150w HPS to normal wall plug. Is it doable?

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rhino1111

Well-Known Member
carl.burnette said:
Oh.. That kind of distance you can just buy a plug designed for a car. LIke the small thick cords we buy up here in Canada to plug the engine heaters in over night. Short but designed for high draw.

Cost maybe $15.00 & they are about 6' long.

You may not need it for such a short distance but I like to be safe.
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kk if it will increase safety its well worth the $15. id rather fork out a 20 then burn my house down. i live in canada too. is this thing like a extension cord specially made for cars? or what should i ask the people at the store for, and where can i get it? like home depot? Rona?
 
bird mcbride

bird mcbride

Well-Known Member
mr.notsogreenthumb said:
Wait, so is it a bad idea to put a plug on the end of my 150s and plugging them directly into a wall socket? Or is the whole extension cord thing only because its a 400w?
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If you have to use an extension cord be sure it is rated at 1850 watts at 120vac. Do not coil up extra extension cord because under a load the inductance could heat up the cord and cause an electrical fire. Get an extension cord that is the correct length. Keep your electrical off the floor.
 
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NewClosetGrower

Well-Known Member
dude, just go to home depot or lowes and get a 12awg extension cord and your fine...12 gauge wire is rated at 20 amps...400hps only uses 3.5A

EDIT...there like 35 bucks for a good one, its the same as Romex without the hassle of wiring
 
carl.burnette

carl.burnette

Well-Known Member
that would do it NewCloserGrower
I wasnt sure of the numbers so I suggested short extension cord made for plugging in car at night in winter.
 
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rhino1111

Well-Known Member
carl.burnette said:
that would do it NewCloserGrower
I wasnt sure of the numbers so I suggested short extension cord made for plugging in car at night in winter.
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what im thinking is since my current extension is rated 15Amps, 125V, if im just running the 400watt HPS + a fan, ill be way below the limit anyway. i dont see the point of wasting $40 for an extra 5 amps i dont need anyway? aslong as my current one will work safely im okay with that. all the plugs are grounded. this 15amp exstension cord is pretty short, not gonna run more then 4' away from the wall plug.

so from what ive been reading this should be safe.

HPS Ballast --> surge protector

then surge protector ---> extension

then into the wall plug.

if this wont work let me know and i will go spend money on a better extension buti think its fine cause 400watt is like 4amp and this can take 15amp. i doubt a regular house fan is even an amp.
 
Sgt.Sly

Sgt.Sly

Well-Known Member
rhino1111 said:
what im thinking is since my current extension is rated 15Amps, 125V, if im just running the 400watt HPS + a fan, ill be way below the limit anyway. i dont see the point of wasting $40 for an extra 5 amps i dont need anyway? aslong as my current one will work safely im okay with that. all the plugs are grounded. this 15amp exstension cord is pretty short, not gonna run more then 4' away from the wall plug.

so from what ive been reading this should be safe.

HPS Ballast --> surge protector

then surge protector ---> extension

then into the wall plug.

if this wont work let me know and i will go spend money on a better extension buti think its fine cause 400watt is like 4amp and this can take 15amp. i doubt a regular house fan is even an amp.
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Hey, back to check up. Friend, Although Your getting a lot of advice with safty in mind, it's mostly from noobs, and most noobs do the overkill thing in everything they do. I will tell you this. YOUR EXTENTION CORD WILL WORK FINE! I use a 25 foot Orange outdoor extention cord by noma. Prolly cost 20 bucks. Using it for 3 years now, rockin a 400W HPS, with about 200w added in CFL's from veg cabs and fans ETC. And I'm fine. Been through storms, power outages, and Its all good. You wanna put your mind at ease....go try it. After 6 hours, go feel the cord in 3 different spots. The wall plug end, the splitter end and right in the middle. All your feeling for is warmpth. If any of those spots feel warmer than grabbig another persons arm, you should up your cord.
 
