you have 2 spaces in there
Add 1 50 amp 2 pole breaker here.
Run a new #6 with 2 hots,1 netural,1 ground wire(up to 75 feet)to a new sub panel
add 20amp breakers as needed(12/2 wire from new 20amp breaker)

 

[mikeykrinshaw12]

opening the ballasts voids the warranty on them.

And if he doesn't understand the wiring to the outlets its probably not a good idea to get him started on trying to re-wire his ballasts, which would cause a fire much easier with a simple mistake.

It doesn't matter what you or I could do, or how easy it is or safely we are able to do it. It matters that he gets things set up safely so it will work for him and not be unsafe.

Figure out what you need and call an electrician.

 

[jimmy slim big]

Dude. Your questions are indicative of not having the proper knowledge to do this. 14 gauge wire is good for a 120 volt 15 amp fuse. Sounds like you're taxing that circuit to the max with all of the stuff you have on it already. And, often circuits have branch circuits. That means that the one outlet you are already using in the basement may have other lights or whatever on it. See bucks post. Only use 80% of the maximum of a circuit. Those wires heat up. The breaker is designed to keep you from overloading, nevertheless, it's a device that can fail.

Now if you MUST do it yourself. Snake 12 gauge wire to the basement and use a GFCI outlet. That is code bro. I would over do it and run 10 gauge. That will give you approximately 2200 watts(20A X 110V) of the Max rated power at 110 volts, which is about . The 80% factor is because you will be running that equip at the same time for long periods. Wire heats up. So only use 80% of the max at the same time. So you will only have approx 1760 SAFE watts available. I can't find my meter but, I assume my voltage runs about 110 or so.

Sound like your already overloading that 15 amp circuit.

BE SAFE AND LIVE BRO! Over do it! GFCI and 12 gauge are musts, if you must DIY.

P.S. I made a mistake. The wire and breaker would be good for 20A at 120v giving you 2400 volts or at 80%, or 1920 safe watts.And this is in addition to your 15 amp circuit.

the 15 amp breaker is only running the lights for the basement ( reg home light) and 2 outlet boxes wich nothing is ever even plugged into... so how is that maxing the breaker?

 

[jimmy slim big]

opening the ballasts voids the warranty on them.

And if he doesn't understand the wiring to the outlets its probably not a good idea to get him started on trying to re-wire his ballasts, which would cause a fire much easier with a simple mistake.

It doesn't matter what you or I could do, or how easy it is or safely we are able to do it. It matters that he gets things set up safely so it will work for him and not be unsafe.

Figure out what you need and call an electrician.

i rewired my 3 400 watt mh from 240 to 120..... honestly its nothing more then backing out the 4 screws ... looking at the wires ( in this case there were 4 sets 120,208,240,277 ) all wires are labled so all you need to do is find the volt you want and wire them in.... pretty simple.... infact i got 2 of the 400 mh from a job site cause the electrician said they were broken..... right away i said ill take em if your gonna throw them away ... so that night i got home opened them up and yup they had them wired for 277 and trying to run them on 240 so yea its not gonna fire up... so i rewired and boom they both work perfectly!! and im just a drywaller

 

[GrowUrOwnDank]

You said this in a prior post.

"i used it for my first run and had 400 watt mh 600 watt hps ... fans, dehum, and everything else and had no issues...."

the 15 amp breaker is only running the lights for the basement ( reg home light) and 2 outlet boxes wich nothing is ever even plugged into... so how is that maxing the breaker?

15X120=1800 watts.

80% = 1440 safe watts. So if your running 1000 watts in light and all that other stuff, you've gotta be close to the max safe on that circuit.

15 amp circuits are basically meant for house lighting and receptacles. Your bath and kitchen are probably 20 amp circuits, because blow dryers, toasters or whatever can draw upwards of 1500 watts.

 

[mikeykrinshaw12]

then why having such a hard time understanding why everyone is telling you your draw on the 15A circuit is too much, or as you can see you have a variety of options in terms of how you wire/rewire your room?

Its your choice man, but most of what people are saying is making perfect sense to me, if its not making sense to you then there is an obvious issue. best of luck.

