A Bored Electrician to Answer Your Questions

[IAm5toned]

Hi is it possible to use a 400w bulb with a 600w digital ballast?

yes. as long as your lamp size in wattage is lower than the ballast rating it will work everytime. however avoid 'overkilling' your ballast, for example: running a 100w MH lamp on a 1000w ballast.

just make sure the ballast and the lamp are compatible (HPS ballast for HPS lamp, MH ballast for MH lamp, etc etc)

 

[IAm5toned]

Thank you, Sir, for your time and advice, it's much appreciated!

Your welcome, and anytime! im a firm believer in good karma

 

[Hash67]

Thanks for you help.

 

[Bluemax]

hey mr electrician,im using a 600w setup in an outhouse,in a secret jardin 'dark room' tent,measures 120x120x200(cm),an extension lead,13amp,runs off from the fuse box that had been placed in their for electricity,theres current just a freezer plugged into it.

im not tooo hot on electrics and would greatly appreciated your help,i managed to wire my 125mm extraction fan and cooltube up,thank god.

i have a mechanical timer,if im using the extension lead,do i definately need a contact relay for it?guy at my shop said it was a real good thing to have,i thought about the power going through the little timer and it made sense.

and if you know about bulbs at all?when i put mine into the cooltube,it doesnt screw ALL the way in,nearly,and it feels nice and tight,it wont go anymore without me risking damaging the bulb,ive yet to fire it up tho,as im waiting for them to get a single socket relay in.

any helps much appreciated buddy,happy toking

 

[IAm5toned]

hey mr electrician,im using a 600w setup in an outhouse,in a secret jardin 'dark room' tent,measures 120x120x200(cm),an extension lead,13amp,runs off from the fuse box that had been placed in their for electricity,theres current just a freezer plugged into it.

im not tooo hot on electrics and would greatly appreciated your help,i managed to wire my 125mm extraction fan and cooltube up,thank god.

i have a mechanical timer,if im using the extension lead,do i definately need a contact relay for it?guy at my shop said it was a real good thing to have,i thought about the power going through the little timer and it made sense.

and if you know about bulbs at all?when i put mine into the cooltube,it doesnt screw ALL the way in,nearly,and it feels nice and tight,it wont go anymore without me risking damaging the bulb,ive yet to fire it up tho,as im waiting for them to get a single socket relay in.

any helps much appreciated buddy,happy toking

you shouldnt need a contact relay if the timer is rated for 13amps or greater. the ratings for voltage and amps are on the timer somewhere. usually the plug in timers are rated for 15amp, but make sure you check.

as far as the bulb, what type is it? is it compatible with the ballast? what brand is the ballast and the lamp? sometimes you end up with an odd fit between different manufacturers. another possibility if the lamp type is not a 'u' type lamp. often HID lamps are rated for either horizontal or vertical positions. type u is for vertical lamps, type h is for horizontal lamps. you mave have a type u lamp in a ballast that is designed for a type h lamp, or vice-versa. also the socket on the fixture itself may not be rated for the size bulb you have... if all else fails turn it on and see what happens, if the lamp does not fully ignite you may have to change the socket.

 

[Bluemax]

thankyou my friend,its a phillips master 600w son-t plus

ballast is a lumatek digital/electronic 600w,says it will run any type of MH or HPS bulb and automatically adjust

5 inch cooltube came with standard fitting,e40 i think it is,it screws in fine,and i did see that there are 2 protruding arcs of wire midway down the screw helix,and it looks like they would be pushed out as you screw the bulb in,its obviously meant to be there,certainly looks like it does anyway

i have yet to fire it up,as for one,i need a new pair of easy rollers,as the ones i got,ones fine,and when i spooled the other one out to check it,the wires frayed midway down,made me paranoid that it would break when i set it up

and i was also waiting for them (my local shop) to get a single socket relay in,

itll soon be fired anyway so,i shall see what happens and ill defo report in then

many thanks and its great to have someone with solid electrical knowledge

 

[Downfoemythang]

How's it going IAm5toned, I have 2 blower motors out of a car, they blow like hell. I was wondering if I can get them to run on AC. My first thought was to buy an inexpensive batter charger & clamp the leads accordingly to power the fans. Is there is an easier/cheaper way to get the fan to work in my grow room?

Thanks.

 

[IAm5toned]

How's it going IAm5toned, I have 2 blower motors out of a car, they blow like hell. I was wondering if I can get them to run on AC. My first thought was to buy an inexpensive batter charger & clamp the leads accordingly to power the fans. Is there is an easier/cheaper way to get the fan to work in my grow room?

