240v light controller connection question

J

jonnynobody

Well-Known Member
I'm installing a new 8 light top o grow 240v light controller on a 50 amp double pole circuit with 6/2 wire with copper ground. The instructions for completing the connection are pretty shitty and I'm not an electrician, so I need some help. The diagram just has 2 arrows pointing to where you see my fingers saying "main connection." It isn't very clear exactly which terminal you connect the 2 hots to. I would greatly appreciate help from someone that knows what they're doing. I'm stopping until I can get clarification so I live to tell the story after the job is done. Thanks for the assistance and potentially saving my life. BTW, my grand daughter got a vanity for christmas and painted my nails. I'm not in transition :)

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OneHitDone said:
Looks like your 2 hots go on the bottom of the left contactor :peace:
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Please forgive my ignorance, but I want to make sure I've got this right. The 2 hots go under the 2 terminal screws circled below? I promised my wife I'd cook dinner tonight, so if I kill myself doing this the bitch is gonna be all sorts of pissed off when she's gotta call an ambulance and cook dinner:)
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jonnynobody said:
Please forgive my ignorance, but I want to make sure I've got this right. The 2 hots go under the 2 terminal screws circled below? I promised my wife I'd cook dinner tonight, so if I kill myself doing this the bitch is gonna be all sorts of pissed off when she's gotta call an ambulance and cook dinner:)
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it appears thats correct but im not 100%.
Thats just the only common sense place as an electrician but im still not 100%.
 
im 50% sure that thing is wired backwards from the factory but it will work fine. "L1" and "L2" shuold stand for line 1 and line 2.....that would be the incoming power but since the outlets are coming out of the l1 l2 side then you would want to feed it on the other side "T1 an T2"
 
Yes , hook your power up to T1 and T2 on either side (they are directly wired together so it dont matter which side you go to.) One hot to T1 and the other hot to T2 will be fine. im 100% on that.
 
getogrow said:
You should probably take that ring off when going into that live panel. I never have but im not very safe....
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Ya know as I was doing this job I thought to myself, "I should really learn how to do this in a safer manner." While I am safe I'm also an ADD afflicted mess. And I know this. I'm going to do some reading and get some tips from the pros on do and don't techniques for working inside of the panel. The more you know the safer you can work. I had to tell my wife a couple of times, "honey I love you but I will fucking kill you if you do not leave me alone while I'm working in the panel." I think one of my hard and fast rules moving forward is requiring nobody in the house while I'm wiring. It almost seems as if when working on something dangerous that requires intense focus the idiots within my home can almost sense it and work tirelessly to produce an infinite amount of annoying motherfucking distractions that make my blood boil. Those distractions can and will frustrate you. Frustration causes mistakes. Mistakes can cost you your life when you're working with 2 live 120v electric lines. I could never be an electrician doing service calls. Kids running around and shit like that. I couldn't do it.

Thanks to your help the job is done my friend. I even plugged in one of my 450W LED quantum boards, and it fired right up without issue. Hey, and I even lived to tell the fucking story. I'll take that any day of the week. Twice on Sunday :)

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getogrow said:
im 50% sure that thing is wired backwards from the factory but it will work fine. "L1" and "L2" shuold stand for line 1 and line 2.....that would be the incoming power but since the outlets are coming out of the l1 l2 side then you would want to feed it on the other side "T1 an T2"
Click to expand...
Yeah they did ignore the nomenclature however there is no difference electronically. There are some cases with the higher amperage/voltage contactors where it does matter due to arcing but in most cases it's fine to wire either direction.
 
Renfro said:
Yeah they did ignore the nomenclature however there is no difference electronically. There are some cases with the higher amperage/voltage contactors where it does matter due to arcing but in most cases it's fine to wire either direction.
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This may sound silly, but the hardest part of the job was punching out the top 3/4" knockout in the panel box to bring in the 6/2 wire. The 1/2" knocked out and left the 3/4" ring. I had to position a long handled screwdriver uncomfortably close to those two hot wires coming into the panel in order to break it free. I got a little ridge to pop up that was big enough to grab with channel locks. Motherfucker would not give. I couldn't believe it. Not even a little on either side. I basically had the knockout wings kicked up on both sides, but this small piece of thicker metal in the molding on both sides of the knockout simply would not give. It was literally the most stressful and frustrating part of the job. I've seen electricians use cardboard to cover up the wires. Maybe that's something I should do as a matter of good practice in the future. This was the most dangerous electrical job I've done yet and only the second time installing a new circuit. I went very slow and worked very carefully. And I have a newfound respect for electricians each time I do a job. A knockout was the hardest part of the job? Really? What a trade :)
 
jonnynobody said:
The 1/2" knocked out and left the 3/4" ring.
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What sucks is when you only wanna knockout the 1/2 but get the 3/4 too lol. They make little reducing rings that you can use, always kept a hand full of various sizes in the bag.

