Experienced Electrician! Here to Answer Any and All Growroom Electrical Questions

[wyteboi]

I posted this on another thread since but I thought the metering side of this may be of interest here too.

Here's a cheap way of determining connected loads on a single circuit or the main panel and you don't have to go out and buy the clampon style ampmeter unless you got an extra $100 to spare. BTW there's nothing wrong with owning or using a clamp on ampmeter but they are moment in time measurements so you should alsoturn everything on the house you can lay your hands on. This creates the biggest, worst case 'moment in time drain' on the entire electric system. That should include AC systems, microwave, hair dryers, etc....

The reason I say this is I've seen grow operations tax an older or smaller main electric service and the thermostatically controlled appliances will trip the main or in one case where there was no main circuit breaker started a fire at the meter base. Pretty fucked up situation in that case since the meter was on the other side of the grow room and the fire dept called law and you know the rest. Once everything is running turn off the one breaker that feeds the outlet (s) that you plan on running your equipment off of. Then take a look at just how much other stuff you had on is now off. You'll either have to move those things to another circuit or run a new dedicated circuit if it's going to be too much load. I never run a grow area on anything less then a dedicated 20amp 120v circuit fed from no 12 gauge copper wire. But of course it all depends on that circuits total connected load.

Never run extension cords that are longer then necessary or smaller then 14 gauge wire either. Voltage drop creates heat and destroys electronics such as digital HID ballasts. If you're using a timer go with a quality timer that can handle the entire load.

Another thing to be aware of are the new digital electric meters which are able to report back to the utility anything that they want to set as parameter for review. In your area that may include a unusually steady loads at specific hours of operation like a 18/6 or 12/12 that is for a residence considered a high load and repeated at precise intervals. I recommend you keep the loads down wherever possible. The large wattage from lighting, ventilation, AC, etc. readings in a single family residence are way to easy of a target. And when they look back it's way to fucking easy to tell that these loads usually run are grouped in a 90 day billing period.

Also NEVER steal utility power. They now know at the transformer what the total connected load of the properties being fed off that transformer are and if all of the meters on that xformer don't add up to what they're billing it starts an investigation by the utility.

The utilities are looking for ways to recover lost revenue from solar systems where they have to by law buy back solar generated power plus all those energy efficient appliances that draw less power for the utility to bill you for. If you have a new style digital meter you've already seen changes in the way they bill you. The new billing is based on a kw/hr rate that vary wildly based on the time of year, the hours that your loads are on and if you've exceeded your baseline. Every grower I know has over 4000 watts connected which exceeds their baseline and the baseline keeps getting dropped so if you're not exceeding today be patient you will.

Like everything else these rates are only going to go up too. These fucks insist we buy solar systems and reduce our loads and then they say oops this worked to well now we have to get creative on our billing to make up for the lost revenues. The utilities will never lose money.

There are options.... especially with today's lighting systems that let you grow big @ substantially lower loads.

So be creative, wire safely/properly and whatever you do stay off the radar completely.

Peace

VERY GOOD INFO calbunn !

whoever may be reading might get a lil scared from your power company info though.

they can monitor when you use your power but nothing they monitor can be used against you without a real warrant. an they cannot issue a warrant on the solo fact most of your power gets used 18/6 or 12/12. (there are many reasons one would use timers an high power consumption besides growin dope!)

of course there is always that lil town that is targeting growers an would use illegal tactics to get to them. that happens everywhere ! cops are crooked. but if they are illegally lookin at your power then they already know your name an what you do , they are just tryin to prove it.

Just try to stay as legal as you can , always.








soil

 

[wyteboi]

So a step up transformer would actually lower my amp draw? What about kwh (bill)?

Also, what should I look for quality-wise with one of these units?

Yes , when you step up from 110 to 220 it drops the amp draw in half. ( 1000watt at 110v = around 8.5 amps ..... 1000watt at 220v = 4.25 ish)

No , that will not save any money on the bill. (maybe some pennies because of less resistance) they bill in watts an 1000 watts = 1000 watts no matter what.

Using 220 will enable you to run more devices on one circuit because the wire is rated by amps. (you can run 2000 watts off 14 gauge wire with 220 , but if you run it 110 you can only run one. just an example)

Your not gonna need a transformer though because its built in to your ballast.







soil

 

[mike91sr]

Yes , when you step up from 110 to 220 it drops the amp draw in half. ( 1000watt at 110v = around 8.5 amps ..... 1000watt at 220v = 4.25 ish)

No , that will not save any money on the bill. (maybe some pennies because of less resistance) they bill in watts an 1000 watts = 1000 watts no matter what.