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NewClosetGrower

Well-Known Member
Great post + rep

Sgt.Sly said:
Hey, back to check up. Friend, Although Your getting a lot of advice with safty in mind, it's mostly from noobs, and most noobs do the overkill thing in everything they do. I will tell you this. YOUR EXTENTION CORD WILL WORK FINE! I use a 25 foot Orange outdoor extention cord by noma. Prolly cost 20 bucks. Using it for 3 years now, rockin a 400W HPS, with about 200w added in CFL's from veg cabs and fans ETC. And I'm fine. Been through storms, power outages, and Its all good. You wanna put your mind at ease....go try it. After 6 hours, go feel the cord in 3 different spots. The wall plug end, the splitter end and right in the middle. All your feeling for is warmpth. If any of those spots feel warmer than grabbig another persons arm, you should up your cord.
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rhino1111

Well-Known Member
Sgt.Sly said:
Hey, back to check up. Friend, Although Your getting a lot of advice with safty in mind, it's mostly from noobs, and most noobs do the overkill thing in everything they do. I will tell you this. YOUR EXTENTION CORD WILL WORK FINE! I use a 25 foot Orange outdoor extention cord by noma. Prolly cost 20 bucks. Using it for 3 years now, rockin a 400W HPS, with about 200w added in CFL's from veg cabs and fans ETC. And I'm fine. Been through storms, power outages, and Its all good. You wanna put your mind at ease....go try it. After 6 hours, go feel the cord in 3 different spots. The wall plug end, the splitter end and right in the middle. All your feeling for is warmpth. If any of those spots feel warmer than grabbig another persons arm, you should up your cord.
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ok so i dont need to plug my ballast into a surge protector ?? just directly to extension??

and thanks for the advice i will check for hot spots on cord. and by up the cord im assuming you mean buy a better one.
 
mr.notsogreenthumb

mr.notsogreenthumb

Active Member
Sgt.Sly said:
NO one here has givin you a legitmate answer here, so let me clarify. You cannot wire ANY HID lamp to direct current from a wall. They MUST have a ballast. The ballast provides a 5000V+ Arc to ignite the lamp, once the lamp ignites it can then sustain at regular 120V. To try and wire dirct will provide you no results at all It simply will not work.

SECOND, you CAN run your ballast off an extention cord, provided it is rated to 30% higher than the wattage load of your bulb. Although it's not concidered wise to do so. 400W ballasts should be ok with your heavy duty garden variety extention cord.I know i do this myself with no issues.
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Thank the holy shroom queen for a straight forward answer. Thanks Sgt.Sly.
 
bird mcbride

bird mcbride

Well-Known Member
mr.notsogreenthumb said:
Thank the holy shroom queen for a straight forward answer. Thanks Sgt.Sly.
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I think somewhere throughout the thread we were led to beleive that these lights had already been set up once before leaving everyone under the illusion that you had the ballasts. The best place to get ballasts for 150w bulbs is from an electrical contractor as they are standard exterior lighting. They will sell used electrical. The last time I went to see an electrical contractor I score a 100 amp main, without breakers for seven bucks canadian.
 
Sgt.Sly

Sgt.Sly

Well-Known Member
rhino1111 said:
ok so i dont need to plug my ballast into a surge protector ?? just directly to extension??

and thanks for the advice i will check for hot spots on cord. and by up the cord im assuming you mean buy a better one.
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Yea thats what I ment by up the cord. And it's up to you weather you use a surge protector. In my opinion, I would only use a surge protector with a digital ballast. Have you ever seen inside a regular ballast? It's all pretty solid and the parts are not that sensitive. I don't use my older ballast on a surge protector. It just doesn't seem that necessary. Factory HPS lights are not hooked into surge protectors. Theres just breaker panels. Just like in your house(or fuse panel). So i don't really see the difference. Digital ballasts mind you are a different story. Anything that uses Intergrated Circuits (IC's) Really should be surge protected. Hope this helps.
 
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