 

[jimmy slim big]

really guys you make it sound like its open heart surgery.... yea i know electricity is nothing to fool around with and all but why would i pay someone hundreds to do something i can do the very same way he will do it?? .... as long as you have all the right gear, right wire, wire run right, and when you go to hook it up to the panel make sure you flip the main and even go outside and flip the main lever on outside of house for extra safety... whats the harm?? if you can read and follow directions it should be pretty simple, shit theres not one thing i ever pay to have someone else do when i know for a fact i can figure it out myself... dont get me wrong theres plenty of people that really shouldnt be messing with something like that and those are the kinds of people that either cant figure things out or would rather pay someone else then learn something new and then theres people that are just plain dumb and couldnt figure it out if they wanted!! well trust me when i say theres nothing i cant learn how to do! anything in my house that needs to be repaired for some reason i do it myself and if that means i need to spend a few nights reading and researching then thats what i do but i always end up fixing it!! so again i say its really not that hard to do so instead of paying some dude to do it now i can spend that money on more stuff for my room.... anyone can learn anything!! simple!

 

[jimmy slim big]

and also if i wasnt 100% sure i could do it right then i wouldnt do it!

 

[jimmy slim big]

then why having such a hard time understanding why everyone is telling you your draw on the 15A circuit is too much, or as you can see you have a variety of options in terms of how you wire/rewire your room?

Its your choice man, but most of what people are saying is making perfect sense to me, if its not making sense to you then there is an obvious issue. best of luck.

pretty sure your the one not understanding me! asking questions is part of researching and learning, in order for me to wire it all and hook it up i need to make sure i have the right shit... so yes im gonna ask questions as many times i need if i feel im not getting a clear answer, now that i know what i will need for what i wanna do ( breaker, wire, titan 4 hub ) i can wire it in! havnt you ever googled how to replace a part on your car?? i do it atleast twice a year last one was the starter.... as long as you kill the main power your good and if you did your home work you will know how to and what to run/wire.... ive been working on commercial job sites almost 15 years now i see and talk with electricians every single day and not 1 has ever said " no man dont wire it yourself you will die " infact they say " dude its pretty easy and self explainatory just make sure you shut the main off before you hook anything up"

 

[jimmy slim big]

isnt that what this site is all about??? people sharing info and helping others?? damn dude

 

[mikeykrinshaw12]

Pretty sure.... if you go back and read through- several people said pretty much the same thing- in terms of wiring, and in terms of what you're currently running- and you continued to push the same point.

I really don't care, honestly- its your thing.

But mechanics/electricians etc. are liable, licensed and typically carry insurance. If you have been in the business that long than you would know that it is Those things you are paying for when you hire them. Covering your own ass. And in all of their years of experience, they would notice that one little thing that will turn your world upside down, that you happily go by without thinking about while doing the Job, not the research. But hey, Im not your neighbor, nor the homeowner.

Im just a person that noticed- hey, the same shit has been put ten different ways and he is still arguing a mute point and not putting his focus on what he is doing....

While making claims he has easy daily access to professionals that would be much better to give direct advice- duh. If you have so many electricians available, so much exposure... etc. etc. than why would such a Simple and easy to figure out for yourself job turn into asking all these redundant senseless questions, whilst claiming to already understand it all and failing to see the math put before you over and over again.

All anyone, including myself, attempted to do... was give you Responsible advice, that would be productive and effective for you If you read back, several different wiring options were made available to you, including a couple initially provided by me. Red flags start popping up, and adds up to- responsible advice is; you need to hire a professional if you cant figure it out for yourself and argue a mute point on the side of danger rather than caution.

More than likely you are researching as the thread has progressed which is why slowly you have come to and started to make more sense. done with it now. bye.

 

[GrowUrOwnDank]

isnt that what this site is all about??? people sharing info and helping others?? damn dude

A real electrician would look at your box and make sure you have the power available for this project. Judging by your posts, you imply that you can simply keep adding breakers and run wire until you run out of room without any regard for safe capacity. You're underthinking it like a mofo. That's what makes it dangerous. Makes me glad I bought a new home and not have to worry about what crazy stuff the previous owner did.