Using 220 will enable you to run more devices on one circuit because the wire is rated by amps. (you can run 2000 watts off 14 gauge wire with 220 , but if you run it 110 you can only run one. just an example)

Your not gonna need a transformer though because its built in to your ballast.

soil

I think you may have misunderstood me about the transformer/converter. I'm running this in a bedroom, standard 110v. With my lights, a/c, fans, etc the breaker pops. I'm trying to, without upgrading them entire circuit, be able to run all these things on the one circuit. So would a voltage converter be good for this or unsafe/inefficient?

 

[roguewar]

Hello new poster here but I have a legit concern with my setup. For my veg cycle I have 4 6400 k lights low wattage along with 8 other CFL and I have 12 pumps @ 8 watts per along with 1 CAN 450+ CFM fan, 2 6" ducting fans about 150 CFM per, an AC 12,000 BTU 1100 watt/10.5 amp, ozn generator which is low power consumption, and 4 oscillating fans. The problem is my blooming when I will be replacing my veg lights with 4 600 watt HPS lights and respective ballasts. Electric fire is a big concern of mine what would be the best way to go about this in regards to setup in the safest manner?

 

[Beansfranklin]

hey there, i bought a used a/c and plugged it in and everything was fine, i went in a lil later to check things out only to find that the 15amp breaker blown, theirs 300w in cfls a stanley blower a 12'' fan and the a/c, the a/c is 6.6amp i reset the breaker and turned down the settings thinking it was drawing to much power, breaker tripped again and i removed 12'' fan, but turned settings to full blast, then next morning all lights in room went out and then came back on(i don't think it was the whole house that lost power because the clock on the stove didn't reset. now high speed fan setting doesn't work and the compressors not turning on could i have blown something in the a/c?

also the high speed doesn't work on fan or cool mode but med and low still work for both. i took the a/c a part a lil bit and looked at the wires coming from the dials everything looked normal.

Any thoughts.

 

[darthcultavader]

so i just moved into my new house i had the breaker box completely changed out and a new 200 amp installed im going to be running 4 thousand watts and 4 600 watt hps's, all are going to be ran on a seprat 50 amp breaker... the box has been compleated and inspected by the electric company and the county everything is good. However this is were the problem begins. The house i moved into is a older one built in the 50's and the lights dim or get brighter when ever i turn on appliances in the house. When i told the electrition he said it was not a big deal that houses built in that era had the lights and appliances on the same circuit and that was the reasons for the flickering...my question is this flickering going to effect my hps bulbs, i had a 600 wat running when i was running a 10 amp saw in another room (it made the lights in the house flicker like crazy) and i think the fluxes in energy may have burnt out the bulb because it no longer works and was lightly used....im going to call a qualified electrician again to make sure everything is ok, but i have 18 plants that NEED to be transplanted and have some hps light put on them, so i was going to set up a few lights so my plants dont go into shock and move them when the electrician comes. Is this temporary idea ok or do you think im going to be blowing bulbs left and right

 

[mrmadcow]

so i just moved into my new house i had the breaker box completely changed out .....

just to make sure I understand, you have a new 200 amp panel w/ a 50 amp sub w/ all new wires for your grow.I assume the wiring leading to your panel is correct as it has been inspected. in the house itself, lights in the house dim/flicker when you turn on an appliance. my guess is that it is because both the lights & appliance are running on the old wireing & it is not heavy enough to take the strain of the heavy load. since your grow is on proper sized wire, it should not be affected. to confirm this, you could buy a cheap multimeter like this.
http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?keyword=multimeter
set it for a volts ac scale & plug it into an outlet in your grow room. have someone fire up the saw on a house circuit & watch the meter. dropping a few volts wont hurt but if you loose over 10 volts,you may need an electrician. my guess is like your electrician said

that houses built in that era had the lights and appliances on the same circuit and that was the reasons for the flickering.

 

[mrmadcow]

.... The problem is my blooming when I will be replacing my veg lights with 4 600 watt HPS lights and respective ballasts. Electric fire is a big concern of mine what would be the best way to go about this in regards to setup in the safest manner?

for that much light you will need a dedicated circuit or 2 to that room. a 20 amp 220 circuit would be ideal.

