20 amp breaker and wiring question

[FLoJo]

I am about to wire up my grow room and had a couple questions. I plan on running one 600w plus all of my fans, pumps, filters etc. off of my 15 amp breaker. I also have a 20 amp breaker in the same room that is dedicated to a small wall heater. I want to rewire it for a 120v plug and run 3 600w lights off of that breaker.

My questions are first of all assuming i use digital ballasts will i be safely under the max wattage for the 20amp breaker. also will it be possible to run all of those lights off of a single 120v outlet with a surge protector?

Now to wire it up, i can see that the black red and copper wire come directly out of the wall. the black wire goes to the trigger control for the heater and the white wire goes directly to the heater. the copper wire (ground) goes to the ground on the heater.

So just to verify all i have to do is of course turn off both breakers in the room, and disconnect the black wire from the heaters trigger wire, the white and the ground from the heater and get a 120v socket and connect the three wires to their respective places. Correct me if I am wrong.. I am going to try to post these pics for more info... Thanks

FLo

 

[kushmonster]

Just remember in all breakers you want to be 6amps under your whatever amp breaker, so if you have a 20amp breaker, pulling 14amps your right at the breaking point, 15 on 20 will eventually trip the breaker.So find out how many amps each light draws.

As far as wiring goes, colored wires such as blk,red,blue are primary hot wires, then you have bastard colors such as brn,yellow,ornge, but doubt youll be running into them..

White is common for nutural wire...

green or bare copper always ground..(but in my days as an electrician I've seen some crazy shit) so its to get a lil tester that measures 120/240/277

good luck

 

[FLoJo]

well i have some pictures but i cant figure out how to get them on here something with a security code or somethin like that plus i think they are too large but i can elaborate a little mroe if it does not make sense

 

[FLoJo]

ya the white is the neutral the black is hot and the copper is ground, that is the only ones that come out of the wall the red wire is a trigger wire for the heater control. The lights im running are 120v so 600/120 is five amps per light or 15 amps on the 20amp breaker, and if i tried to split the lights 2 and 2 i would have 10 amps on 15 amp breaker and 10 on the 20 amp breaker...

If i used 240v instead that would be 2.5 amps per light, but if i ran all four lights off of that breaker I would be pushing 2400 watts off of a 20 amp breaker which is the absolute max which is horrible LOL. and i cant exactly run a 240v off of a 120v outlet and to convert it would be a pain.. i just dont want to have to fux with too much stuff since this is an apt and will be getting my house in about six to eight months....

so are you sure by running three lights at 120v off of the 20 amp it would trip the breaker? even if its strictly a 12/12 with digital ballasts and nothing else at all is on the circuit? i am no electrician but i feel like running 1800w or actually it would be about 2100 watts and 15 amps would be safe, it is a brand new building so i know the wiring is kosher. if it wont work i am open to any ideas...
Thanks in advance,

FLo

 

[kushmonster]

Its fine off of your 120v, just make sure that the 3 lights put together dosent pull more than 14amps, 15 like I said will eventually trip the breaker, what awg wire is it? im assuming like 14 solid wire??

 

[FLoJo]

well im not sure what gauge the wires are, i will be using the lumatek 600w digis, they are on the way. but running them at 120v... 600w/120v is 5 amps per light... 3 lights on the 20 amp circuit is 15 amps, so you say it will trip... however if i could find a way to run them at 240v, like hooking up a 240v outlet with three hookups that would be 2.5 amps per light or 7.5 amps total... right?

on the 15 amp circuit i still plan on only running one 600w plus all the pups and fans ect..

 

[kushmonster]

Yeah but youll need 2 hots and a nutrual in order to obtain 240, It might hold at 15amps but your taking chances

 

[FLoJo]

man that sux and here i thought i was golden... i guess i can just get a heavy duty extension cord and run it to the bathroom outlet... i would run the 240v but it sucks because there is only one hot wire.... i really dont want to run an ext cord but whatev..

 

[kushmonster]

If you can locate exactly where your panel is and you have room for another breaker I can walk you thru step by step in order to obtain 240v, your call.....

 

[FLoJo]

i do have plenty of room in the breaker box and it is right across the hallway from the room but this is an apartment and i dont really want to mess anything up... however if its not too hard i guess i wouldnt mind throwing in another circuit

 

[kushmonster]

it can always be removed, and even if it isnt they aint gonna know, when you move you cap the one hot off and your done. Well just pm me if you want to go that route

 

[CustomHydro]

it can always be removed, and even if it isnt they aint gonna know, when you move you cap the one hot off and your done. Well just pm me if you want to go that route

Kush, I think that is cool as hell that u are willing to walk him thru this step by step. If you do end up helping can you do it on a thread so we can all benefit from this? I hear a lot of people asking about this stuff and I think u could really help out! +Rep for offering to go the extra mile to help someone out!

 

[FLoJo]

I agree thanks a lot kush thats really decent of you i would love to get this info... i think it would be a good idea to make a thread cuz im sure plenty of ppl could gain from your knowledge!!

 

[kushmonster]

Kush, I think that is cool as hell that u are willing to walk him thru this step by step. If you do end up helping can you do it on a thread so we can all benefit from this? I hear a lot of people asking about this stuff and I think u could really help out! +Rep for offering to go the extra mile to help someone out!

I agree thanks a lot kush thats really decent of you i would love to get this info... i think it would be a good idea to make a thread cuz im sure plenty of ppl could gain from your knowledge!!

,


Already started one fellas, In grow rooms and designs forum, Thats what this site was intended for, to help us all

 

[UserFriendly]

Digital ballasts are designed to run on either 120v or 240v, not both.

 

[UserFriendly]

I'm not an electrician, but I'm sure safety is built into the 20 amp specs; meaning it will be ok to run 3 600w (15 amps) on a 20 amp circuit.

 

[kushmonster]

I'm not an electrician, but I'm sure safety is built into the 20 amp specs; meaning it will be ok to run 3 600w (15 amps) on a 20 amp circuit.

Sorry dude, In order for a 20amp breaker to not trip(faulty current) you must be 6amps under, which would be 14amps it might hold at 15amps, but do you really want to take that chance with your plants??

 

[spark1]

You can't use the lamp wattage to figure demand accurately. The ballast pulls power in excess of what the lamp uses. It's minimal,but must be factored in for accurate load calculations. Also,breakers are good for 80% of their listed rating,so a 20 amp breaker is maxed out at 16 amps.I'm a Master Electrician with 25 years in the trade and am happy to help anyone that needs it. Just PM me.

 

[UserFriendly]

Digital Ballasts Explained | BGHydro
It says it's old info in regards to Galaxy ballasts and Lumatek RF shielding, but shows Lumatek digital 600's pulling 610-620 watts.

620w x 3 = 1860w/120v = 15.5A

....cutting it close, to say the least.

NEWS TO ME: These Galaxy ballast are dual voltage digitals.
Galaxy Digital Ballasts

 

[kushmonster]

You can't use the lamp wattage to figure demand accurately. The ballast pulls power in excess of what the lamp uses. It's minimal,but must be factored in for accurate load calculations. Also,breakers are good for 80% of their listed rating,so a 20 amp breaker is maxed out at 16 amps.I'm a Master Electrician with 25 years in the trade and am happy to help anyone that needs it. Just PM me.

Do you really want to be maxed out when dealing with your plants??, god forbid if something were to happen to the ballast and it start to drawing more amps and I've seen it happen, then your breaker trips, no lights,can you say "stressing your plants" sorry not a chance I wanna take....