FWIW, I do the Google thing too and did a major remodel last year to my fireplace and put in a stove. I did 90% of it all, but was smart enough to pay a brick layer to do the outside wall. I bought a motor home in my 20's, bought a book and rewired the whole thing better than code. I overdid everything. And Ive got an Electrical cert, from classes I took in community college.

 

[WeekendSupervisor]

anyone can learn anything!!!

 

[cbuts05]

Well if u got atleast a 100 amp panel u should have no problem running 4 new lines from your panel and have a breaker for each light. Unless u got a ton of other shit Running but even then 4k watts plus a bunch of lights on in your house would prob be fine
I didn't even shut off the main when I did my two runs lol..was just careful. Lol.

If you want real answers and an idea call around..Google some numbers..ask for a quote and ask some questions lol

 

[old shol4evr]

i'm with mikeykrinshaw ,enough said ,do it yourself and when that electric bust your ass and won't turn you loose ,when you see your out of body self standing over yourself and thinking what the fuuuuuuuuuuck .all us dumb fucking hippies be saying dammmmmmn .If you don't do anything else look out for your family ,buy insurance and if you have it ,make sure you have renters insurance .

 

[jimmy slim big]

wow!! im honestly speachless!! first off its not mute! its moot! and second i havnt argued anything other then the fact of weather or not i can hook something up! so before you go trying to look all smart and you know best get your shit straight! mute! lmao thats kinda cute! lol besides i have already talked to an electrician today showed him pics of the panel and my space and he told me what i needed and how simple it is to do.... you guys are just a little too affraid of getting your hands dirty to be growers if you ask me! i think every grower should have a little macgyver in them! really being a good grower and being very handy should go hand in hand!.... i do understand the concern of messing with electricity and all but but its ok!! do you still sleep with a night light on?? does mommy still pack your lunch? ..... if only there was a "moot" button on this site lol

 

[jimmy slim big]

oh and fyi id be more worried about the people you hire to come into your house "invited by you" getting you busted then anything elsle!! you know the "licensed electricians" most of the ones i know all get drug tested on the reg so i wouldnt trust them to do anything that has to do with a grow room!! and even if they dont know about it im sure as hell not gonna invite one in abd take a chance!! shit i really dont have anyone over these days except close family!!

 

[GrowUrOwnDank]

wow!! im honestly speachless!! first off its not mute! its moot! and second i havnt argued anything other then the fact of weather or not i can hook something up! so before you go trying to look all smart and you know best get your shit straight! mute! lmao thats kinda cute! lol besides i have already talked to an electrician today showed him pics of the panel and my space and he told me what i needed and how simple it is to do.... you guys are just a little too affraid of getting your hands dirty to be growers if you ask me! i think every grower should have a little macgyver in them! really being a good grower and being very handy should go hand in hand!.... i do understand the concern of messing with electricity and all but but its ok!! do you still sleep with a night light on?? does mommy still pack your lunch? ..... if only there was a "moot" button on this site lol

I just scanned over your message(didn't read it). You did not capitalize a single fucking letter, be it the first word of a sentence or an I. Now why in the fuck would someone take that long drawn out crap seriously and bother reading it? Do some fucking cliff notes and try to use 3rd grade composition next time. Seriously. Pfffffft.

 

[mikeykrinshaw12]

Mute was used intentionally- as in it should be silenced, and is not up for debate, refering to the argument over your current usage being more than desirable on a single 15A circuit as a general precaution. MUTE.

Moot is used when referring to something that is debatable and a final conclusion has not been reached, or a gathering for such debate or discussion to come to a conclusion. How you would choose to go about wiring your upgraded setup for example and the purpose of the thread. MOOT. There is no reason for discussing or arguing current usage if you are intending to add more electricity to ensure your needs are met, so that is a MUTE point.

Since you are so fond of google, why don't you just google that.

I just finished wiring in three new circuits a couple of weeks ago. Did it myself.

And I have my own ones to tuck in at night, which is all the more reason to worry about people doing this kind of work without properly understanding how it works.

Glad you got an electrician to sign off on your set up, now this thread can become Mute, right?