A Bored Electrician to Answer Your Questions

i like smokin

i like smokin

Member
IAm5toned said:
i have heard that a pc fan is nowhere near strong enough to push air through a carbon filter effectively...

you also need to take into consideration the length of your ducting, how long is it?
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the ducting is very short as it is vented out the rear of the box into the room the same length as a 90 bend on 4" plastic pipe (only i used metal ducting stuff for flues) i was worried ud say that about the pc fans but my mate has sourced some centrifugal fans from a combi boiler they will definately have the flow rating covered by far would these fans be safe to use in a circuit with a dimmer switch like you have on your wall?


thanks.
 
IAm5toned

IAm5toned

Well-Known Member
Lifes said:
Are their any special high tech lights i can buy at a lowes, walmart, or a light store that use less electricity but get the work done and dont give off a lot of heat but can stable the plants to grow healthy?
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CFL's man. you cant go wrong with a low budget and the right CFL's
Compact Flourescent Lamps use little power compared to HID lighting like MH or HPS.
The color temperature (or also called K rating) is important when selecting CFL lamps. 4700k lamps are used for vegging, and 2700k lamps are used for flowering. the exact k rating is not critical, just remember plants like bluish white light (higher k rating) to grow, and redder light (lower K rating) for flowering.
 
IAm5toned

IAm5toned

Well-Known Member
weedyweedy said:
What is your take on the use of a 250w bulb on a 400w ballast?
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many many people have asked me questions like this, so ill finally give a detailed answer...

HID lamps can be used with a ballast the is larger than the lamp rating. depending on several factors (basically design and technical stuff that is different between brands, ballast types and manufacturers)
however, some ballasts (mainly mechanical ones) will make the lamp get hotter than hell
also, some ballasts will have issues with the lamp starting, which can dramatically shorten the lamp life.
some ballasts will work just fine, and you will notice little or no difference
its not something i would reccomend doing forever, but it will work in a pinch
 
IAm5toned

IAm5toned

Well-Known Member
i like smokin said:
the ducting is very short as it is vented out the rear of the box into the room the same length as a 90 bend on 4" plastic pipe (only i used metal ducting stuff for flues) i was worried ud say that about the pc fans but my mate has sourced some centrifugal fans from a combi boiler they will definately have the flow rating covered by far would these fans be safe to use in a circuit with a dimmer switch like you have on your wall?


thanks.
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absolutely not.
despite what you hear, you should NEVER use a dimmer switch for a motor speed control.
if it is a line voltage (110vac or higher) you should use a rated speed control switch, a dimmer can damage the motor and potentially cause a fire...
for 12vdc low voltage motors, a cheap model train speed controller works wonders, especially because of the built in 12v power supply bongsmilie
 
Heads Up

Heads Up

Well-Known Member
The circuit is over two hundred feet from the panel. My partner is going to be using two six hundred watt lights a couple of fans and a 6000 btu window air conditioner in his new grow room. He came across a yard sale and picked up almost two hundred and fifty feet of 10/2 uf. Should he get 220 ballasts and run one thirty amp circuit or make a sub panel from the 10/2 and run a twenty and a fifteen amp 110? Is there a voltage drop on that kind of a run? He does have access to a twenty amp circuit which he could run his air conditioner and fans from, but that circuit is not a dedicated circuit only for his grow room.

Your opinion would be greatly appreciated.
 
IAm5toned

IAm5toned

Well-Known Member
Heads Up said:
The circuit is over two hundred feet from the panel. My partner is going to be using two six hundred watt lights a couple of fans and a 6000 btu window air conditioner in his new grow room. He came across a yard sale and picked up almost two hundred and fifty feet of 10/2 uf. Should he get 220 ballasts and run one thirty amp circuit or make a sub panel from the 10/2 and run a twenty and a fifteen amp 110? Is there a voltage drop on that kind of a run? He does have access to a twenty amp circuit which he could run his air conditioner and fans from, but that circuit is not a dedicated circuit only for his grow room.

