A Bored Electrician to Answer Your Questions

The Big Bud said:

Not to state the obvious but Im new I have a 430hps and I am wondering what the electricty usage would compare to ie. t.v, micro wave ect. If I run the light is that like having a T.V on?

Click to expand...

it pulls about the same as a high end gaming computer, with monitor. not as much as a microwave, but more than a typical tv. expect an increase of 30-40$ avg per month

Could you throw me the relay, photocell etc I need? I have to go this afternoon for stuff to help my mom with trees coming tue. Harbor Freight, Radio Shack, and Lowe's are already on the list. I also have a funny vid. of my Security Guard "defending the water supply" to send you.
Daniels

i'm gonna throw together this little dry box deal. the 3''x3'' pc fan runs off 12v. i got 2 different dc adapters. one only has an output of 5.9v, so thats probably a no go.
the other has an output of 17avdc(?) will that work? a 12v fan running of a 17avdc?
weeks ago, i found out a pc fan will work for a few seconds using a spliced extention cord. /:

Danielsgb said:

Could you throw me the relay, photocell etc I need? I have to go this afternoon for stuff to help my mom with trees coming tue. Harbor Freight, Radio Shack, and Lowe's are already on the list. I also have a funny vid. of my Security Guard "defending the water supply" to send you.
Daniels

Click to expand...

man, i have been out of town for 3 days... and wont be back untill fri evening.

metaltooths said:

i'm gonna throw together this little dry box deal. the 3''x3'' pc fan runs off 12v. i got 2 different dc adapters. one only has an output of 5.9v, so thats probably a no go.
the other has an output of 17avdc(?) will that work? a 12v fan running of a 17avdc?
weeks ago, i found out a pc fan will work for a few seconds using a spliced extention cord. /:

Click to expand...

it should work fine

IAm5toned said:

man, i have been out of town for 3 days... and wont be back untill fri evening.

Click to expand...

When ever you get time it'd be great. Sounds like you've been busy. Knew those plants were getting close. I've got the main stuff going now it's tweaking etc.
Daniels

thanks again 5toned-
i'll be throwing rep your way whenever it'll let me, without your help i would have had a quality rig job, you also taught me how to figure ampacity ratings for life

keep up the good work man, you've probably saved people's families with this thread

Hello, I came across this thread when I was trying to find an answer to my problem that no one else seems to have an answer for. I am running a 600 watt galaxy digital ballast. I have been using it the last two months with a mh conversion bulb with no issues. When I switched to flower last week I quickly realized that my ballast doesn't like to ignite my hps bulb. I believe it is the ballast because it is the only common denominator, I've swapped all of the components and they all work. I have it wired with 14-2 on it's own 20 amp circuit. The only way I seem to be able to get the hps bulb to come on is by putting the mh conversion bulb in, turning it on, letting it warm up for at least ten minutes, then I switch bulbs again and it comes on every time. This is a huge pain in the ass because i have to be home every night now until I can afford another. Any ideas? the breaker/reset on the ballast also does not work I noticed, could this have something to do with it? I thought about taking the ballast apart but I would be pretty clueless of what to look for besides corrosion and other visible, physical damage.

Also, as an electrician what size of wire and breaker do you recommend for a 600 watt light? 1000 watt? I thought 14-2 seemed kinda light.

Thanks in advance, cool thread.

14-2 is good for 1440w, continuous duty, inductive loads, @ 120v, nominal. so your fine.
as far as taking apart a digital ballast, the only thing your going to be looking for is physical damage, unless you know how to use a multimeter and know how to troubleshoot at the component level.. a digital ballast (or any ballast) has no moving parts. however its possible to have defective parts, a bad connection pont, broken wires. ballasts are pretty simple devices; therefore they are assembled by pretty unskilled workers, usually. so its not uncommon to get one bad from the factory. it almost sounds like a bad connection/broken wire in your case however, due to the fact you say the ballast lights the mh conversion lamp, then lights the hps. that is indicative of a bad connection on the hps ignitor circuit, as if a connection has to heat up to make good electrical contact...