 

[mrmadcow]

. I'm trying to, without upgrading them entire circuit, be able to run all these things on the one circuit. So would a voltage converter be good for this or unsafe/inefficient?

not possible, a voltage converter will draw more juice than the appliances alone. if you are drawing 12 amps at 110 & find a converter that jumps power to 220. your draw on the the converter will be only 6 amps but it will still take 12 amps of 110 to produce it.accually more because no converter is 100% effecient.

 

[Tony18]

Yea those lights are really cool. I accutally was introduced to those a couple of weeks ago. The price is kinda high but i think you get the money back on the reduction on your electricty bill. But all in all looks promising!!!!!!

 

[Tony18]

Thats crazy!! But i here that alot "just pay your bill". I dont know were your at but I've heard that you cant steal if your have one of those new smart meters on your house. Plus I'm agianst stealling anyway.

 

[Rcb]

i started to read thru and realized theres a lot of pages so i figured i would just ask if i want to put a wall socket on my wall in my room from a outside souce would i run like and extension cord with the female end but the one with wires and then wire to the socket? is this safe?

 

[[email protected]]

hey i have just picked up a 220w cfl with external ballast exactly the same as this one but when i turned it on for the first time it made a buzzing sound and half the bulb was dim then when the buzzing sound turned off smoke started coming out of the ballast.
Any help on how i could possibly fix it would be really appreciated.

 

[oakley1984]

hey i have just picked up a 220w cfl with external ballast exactly the same as this one View attachment 1904237 but when i turned it on for the first time it made a buzzing sound and half the bulb was dim then when the buzzing sound turned off smoke started coming out of the ballast.
Any help on how i could possibly fix it would be really appreciated.

yep, heres how you fix it, return it and get another one.

 

[wyteboi]

i started to read thru and realized theres a lot of pages so i figured i would just ask if i want to put a wall socket on my wall in my room from a outside souce would i run like and extension cord with the female end but the one with wires and then wire to the socket? is this safe?

no , not going outside its not safe. you will need to use uf wire for outside use.








soil

 

[coben]

Hello Im in the market for a new lighting controller and I would like to build one.I found the DIY 4-6 light controller here on Rollitup and would like to build one with a 4 prong dryer cord.I was interested in this a year ago and I ended up buying one for $260.00. Now that controller is stuck at a friends.I NEED to build this, I should have built it a year ago. The DIY 4-6 light controller tutorial is exceptional could you give me the info I need to make this controller with a modern 4 prong cord. Thanks. 300 pages nice

 

[MapleMint]

Hi Bricktown73

I'm a noob and am in process of building a small stealth cab. I've wired up two pc fans in parallel (12V DC / 300 mA with stock manual RPM control each) with a 12V DC / 1000 mA power supply (plug adapter, not computer power supply). I've ensured good contact of all wires and things seemed to run well. I stepped out for a few hours and came home to find one fan running very slowly and the other bone dead. Any insight you can offer is much appreciated. Thanks

MM

 

[roguewar]

Hello new poster here but I have a legit concern with my setup. For my veg cycle I have 4 6400 k lights low wattage along with 8 other CFL and I have 12 pumps @ 8 watts per along with 1 CAN 450+ CFM fan, 2 6" ducting fans about 150 CFM per, an AC 12,000 BTU 1100 watt/10.5 amp, ozn generator which is low power consumption, and 4 oscillating fans. The problem is my blooming when I will be replacing my veg lights with 4 600 watt HPS lights and respective ballasts. Electric fire is a big concern of mine what would be the best way to go about this in regards to setup in the safest manner?

Thanks for responses to my question above guys. Now I have some additional questions if you don't mind. For obvious reasons I can't hire an electrician to come to the location to install a panel inside of the room. Can anyone give me a parts list and maybe a DIY video so I can install the panel myself? Please keep in mind that I have no experience with this at all. Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[mrmadcow]

w/ no experience, you might be better off running a dedicated 20 amp 220 line to the room to feed the lights. it would be a lot easier DIY project than a subpanel (assuming your ballasts can run 220)
you would need a 220 breaker that fits your current box, 12/3 romex, and a few single gang outlet boxes w/ recepticals that match your lights. a hardwired hotwater timer could be added to control the lights -something like this
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100685853/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=1

 

[Xxtimaxx]

Hello everyone, couple of questione about me wirering set up. Some one can exPlain me the wire set up, what kinde of panel,breaker,timer I will need. Relay... Will need this too and how I plug it?. I got 3 1000w hps, 1 vortex and the rest to grow! With all electric things I will have about 4000w. Big thx guys very appreciate for your help!