Breaker keeps tripping, how to allow more power use...

gorillagrower0840 said:

In the household breaker box, there is one breaker that is dedicated to the shed. this pic shows the breaker for the shed

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Your still overloading it with the ac. A 15amp breaker can't hold 1800watts . That's just from the lights and ac. At least 1800.

My question is if there is a breaker in the house that is for the shed, then what are the two breakers in the shed for?

gorillagrower0840 said:

My question is if there is a breaker in the house that is for the shed, then what are the two breakers in the shed for?

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Not sure what the breakers on the shed are for unless it's got outlets that are wired to it... Turn it off and see what it does.

In the shed there are two outlets on each wall, so with 4 walls = 8 outlets. Would it be possible to bypass the household breaker for shed, and just use the two 15's that are actually in the shed? Could I hook up the ac to one breaker and the rest of the appliances to the other breaker?

gorillagrower0840 said:

In the shed there are two outlets on each wall, so with 4 walls = 8 outlets. Would it be possible to bypass the household breaker for shed, and just use the two 15's that are actually in the shed? Could I hook up the ac to one breaker and the rest of the appliances to the other breaker?

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Since you don't know what they do, plug a fan in each outlet and figure out which ones are on the breaker in the shed and swap either both lights, or the ac to it and see if it works.

gorillagrower0840 said:

In the shed there are two outlets on each wall, so with 4 walls = 8 outlets. Would it be possible to bypass the household breaker for shed, and just use the two 15's that are actually in the shed? Could I hook up the ac to one breaker and the rest of the appliances to the other breaker?

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No the breaker in the house is needed for protection there is always some drop in a long wiring run
this would cause the house breaker to blow before the shed even if there both the same size.
You should make sure the shed is connected to a dedicated breaker in the house though.

Could I hook up the ac to one breaker and the rest of the appliances to the other breaker?[/QUOTE]

maybe

fir3dragon said:

Since you don't know what they do, plug a fan in each outlet and figure out which ones are on the breaker in the shed and swap either both lights, or the ac to it and see if it works.

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definitely will do that tomorrow. I actually just learned a lot about electric stuff just from this thread. I was almost clueless about any of it, now I think that the two 15amp breakers in the shed might be able to power everything if I can put the ac on one and the rest of the appliances on the other (maybe, but I may be wrong). And if i'm right about all that, then that means if I want to get more powerful lights, I might not be able to do it because the lights would be too powerful for the breakers to handle? Thanks for your guys' help.

the breakers in the shed
are so if there is a short in the shed its not requiring the long run of ground wire from the shed to the house
the box in the shed is probably grounded right there for safety reasons

All you need to know is the amperage of everything you want to use. Keep in mind you don't want to run a 15amp breaker at 15amps. To find the amperage you just divide the voltage of the circuit(110) into the wattage of the load. For example, 400w ÷ 120v = 3.33a. So two 400w hPS lights would run around 7amps. You want to add a bit more for circuits that will be on for 12+hours at a time.

if you can just bury another circuit from the house to the shed. i would just get an electriction to come and inspect it and suggest what should be done or have them do it for you. dont play around with electricity.

tekdc911 said:

the breakers in the shed
are so if there is a short in the shed its not requiring the long run of ground wire from the shed to the house
the box in the shed is probably grounded right there for safety reasons

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the panel in the shed is considered a sub-panel. it needs to have the ground and neutral seperated. so the panel in the shed should have a seperate ground and neutral coming from the house panel.

what size is the wire feeding the shed? how many conductors are going to the shed.

Yes, are the wires sized correct to shed?
To Fix or find your problem:
Turn everything off in shed
Turn power on to shed...
Now turn everything on one at a time...
Lights first.... then fans and then.... after everything is running except AC turn it on....
Now, when AC blow breaker, I think you have an really, unbalanced load..
With possibly everything on the one half of your 15 amp breaker...
Your AC should be alone on one side of 15 amp....
And everything else, on the other side....of the 15 amp....
I suspect that you will need to get a added circuit, for your AC....
Don't exceed OHM's Law..... watts divided by volts = amps
Size your wire properly...
Please be safe...

smoke and coke said:

what size is the wire feeding the shed? how many conductors are going to the shed.