Thanks.

unfortunately the battery charger wont have enough amperage to run the fans, and if they run at all it wont last very long and will most definitly be a potential fire hazard. i wouldnt try it... what you need is a dc power supply. do you know the amperage/wattage of the fans?

in an earlier post i had recommended
using a 12v model train controller to run some pc fans. i believe a larger version of the same maybe what your looking for, though without knowing how much power your fans require its hard for me to make a recommendation....

dc power supplies are pretty common and can be found for many different applications, from computer power supplies, plug in wall adapters, building controls, etc, etc. one thing to remember is your dc power supply needs to be 1/3 bigger than the power you require ex-
your fan pulls 4amps
you have two fans for a total of 8amps
you need a 12amp power supply.
sizing a d/c power supply like this will prevent it from getting too hot and greatly prolong its service life and efficiency...
however for your particular application i think you can find what type and size of power supply and the appropriate model number here:
http://www.altronix.com/index.php?pid=2&model_num=T12175#T12175

i highly recommend altronix power supplies, there reliabliity and variety is supurb and there are very rugged, and most come with replaceable fuses, a nice feature.
just google the model number you need to find a dealer with the right price

 

[IAm5toned]

ballast is a lumatek digital/electronic 600w,says it will run any type of MH or HPS bulb and automatically adjust

that is one badass ballast... i bet it wasnt cheap!

i believe the tight fit you have is probably because the lamp is as big as you can go without having to upgrade the ballast or socket. you should be good to go!

 

[notoriousb]

hey hows it going man.
I'm pretty sure this is called a junction box right in my grow room and I want to install an outlet since the only power I have right now is from a extension cord plugged in about 30 ft away from my room and I didnt want to run a 600w and a couple fans off such a long cord and have to deal with a draw.

I just want to make sure I can wire an outlet in there

thanks
-Nb

 

[IAm5toned]

hey hows it going man.
I'm pretty sure this is called a junction box right in my grow room and I want to install an outlet since the only power I have right now is from a extension cord plugged in about 30 ft away from my room and I didnt want to run a 600w and a couple fans off such a long cord and have to deal with a draw.

I just want to make sure I can wire an outlet in there

thanks
-Nb

your hunch is absolutly correct, although the light will be unaffected, the voltage drop will hurt your fan motors over time. however a simple fix to this without having to take anything apart is to get a cord with a heavy gauge wire such as #14awg, #12awg, or #10awg.

voltage drop is caused by a lack of enough conductor (metal) to carry current over extended distances. to overcome this, you simply get bigger wire

however if your wanting to come off of the junction box directly, you need to know whats in that box already (in other words, you dont want to be tapping into a circuit that is serving something important, such as kitchen plugs, a water heater, laundry equipment, etc etc.) not only is there the risk of fire and/or equipment failure there is a chance that the voltage you need is not present in the box. (it could be a 230v circuit for example)

id need alot more information to give you an informed response to that one, im afraid. like what size wire is in the box, the voltage, and everything that is connected to the circuit your wanting to tie into...
*EDIT I missed the pic when i replied to your post. that box looks suspicously like the feed for a lighting circuit.... the three neutrals tied together with 2 hots tells me thats a tap going to a switch somewhere.
if u dug a little deeper id bet theres another set of black wires in that box. tying into that may give you more problems than you wish for...

 

[notoriousb]

your hunch is absolutly correct, although the light will be unaffected, the voltage drop will hurt your fan motors over time. however a simple fix to this without having to take anything apart is to get a cord with a heavy gauge wire such as #14awg, #12awg, or #10awg.

voltage drop is caused by a lack of enough conductor (metal) to carry current over extended distances. to overcome this, you simply get bigger wire

however if your wanting to come off of the junction box directly, you need to know whats in that box already (in other words, you dont want to be tapping into a circuit that is serving something important, such as kitchen plugs, a water heater, laundry equipment, etc etc.) not only is there the risk of fire and/or equipment failure there is a chance that the voltage you need is not present in the box. (it could be a 230v circuit for example)

id need alot more information to give you an informed response to that one, im afraid. like what size wire is in the box, the voltage, and everything that is connected to the circuit your wanting to tie into...
*EDIT I missed the pic when i replied to your post. that box looks suspicously like the feed for a lighting circuit.... the three neutrals tied together with 2 hots tells me thats a tap going to a switch somewhere.
if u dug a little deeper id bet theres another set of black wires in that box. tying into that may give you more problems than you wish for...

well there's only one set of blacks and one set of whites and one set of coppers but each wire nut has 3 wires of the same color twisted together. does that make sense? and this junction was installed after we built an office addition to the house so I know that it's feeding a computer and printer right above where this box and my grow room are. then it feeds to the outside to some low voltage recess lighting that's hardly ever used.

but you're thinking I should just go with a bigger gauged extenstion cord to rid myself of all these other possible troubles and dangers trying to wire in a new outlet?

thanks again man, you're chalk full of electrical knowlege. my gramps was an electrician for about 30 years but I didnt think he'd be too ecstatic if I had him come over to wire up my grow room haha

 

[fraiserblaze]

can i swap out my electrical meter and get free power without getting caught if so how is the best way to do this

 

[KBkiller42]

hey i was wondering if you could help me out
I have a self enclosed ballast/reflector/light socket system
Because of temp problems i want to get a cool tube
Could i simply take off the socket to expose the wires and attach the female end of an extension cord to it and plug the cool tube right into that.
If the cool tube plug doesn't fit could i use both ends of the extension cord and wire them so i can plug them into each other?

