Can someone please help me with the electrical?

Roland · Nov 8, 2009

I did say " if I had the money ... solar equipment" .... but in fact a few small solar panels ..on the roof or wherever could make a significant dent in your electric bill .there are tax rebates etc.. but wrong place for that discussion .. he said momentary flicker of lights ... but it COULD be an indicator of something else .. needs to be looked at .. could be a problem with neutral or some arcing somewhere ..which usually gets worse .. could be a lot o' things .. a service upgrade is a possibility if service is too small

IAm5toned · Nov 8, 2009

22 amps at what voltage?

because its 46 amps @ 120vac
if your going 240vac ALL (lights a/c, fans, timers, controllers) your stuff needs to be 240v....

cobra · Nov 8, 2009

IAm5toned said:
22 amps at what voltage?

because its 46 amps @ 120vac
if your going 240vac ALL your stuff needs to be 240v....

yeah sorry my bad

The control box I want to get also has 120 v hookups on it to. My fans are 120v and I might run co2 the control unit is also 120.

IAm5toned · Nov 8, 2009

well the reaspon you need to know is AMPERAGE is in proportion to VOLTAGE... wattage remains the same regardless of voltage or power type (ac or dc). this will greatly affect the size wire you need to pull for your controller, and the size breaker protecting that same wire. wire and breakers are rated (sized) according to amperage, so you need to know your MAX AMPS (power factor) before you go to pulling wire. The amperage will change with the voltage....

example:
I= P/E (I=Amps P=watts divided by E= voltage)
1000w= 8.333 amps @ 120v
1000w= 4.166 amps @ 240vac
1000w=83.333 amps @ 12vdc

since your lights will be on for more than 6 hours, the NEC (National Electrical Code) states your devices SHALL be rated for continuous duty.
to achieve this you need to multiply the AMPERAGE of all your devices by a factor of 125%
example:
1000w HPS with ballast = 1060w @ 120vac
1060w total load
1060w/120vac= 8.833 amps @ 120vac FLA (full load amperage)
8.833 x 125% = 11.041 Power Factor (continuous duty rated)
you must do this calculation for EVERY device connected to the circuit feeding the controller, and add them ALL together to get the Max Power Factor to determine your wire size and breaker rating.

cobra · Nov 8, 2009

IAm5toned said:
well the reaspon you need to know is AMPERAGE is in proportion to VOLTAGE... wattage remains the same regardless of voltage or power type (ac or dc). this will greatly affect the size wire you need to pull for your controller, and the size breaker protecting that same wire. wire and breakers are rated (sized) according to amperage, so you need to know your MAX AMPS (power factor) before you go to pulling wire. The amperage will change with the voltage....

example:
I= P/E (I=Amps P=watts divided by E= voltage)
1000w= 8.333 amps @ 120v
1000w= 4.166 amps @ 240vac
1000w=83.333 amps @ 12vdc

since your lights will be on for more than 6 hours, the NEC (National Electrical Code) states your devices SHALL be rated for continuous duty.
to achieve this you need to multiply the AMPERAGE of all your devices by a factor of 125%
example:
1000w HPS with ballast = 1060w @ 120vac
1060w total load
1060w/120vac= 8.833 amps @ 120vac FLA (full load amperage)
8.833 x 125% = 11.041 Power Factor (continuous duty rated)
you must do this calculation for EVERY device connected to the circuit feeding the controller, and add them ALL together to get the Max Power Factor to determine your wire size and breaker rating.

Sorry homie you lost me. I am going to have an electrician install the line. I don't know sh*t about electrical. I am looking for an excuse with all the necessary technical information to install a line that can support about 5,500 of which about 4,800 will run for 12 on 12 off. The rest will run 24/7. Could you please take a look at the control box in my first post and help me with what exactly to say to the electrician?

Appreciate it.

IAm5toned · Nov 8, 2009

ahhh sorry..lol.

ok.. since im an electrician, i can tell you this:
dont tell him your installing a hotub- hottubs have water and that means GFCI protection and that means more $ for you to spend and he will also be looking for the water pipes and things to ground
a good idea is to tell him you are having a workshop installed, and will need 60 amps to run all the equipment... lots of tools require 220v and so does alot of office equipment like copiers and plotters.

edit/ps:
thats a 50amp NEMA 14-50 type receptacle you will need to plug in that controller

tell him you need a type 14-50 nema receptacle... tell him its for a commercial oven for your wives catering business.

Can someone please help me with the electrical?

Roland

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IAm5toned

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cobra

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IAm5toned

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cobra

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IAm5toned

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