Danielsgb said:

When ever you get time it'd be great. Sounds like you've been busy. Knew those plants were getting close. I've got the main stuff going now it's tweaking etc.
Daniels

Click to expand...

relay:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2049722&filterName=Type&filterValue=DPDT
relay base:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062476&clickid=prod_cs#
photocell:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_7216-1372-EZ-352A_4294857027+4294955126_4294937087?productId=3197549&pl=1&currentURL=/pl__4294857027 4294955126_4294937087_?identifier=

those are the parts your going to need, you said you had the 12v led's and power supply already.

let me know if youll need a diagram, itll be untill sat though b4 i can draw it 4 u

Murfy said:

thanks again 5toned-
i'll be throwing rep your way whenever it'll let me, without your help i would have had a quality rig job, you also taught me how to figure ampacity ratings for life

keep up the good work man, you've probably saved people's families with this thread

Click to expand...

im just glad to be of help man... no rep required

hey man your doing some great work here and i love it!

anyways, i bought a 400w mh light.. it was hardwired before so i just attached a powercord from an old digital cable tv box to it.. i havent plugged it in yet, but do i have to worry about anything going wrong?

IAm5toned said:

14-2 is good for 1440w, continuous duty, inductive loads, @ 120v, nominal. so your fine.
as far as taking apart a digital ballast, the only thing your going to be looking for is physical damage, unless you know how to use a multimeter and know how to troubleshoot at the component level.. a digital ballast (or any ballast) has no moving parts. however its possible to have defective parts, a bad connection pont, broken wires. ballasts are pretty simple devices; therefore they are assembled by pretty unskilled workers, usually. so its not uncommon to get one bad from the factory. it almost sounds like a bad connection/broken wire in your case however, due to the fact you say the ballast lights the mh conversion lamp, then lights the hps. that is indicative of a bad connection on the hps ignitor circuit, as if a connection has to heat up to make good electrical contact...

Click to expand...

Thanks for your input, I think I will try to troubleshoot it once I have another ballast just in case I f*ck something beyond repair. I do know how to troubleshoot components with a multimeter, I'd just need to know what the components should be reading, guess the search begins for a schematic.

That's interesting that you said they are hand-assembled, it all makes sense now, of course this chinese piece of junk doesn't work. thanks again.

I will be setting up a new grow with between 18-24 1000w hps lights, probably running them at 240volt due to lower amps being pulled. when hooking up these lights is it best to have a C.A.P. 24 light master lighting controller? I think I will be running all the lights at 240volt since it will pull lower amps to the circuit breaker. what do you guys think though or is there a better way to hook up all the lights and such? http://www.horticulturesource.com/c-...a2410f9858e694 and would I need dual trigger cables or not?

hi i was hoping someone can help me, i just bought a used sun system light cord with the mogul on there for the light all ready to go with a hortilux 600w bulb on there.
i also bought for $50 a used xtra sun 600w ballast 120v/240v im using 120v.

my problem is the plug for the sun system i got doesnt fit my xtra sun ballast!
how do i fix this problem is there a converter i can use for this and which one?

thanks so much i hope you can help , im building a hydro setup drip system but cant start without the lights. its inside my closet, space im going to put mylar on the walls , and i was thinking of using cardboard then mylar them to close off the grow section, will this be a fire hazard?

the space i wanted to close off with the cardboard and mylar on it as walls for the grow room is 34" x 29" inches and 62" in height

using 1 600w hortilux bulb for 6 plants in 10 gallon drip system (growing lowryder only right now)


will put fans of course got a humity and temp meter whats a good temperature and humidity thats safe for fire hazard?

thanks!

IAm5toned said:

those are the parts your going to need, you said you had the 12v led's and power supply already.

let me know if youll need a diagram, itll be untill sat though b4 i can draw it 4 u

Click to expand...

I got all those. I put in the photo cell, and wired it up. I see that the red becomes the new black. I have many power supply's to choose from. The LED's are mounted and wired up. I'll need a diagram Thanks in advance.
Daniels

How deep do they bury electric lines that are run to ones house? 2 feet? 3 feet?

Is it safe to run my equipment through an adapter for light sockets? I have a 400w ballast running 1.5A, a small air pump, a fan, and a timer.

sir - I have no power to one bedroom in my house! fuse doesnt trip up either. i have flipped the fuse - it seems normal. my "educated" (LOL) guess is a wiring problem somewhere- but i dont want to blindly go ripping the wall apart chaising wiring. any troubleshooting / diagnostic help is much appreciated!

poptart2006 said:

hey man your doing some great work here and i love it!

anyways, i bought a 400w mh light.. it was hardwired before so i just attached a powercord from an old digital cable tv box to it.. i havent plugged it in yet, but do i have to worry about anything going wrong?

Click to expand...

as long as your connections are good and tight, it will be fine