jonnynobody said:
I basically had the knockout wings kicked up on both sides, but this small piece of thicker metal in the molding on both sides of the knockout simply would not give.
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You just have to wiggle it back and forth with the channel locks until metal fatigue makes it give way.

jonnynobody said:
I've seen electricians use cardboard to cover up the wires.
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We also have screw drivers that are plastic all the way to the tip where that is metal. This prevents the shaft from arcing on live shit or ground. Use to work on live connections lol
 
jonnynobody said:
This may sound silly, but the hardest part of the job was punching out the top 3/4" knockout in the panel box to bring in the 6/2 wire. The 1/2" knocked out and left the 3/4" ring. I had to position a long handled screwdriver uncomfortably close to those two hot wires coming into the panel in order to break it free. I got a little ridge to pop up that was big enough to grab with channel locks. Motherfucker would not give. I couldn't believe it. Not even a little on either side. I basically had the knockout wings kicked up on both sides, but this small piece of thicker metal in the molding on both sides of the knockout simply would not give. It was literally the most stressful and frustrating part of the job. I've seen electricians use cardboard to cover up the wires. Maybe that's something I should do as a matter of good practice in the future. This was the most dangerous electrical job I've done yet and only the second time installing a new circuit. I went very slow and worked very carefully. And I have a newfound respect for electricians each time I do a job. A knockout was the hardest part of the job? Really? What a trade :)
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Im an electrician and i also agree the hardest part of the job is the knockouts :bigjoint: Like Ren says , its very common to knock out the 3/4" instead of just the 1/2". Its MUCH easier with the panel on the ground and knocking um out before you install the panel.
Im a service guy....i fix shit so this is normal for me. ive always been told to take the ring off my fuckin finger but i wont. (its like yours and dont stick out much....just a band)
Ive only almost died 2 or 3 times and 1 of them times were karma. (i was stealing a street light.....in the rain, live.) Needless to say that was the very last thing i ever stole. i fuckin hate thieves.
Second time i almost died was up on the pole hooking the main power up to the meter , i was being a badass and decided i didnt need to tape the hot wires , i could get one at a time without touching the other....i was wrong. That one hurt my feelings , I VOWED never to touch live electricity again. EVER. A call to my brother , a joint , and 10 minutes and i was back on the pole finishing my job.
 
Renfro said:
What sucks is when you only wanna knockout the 1/2 but get the 3/4 too lol. They make little reducing rings that you can use, always kept a hand full of various sizes in the bag.
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Great advice! I'll get some of those reducing rings to keep on hand. I don't do a lot of this kind of thing, but when you need it and don't have it you're sure left in a dilly of a pickle.

Renfro said:
You just have to wiggle it back and forth with the channel locks until metal fatigue makes it give way.
Click to expand...
She was a fighter, but the best things in life are always worth working for :)
Renfro said:
We also have screw drivers that are plastic all the way to the tip where that is metal. This prevents the shaft from arcing on live shit or ground. Use to work on live connections lol
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I think it's time to invest in a basic electricians tool set. I feel like surviving a job is crucial to it's completion :)
 
getogrow said:
Ive only almost died 2 or 3 times and 1 of them times were karma. (i was stealing a street light.....in the rain, live.) Needless to say that was the very last
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Literally laughed as I read that. Then I had to wonder why and if it was proper. Then I laughed again :) Something tells me you're a riot on a float trip.
 
jonnynobody said:
Literally laughed as I read that. Then I had to wonder why and if it was proper. Then I laughed again :) Something tells me you're a riot on a float trip.
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I stole a street light once but it was knocked down by a car lol and it wasn't raining. Used it to grow weed lmao.
 
So, in one of my rooms I use a Spartan Series 4 way controller installed onto a 240 line. I know the trigger is 120V, I'm talking about the power input here.
Im helping another fella set up a room, was suggesting using the same device, but his line is only 120V.
Does that matter? Will it function the same on 120V?
I feel like I should know this, but I can't seem to get my head around the information I have found so far.
 
Chip Green said:
So, in one of my rooms I use a Spartan Series 4 way controller installed onto a 240 line. I know the trigger is 120V, I'm talking about the power input here.
Im helping another fella set up a room, was suggesting using the same device, but his line is only 120V.
Does that matter? Will it function the same on 120V?
I feel like I should know this, but I can't seem to get my head around the information I have found so far.
Click to expand...
The lighting controller is just a contactor thats triggered (coil is powered) by the trigger cord. What you switch through it is up to you. So if you wanted to feed it 120 volt power (within it's amperage specs) then you can do so by using the hot leg on L1 and the neutral on L2.
 
Yes of course. Thanks for that confirmation Renfro. I felt like that was the case, yet somehow, I had this irrational refusal to accept it as fact.
 
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