A Bored Electrician to Answer Your Questions

erkelsgoo420 said:

And I'm in an apartment so is there a way of going about this that is say deposit friendly? Lol

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sugarless high said:

how much lights and stuff can i plug into this? extention cord 50 ft long plugged in in my attic. ran through celing and a power strip connected to it!?

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fluffygrrrl said:

I answered an ad on Craigs List about 400 w mh bulbs for sale. They were in an inside gymnasium. They were replacing them all with t5s. They were all working when I went to get them, as they hadn't been taken down yet. Anyway, I bought 8 of them for $20 apiece. Now I can't get any of them to work. I've got a guy building my grow room, and he said they didn't work. I told him to try the others and to wait a long time because they don't fire immediately. He tried another one, and all it did was hum, but never fired up. He has no experience with this type of lighting. Is there something special you need to wire these? The label says Day Brite lighting luminaire fitting. Lamp m59 h33 400 w. 120 208 240 277 volts 60hz. I tried to post a pic, but it wouldn't let me

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Heads Up said:

There are a lot of power outages where I live. Lightning, squirrels, strong thunderstorms, and sometimes I think to much sunshine. I finally invested in some hid lighting. My question is this, it is not uncommon especially in the summer to experience several power outages a day. How does this affect hid lighting and other than a generator is there a way to protect my lights?

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jamesz01 said:

hey i wanted to buid one of them cfl light powerstrip and the power strip says total loading 10 amp maximum (2400w) so will it be safe to put like 4 23w on there???

it also says 250v ac 10a 2500w sealed unit

just asking cos i dont want any fires in my house thanks

here is one i found or the froum

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jamesz01 said:

i have these extension power cord can i hook them up to a light socket so i can put a y splitter they will be about 42w or 23w will these power cords be ok there is a blue and brown wire also sorry to bust balls if this question has already been said

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jamesz01 said:

i have 3 cords


1- says 10a 250v
2- say 7.5a 250v and on the end of it wher i cut it off said 2.6a 250v
3-say 10a 250v

i will have 2 26w or 42w of there with y splitter

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IAm5toned said:

well an interrupted light cycle is not only bad for your palnts, its also bad for your ballasts. most HID lamps are only good for so many startups as well.
any solution to this problem is going to get expensive for you however, because the problem with storing power and switching it on when you need it involves a shitload of batteries and an expensive transfer switch, no matter which way you look at it. cost is proportionate to the scale of your operation, in other words the more wattage you need, the more expensive it gets.
HID lights will use alot of your CCA on the batteries to, during restrike, because unless you have a true UPS (uninterruptable power supply) with a 3-way transfer switch and a generator or other seperatly derived power source (solar/wind), the lamps will extinguish in the 200-300 millisecs it takes for the transfer switch to engage....
this is a problem alot of engineers in commercial/industrial construction have problems with coming up with low cost solutions, more often than not what they come up with is a florescent emergency backup lighting system to provide light in critical areas untill the HID lamps can restrike.

IMHO opinion i think the most realistic approach for you would be to use t5HO lamps on bodine ballasts (a bodine ballast is a floro ballast that has a built in transfer switch and battery backup. they will run 2 lamps for about 1.5-2 hours. some of them will even run for 4 or 5 hours in optimum conditions) as a backup to your HIDs, that way when the power goes off, instead of tryting to run 1000's of watts of HID using expensive equipment that will cost at least a thousand bux just to start, you have a self contained unit that will provide enough light to keep your plants from flowering to early on or going hermie later on from repeated light stress. wiring it up to work right with the HID's shouldnt be too complecated, it would involve a single relay and a source of power that will shut off when you have a blackout, but not the controlled switching of the HIDs.
a single relay with a 120v coil, a few bodine ballasts and some lamps are far cheaper than transfer switches, battery banks, and gen sets....
send me a msg if you want more info on how to do this

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Heads Up said:

Will this work?
http://www.horticulturesource.com/c-a-p-custom-automated-products-hid-lighting-controller-electronic-hot-start-hi-temp-protection-15-minute-delay-50-115-f-p4851/?osCsid=bb2282e24ece7f48b8d5cb3cd329508d

I already have a four tube ho t-5, can I pick up that bodine ballast somewhere and switch them out? My t5 fixture is actually a high bay fixture, it wasn't meant for growing but I don't think the plants know that.

Thanks

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