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I don't mean to get off topic... But your pic... A deer fucking a deer that's fucking a deer lmao... Where did u even get that pic?

Lose the AC until you can run a new wire to the shed, but you will need an electrician to do the hook up because you main panel is full. You probably will need a new main panel or sub panel for the additional breakers needed. Good luck.

Sorry if I'm taking this slightly off topic.. but I find this all interesting. I'm from the UK. Your breaker boxes are the same as our RCD consumer units I'm guessing??

I've never heard of someone overloading their consumer unit over here? Is this because you run half voltage but double the amps making it easier to overload then it would be on UKs double voltage but half ampage?? Genuinely interested..

Running HID lights on 240V (if available) will provide same wattage, but cut current load by half, (Ohm's law), also larger A/C window units run on 240V.
Most modern ballasts now are switchable 120/240 the only extra cost is 240V cable, if 240V power is available, really you just need 240V plug matching 240V socket in the wall.

The most important factor to be able to draw more current is the wire size and total capacity of main breaker panel. If the panel has extra capacity (modern 200A panels found in newer homes should) running gauge 12 or better gauge 10 wire from the box will allow to use 25 A breaker. Standard household wiring uses 14 gauge wire which limits safe current to about 1500 Watts. However central A/C, range, water heater, dryer etc. have dedicated 240V circuits using thicker wire gauge 10, 8 or even 6 for Central A/C unit which can draw 20A + at 240V, that,s about 5 kW of power just for AC !

Myself I use 240V dryer outlet for 240V " extra " mobile applications, ballast can be one of them, since dryer is not used much in my household.
But if you do not really understand electricity, specifically DC/AC theory and safety codes/loads, it is not recommended to play with it, it is like playing with fire and asking for disaster.

In my redneck county located in Police State cops recently busted serious underground grow operation, only cause improper and unsafe electrical installation caused house to burn down.

Imagine this, dig cave under the house, lots of work this was not a cellar, then lose house, everything and go to jail only cause of electrical overload causing fire.

Electricity can be deadly if not harnessed properly.

To correct a few things,

Your main panel is not full, that is obvious.

You don't technically need different cables for ballasts to run 240. Some lighting controllers have receptacles that can handle both horizontal and vertical blades (cant remember the nema number off top of my head). Although code says that you need horizontal blades on outlets to keep you from frying devices designed to be plugged into 120.

The covers tell half the story, but who really knows how its wired without taking panels off and testing. There are a lot of supposed to's but that doesn't mean it is all correct wiring and no shortcuts.

I'm not an electrician, but I recommend you have one check it out.

BTW, what breaker is tripping on the main panel, just the one under 15 ???????

grab power from a different source in the house. do not change that breaker. I can guarantee you will burn your house down. if it keeps tripping it. chance fire. you should hire an electrician in wire it 220 to your ballasts. and one breaker dedicated to you ac. mine has 15 breakers for the room I added . each ac unit has there own breaker. 6 ballasts running 600 watts 220v / per breaker. so on. be smart. those wires in the wall do and will heat up the standard wire size is 14 gage in the wall not made to pull more then 15 amps . it may cost you 150 to 200 bucks. to run the room correct for a 220 breaker. but its a lot better then burning down a house. worst case get a 14 gage extension cord. this is a shit way bull shit. no money bull shit grow. run the cord to a different room. chances are that room will be ran off a different breaker. but be smart. major rule only the ac runs off one out let own breaker.

fir3dragon said:

I don't mean to get off topic... But your pic... A deer fucking a deer that's fucking a deer lmao... Where did u even get that pic?

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i got it from my father and scanned it to my pc. i do not think it's real but funny none the less. although i have seen bucks when they are stupid for the does and i suppose it could happen.