Your opinion would be greatly appreciated.
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for all the reasons you stated, i would go with 220v... its a long run
 
doctorD

doctorD

Well-Known Member
if you read the information that is with the unit you will see it is only a speed control. It allows you to adjust the rpm of the fan safely so you dont start a fire using a dimmer switch to control your fan. It has nothing to do with temps.
 
doctorD

doctorD

Well-Known Member
well thats different all together lol. Yes this unit is for setting the power to the fan to go on when it reaches a specific temp. It also looks like it has a humidity sensor. However if you click on the picture you will be shown a different unit that only reads temp and not humidity. They are great and work well . I wouldnt pay the 70.00 bucks they want though. If all you need is for it to turn on at a specific temp go to home depot and buy this one. its only rated at 5 amps but for your fan it will work great. Just dont hook up more than the fan.
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100028788
its only 30.00. hope that helps
 
spliffbazz

spliffbazz

Well-Known Member
whats up lads any idea how many cfls i can hook up to a connector strip...i have 6 leds all wired up to 1 plug already but wondering how many cfls can i do any advice....peace

spliffbazz
 
IAm5toned

IAm5toned

Well-Known Member
chrisg420 said:
quick question, kinda wondering exactly what this http://www.businesslights.com/cap-tmpdne-adjustable-heatingcooling-thermostat-p-2050.html product does? from what i gather i plug in my inline fan and i set what i want the temp to stay at and the fan kicks on only when needed? is this correct?

Also would this mean i wouldnt need the fan on 24/7 to air cool my light?
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not sure who DrD was referring too, but yes, that is an adjustable day/night thermostat, designed for use with plug in heating/cooling equipment. depending on how you adjust the settings, it can run a/c or heating equipment....
personally i would use a simple thermostat and a relay and acheive the same effect for far cheaper, but this product is great for someone that doesnt have the time, space or skill set to make his own temp controlled relay.

now as far as the fan being on 24/7... the fan should only be on if the light is on. whatever relay that controls the light should also control the fan...

a few thoughts on multiple timers and relay circuits:

using multiple timers to achieve syncronized operation between more than one peice of equipment quickly turns into a nightmare of wiring. plugs, and time adjustment issues.

personally, on all the setups i have ever built, i always use a master relay control circuit, that way there is no doubt that when the timer starts your lamps, all of the equipment also start up. plus it also eliminates multiple points of failure... like for instance what if the fan/temp timer goes bad but the lighting timer does not? (a common situation)

the solution to this is to use thermostats as an OVERRIDE, not as a control, that way if the temp gets to hot, then fans come on no matter what... tho wiring up overrides can be a little challenging, to me the payoff in having a fail safe setup is too good to pass by.
 
IAm5toned

IAm5toned

Well-Known Member
spliffbazz said:
whats up lads any idea how many cfls i can hook up to a connector strip...i have 6 leds all wired up to 1 plug already but wondering how many cfls can i do any advice....peace

spliffbazz
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it depends on the wattage more than anything else.
you can run up to 1440 watts on a 15 amp circuit, doesnt matter what you have plugged into it, as long as the total wattage of everything does not exceed 1440 watts, you should be fine.
for example, you could have 1000w of HID lighting and 440w of CFL's all running on the same circuit, ideally that would be a dedicated circuit with spec grade receptacles, but thats the way it works.
 
Jiggyfly

Jiggyfly

Well-Known Member
I have a question... so im doing a stealth dresser grow... im gonna have a 4 slot vanity light with 4 "Y" light bulb splitters... the vanity says it can handle 100W bulbs or the CFL equivalent... the ones I have are 26W (100W equiv.) so im guessing putting 8 of these into the Y splitters would be bad... so I need to get lower wattage cfls... or find a vanity that can handle more, or what do you suggest???? your help is appreciated bongsmilie
 
IAm5toned

IAm5toned

Well-Known Member
definitly a higher wattage vanity.
i saw a thread where someone had used a power strip and plug adapters to screw the y sockets into... it was pretty sweet
 
Jiggyfly

Jiggyfly

Well-Known Member
IAm5toned said:
definitly a higher wattage vanity.
i saw a thread where someone had used a power strip and plug adapters to screw the y sockets into... it was pretty sweet
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yea... I have seen that too... I think i may have to do it that way anyways cuz I was thinking of adding some 42W as well (150W eqiv.) so I need a vanity that can handle 250 to 300W I think it will be easier to get a power strip and the plug adapters and then Y splitter lol... the power strip should handle 4- 26W and 4- 42W bulbs without much problem... correct? thanks for your help +repbongsmilie
 
C

chrisg420

Active Member
Quick question. my friends a electrician and he was saying something about if i wire my ballasts for 240 and he runs me a outlet for 240, and i rewired my ballasts that i could run 2 400 watt lights for the price of one? is this true?
 
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