Converting new garage to grow house

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Cosmiclug

New Member
I have 60amp service to my grow building, and 15amp breakers. However, after plugging in 12, (new) 4-bulb T5HO fixtures (46"), I am tripping breakers at my main service panel.
I'm not opposed to upgrading the breakers to 20amp, but I first need to know if wire to my outlets is 12ga or larger.
how can I tell what gauge wire is connected to my outlets? There are no markings on the black, white or green wire ...
 
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Cosmiclug

New Member
Thank you for your kind welcome and response. If I upgrade service, I'll also have to upgrade my breakers, outlets and (maybe) wiring. For the moment I want know if there is a way for me to know (definitively) what gauge wire is at my outlets.
 
secretmicrogrow420

secretmicrogrow420

Well-Known Member
im confused do you have a 60amp sub panel in your garage? and than you have 15amp breakers in the subpanel? or is your main panel 60amps and you have 15amp breakers going too your garage?
 
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1212ham

Well-Known Member
Cosmiclug said:
I have 60amp service to my grow building, and 15amp breakers. However, after plugging in 12, (new) 4-bulb T5HO fixtures (46"), I am tripping breakers at my main service panel.
I'm not opposed to upgrading the breakers to 20amp, but I first need to know if wire to my outlets is 12ga or larger.
how can I tell what gauge wire is connected to my outlets? There are no markings on the black, white or green wire ...
Click to expand...
Single or double breaker tripping in the main panel? What amperage? It should be 60A and have no problem running 12 T5HO's. Pictures of the panels would be good.

Upgrading to 20 amp circuits in the garage would likely require new 20A breakers, new 12g wiring and new 20A outlets. And it would still be a 60A amp service. LED or HID would a lot better than T5's, less power draw.
 
Jjgrow420

Jjgrow420

Well-Known Member
Id be worried that the "60amp" panel was hooked up to a smaller breaker or your breakers or subpanel need to be replaced.
12 t5ho would run around 600-650w and likely draw around 6-7 amps so there is no way that should be blowing your breakers. There's something up with your wiring somewhere.
You should have 6AWG copper running to your 60amp subpanel minimum. If it's over 100ft you should run 4AWG to account for the voltage drop. (Limits 5%)
If you don't understand this, you should call a certified electrician. Any work done in your home by yourself needs to be inspected and passed by ESA (or equivalent) or else your insurance can deny a claim if anything ever happened.
 
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Billy the Mountain

Billy the Mountain

Well-Known Member
Jjgrow420 said:
Id be worried that the "60amp" panel was hooked up to a smaller breaker or your breakers or subpanel need to be replaced.
12 t5ho would run around 600-650w and likely draw around 6-7 amps so there is no way that should be blowing your breakers. There's something up with your wiring somewhere.
Click to expand...
4' T5's are 54 w each. He's trying to run 48 of them simultaneously.
54*48 = 2592 + 10% (?) ps loss ~ 2800 watts.
Assuming he's in North America, that's 24 amps.
Even 20 amp circuits aren't gonna help unless the load can be split.
 
Jjgrow420

Jjgrow420

Well-Known Member
Billy the Mountain said:
4' T5's are 54 w each. He's trying to run 48 of them simultaneously.
54*48 = 2592 + 10% (?) ps loss ~ 2800 watts.
Assuming he's in North America, that's 24 amps.
Even 20 amp circuits aren't gonna help unless the load can be split.
Click to expand...
Read that wrong I thought he had 12 bulbs.
Who in their right mind would run 12 4bank t5ho fixtures for a grow anyways.... there's certainly far better and more efficient options obv.
 
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bluegill

Well-Known Member
Probably going to need some electrician work since you already got the lights. I personally would have just built an LED array.
 
Unga Bunga

Unga Bunga

Well-Known Member
I had trouble running 1600 watts of halide and hps + a window AC on 60a . You really want 100 amp service , or go big with 200 . Fire ain't no joke .
 
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