Thanks
-KB

 

[IAm5toned]

can i swap out my electrical meter and get free power without getting caught if so how is the best way to do this

without trying to sound like an asshole- are you serious?

not only is tampering with a utility company's product a FEDERAL offense, (and in many states also a felony) since there is no way to shut the power off without notifying the power company your are begging to be electrocuted to death! get smart about it man... if u cant afford an indoor setup grow outdoors or rig up a simple greenhouse..... use the loot from your first crop to get the lights turned back on!

 

[IAm5toned]

well there's only one set of blacks and one set of whites and one set of coppers but each wire nut has 3 wires of the same color twisted together. does that make sense? and this junction was installed after we built an office addition to the house so I know that it's feeding a computer and printer right above where this box and my grow room are. then it feeds to the outside to some low voltage recess lighting that's hardly ever used.

but you're thinking I should just go with a bigger gauged extenstion cord to rid myself of all these other possible troubles and dangers trying to wire in a new outlet?

thanks again man, you're chalk full of electrical knowlege. my gramps was an electrician for about 30 years but I didnt think he'd be too ecstatic if I had him come over to wire up my grow room haha

the cord will definitly be the simplest fix
however regarding the box we were talking about, you should also be good to go to add a plug into that circuit. hit me up if you need instructions on how to do this!

 

[IAm5toned]

hey i was wondering if you could help me out
I have a self enclosed ballast/reflector/light socket system
Because of temp problems i want to get a cool tube
Could i simply take off the socket to expose the wires and attach the female end of an extension cord to it and plug the cool tube right into that.
If the cool tube plug doesn't fit could i use both ends of the extension cord and wire them so i can plug them into each other?

Thanks
-KB

umm... no. dont do this, it will probably fry the ballast and the cooltube.

you need to intercept the power BEFORE it hits the ballast. try a simple power strip, there cheaper than insurance deductibles
for house fires!

 

[notoriousb]

the cord will definitly be the simplest fix
however regarding the box we were talking about, you should also be good to go to add a plug into that circuit. hit me up if you need instructions on how to do this!

ha well shiiit. I would like to have an outlet right there in my room but I also found another outlet on the other side of my house I could run an extension cord from.

I just don't get why there's 3 of each color in the box. and then unsure of which ones to select to go into the actual outlet, help!

 

[Downfoemythang]

unfortunately the battery charger wont have enough amperage to run the fans, and if they run at all it wont last very long and will most definitly be a potential fire hazard. i wouldnt try it... what you need is a dc power supply. do you know the amperage/wattage of the fans?

in an earlier post i had recommended
using a 12v model train controller to run some pc fans. i believe a larger version of the same maybe what your looking for, though without knowing how much power your fans require its hard for me to make a recommendation....

dc power supplies are pretty common and can be found for many different applications, from computer power supplies, plug in wall adapters, building controls, etc, etc. one thing to remember is your dc power supply needs to be 1/3 bigger than the power you require ex-
your fan pulls 4amps
you have two fans for a total of 8amps
you need a 12amp power supply.
sizing a d/c power supply like this will prevent it from getting too hot and greatly prolong its service life and efficiency...
however for your particular application i think you can find what type and size of power supply and the appropriate model number here:
http://www.altronix.com/index.php?pid=2&model_num=T12175#T12175

i highly recommend altronix power supplies, there reliabliity and variety is supurb and there are very rugged, and most come with replaceable fuses, a nice feature.
just google the model number you need to find a dealer with the right price

Thanks for the link. The only thing I can tell you about the fans is that they run on 25 amp blade fuses, so my guess is that they pull up to 25 amps. I have a jumper/booster pack that'll start your car when the battery is dead, if I connect + & - from the booster to the fans and turn it on they put out alot of air. Only thing is with the link you sent me, I dont know what the hell Im looking at. Or which one of those I may need.

 

[POLARIS01]

I want to plug 2 400w hps , 1 425cfm inline fan , 1 oscillating fan to a power strip then in to 1 timer. what would be the amps of these? is it to much? I do have one open breaker in my box, should i run this on one breaker or don't worry about it?