Grow room keeps loosing power... only room in the house thats loosing power. WTF??

[TheyCallMe2K]

So i have a 1000w flipable mh/hps ballast with 1000 watt mh running and 6in inline fan on a timer on the same outlet. A power strip with a couple fans, humidifier on it. This started happening and i put the powerstrip on an extension cord to move that electricity to a different part of the house. Even after doing this my breaker kept flipping.. Could it be an issue with the timer?? or is it the fact that i have my inline fan and the light/ballast on the same timer? and its overloading it? If i cant fix it i might just go buy another timer to put them both on their own individual one.

 

[JackHererSki]

Dude home 110v electric is designed for 1000w. That's your light alone. When surges come it pops. I would run it through a battery backup.
But bro seriously break up that electric use some more. Like invest in an electrician who won't ask questions (ie a local father son company NOT a franchise) to add more outlets and breakers. A structure fire is bad, but a structure fire with attached grow room just sucks.
But hey if you lose your house youll have a place to sleep for the next 2-7 yrs

200w CFL stealth

 

[SnapsProvolone]

Breaker is doing it's job, preventing you from burning down yoyr house by overloading a circuit. The wire can only carry so much current. Hire a pro to pull some new feeds for you.

 

[Sand4x105]

So i have a 1000w flipable mh/hps ballast with 1000 watt mh running and 6in inline fan on a timer on the same outlet. A power strip with a couple fans, humidifier on it. This started happening and i put the powerstrip on an extension cord to move that electricity to a different part of the house. Even after doing this my breaker kept flipping.. Could it be an issue with the timer?e.

Learn Ohm's Law... 1000 watt fine on a 15 or 20 amp breaker... I think you need to get a dedicated circuit for your room, maybe two...
Here:

https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/607986-electric-questions-maybe-will-help.html

is an easy way to get you a dedicated circuit... good Luck!!!

 

[youngage]

i lol'd pretty hard at jack hereer's comment, wait so per (plug socket/ duo) that is good for 1000watts.

if i have multiple outlets/plugs in the rooms am i okay? sorry for hijacking, it is related and can help.

read post and link above, thank you RIU

 

[TheyCallMe2K]

Dude home 110v electric is designed for 1000w. That's your light alone. When surges come it pops. I would run it through a battery backup.
But bro seriously break up that electric use some more. Like invest in an electrician who won't ask questions (ie a local father son company NOT a franchise) to add more outlets and breakers. A structure fire is bad, but a structure fire with attached grow room just sucks.
But hey if you lose your house youll have a place to sleep for the next 2-7 yrs

200w CFL stealth

An electrition isnt really an option, im only renting this property for a one year lease at the moment so any and all changes to the house have to be pre approved by the landlord. Unless there is a way of asking if its ok but i feel like he would maybe be suspicious and look into why i would want to do that.. which would be creating more problems than its solving. I guess my question is, would separating the light/ballast and inline fan to separate wall outlet panels? Obviously its on the same breaker but in my limited knowledge of eletricity, it would lower the likelyhood of a power surge because the timer that is plugged into the wall isnt maxed out, right?

 

[budleydoright]

Obviously its on the same breaker but in my limited knowledge of eletricity, it would lower the likelyhood of a power surge because the timer that is plugged into the wall isnt maxed out, right?

If they are on the same breaker, then they are sharing the same 15 amps. You need to have that 1k on it's own dedicated circuit and the additional items on their own circuit. If you have to run an extension cord, make sure it is up to the task. Orange outdoor grade usually are not.

Purchase a book on household wiring at a hardware store and read it. You can get a basic understanding in an afternoon. Best 10 bucks you'll spend on your indoor garden.

 

[SnapsProvolone]

For starters surges are different animals and should be dissipated to earth ground.

All receptacles on the same breaker/circuit will be limited to a sum of not more than 80% of the breakers rated amperage. Does that help? Short of running extension cords all over the house to tap other existing circuits your only option is to have another feed pulled from your panel (hopefully by a licensed electrician)

 

[spek9]

For starters surges are different animals and should be dissipated to earth ground.

All receptacles on the same breaker/circuit will be limited to a sum of not more than 80% of the breakers rated amperage. Does that help? Short of running extension cords all over the house to tap other existing circuits your only option is to have another feed pulled from your panel (hopefully by a licensed electrician)

I'd like to add that if you DO run extension cords, don't cheap out at Walmart. For high loads like our ballast and such, you need to use the same or better rating cable than what is in the walls feeding power.

So, for a standard 120v 15A wall socket (like from a bedroom), you need at minimum a 14 gauge extension. From the kitchen, a 12ga extension.

Again, don't cheap out here. Go to your local hardware store and spend some good money. With cheap ones, although they say 14 or 12 gauge, oftentimes the connections to the prongs although pass CSA (or your specific codes), are cheap, and a couple of bends weakens them significantly.

Either this is a hobby or a production operation for you, but it is not worth burning your house down for by being cheap when it comes to electrical needs.

-spek

ps. a past acquaintance of mine from many years ago had a headline in the newspaper where his lab blew up a house in a low-rental neighbourhood. "Negligent homicide" or arson does not look good on a resume.

pss. sometimes my stories come off as unbelievable. I've never lied on RIU, and I never would. Don't be this guy who is negligent http://www.torontosun.com/2013/04/03/man-jailed-for-blowing-up-house-while-making-drugs

 

[metalhead67]

I really hate when my power gets loose in the grow room. Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

[SnapsProvolone]

Spek9 is correct but I would just use 12ga extensions all the time. WellI wouldn't use extensions but you get my drift.

 

[spek9]

Spek9 is correct but I would just use 12ga extensions all the time. WellI wouldn't use extensions but you get my drift.

I am 100% against extensions as well, but Provolone is right here. Always go overboard as he says when not using solid copper core (like what is in the walls). Thanks for clarifying bud.

-spek

 

[SnapsProvolone]

Its also too easy to switch them later and get a 14ga cord on a 20a circuit.

 

[TheyCallMe2K]

Ok so i ended up buying another timer to put the inline fan on its own identical on/off schedule as my HID lamp which is also on its own timer. My lamp is plugged into the wall outlet and then my fan is on a solid powerbrick thats connected to a bad ass construction grade ext. cord to the room next to it. I did a breaker test to make sure it was on a different circuit, which it was. I also have fans, humidifier, etc plugged into the power brick. Theoretically, this should permanently solve my problem? Thanks for the excellent advice guys

 

[nevyn]

What a good thread, thanks guys, lots of good info here.