Electrical Ques. If I can help someone I will...

Ps I am in usa

I think all my electronics run on smoke, because every time I try to take one apart that's whats inside?????......

I think you cleared it up a little better for us. the 2 50 amp breakers add up to 240v 50 amps. you only add the volts in this case, not the amps. is there room in this sub panel to add more breakers? or is the hot tub not in use and those are being removed? if everything is wired safely, you might still have trouble with breakers tripping if the hot tub is in use while lights are on. depends how much each is pulling.

to run grow lights off this panel, you'll want to get 2 single 20 amp breakers, not 50's. run 12-2 wire to outlet boxes and use standard outlets. you might be looking at $30 in supplies. not to bad.

The hot tube dose not exist any longer. Why 20 amp and not 50? Is there just no need for the extra juice? I plan on running at least one 1000 Watt HPS one 600 MH some large fans, o2 pumps, H2o pumps and some misc. stuff.

Will the two 20's be enough?
The circuit in the room as of now is a shared circuit with other rooms. That is another reason I figured I would re route the hot tub line in and just have a no worries set up.

Thoughts?
Thanks again

outlets can't be wired into 50 amp outlets. big old fire hazard. your 1000 watt lamp should use about 9 amps. 2 20 amp circuits should be plenty, and have extra room to expand if needed. even 2 15's would work.

use 14 gage wire with 15 amp breakers and 12 gage with 20 amp breakers. gfi outlets are also a good idea.

lorenzo08 said:

outlets can't be wired into 50 amp outlets. big old fire hazard. your 1000 watt lamp should use about 9 amps. 2 20 amp circuits should be plenty, and have extra room to expand if needed. even 2 15's would work.

use 14 gage wire with 15 amp breakers and 12 gage with 20 amp breakers. gfi outlets are also a good idea.

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He already has the heavy wire in the house for the hot tub. There is zero problem keeping it, and just using a smaller breaker a pair of 20amp'ers (just not a dual). No code violations in using a bigger wire. I missed the outlet sizing, oops.
20Amps outlets have that little 'goiter' off the one leg.

Cool, Thanks a bunch!

I'll get some wire (12 gauge) and a few out lets, boxes, breakers.
How many out lets could I wire off this set up? Would 3 out lets for each 20 breaker be ok? (total 6 plugs)


Thanks again

yes, keeping the 50 amp sub panel is fine. not sure exactly what's in it. it sounded to me like 50 amp breakers going in and 50 amp going out. wiring the outlets directly into a 50 amp breaker is a bad idea.

my experience with outlets, a cheap outlet is a cheap outlet. doesn't matter so much if it's rated at 15 amps or 20. I've melted 20 amp cheap outlets with small heaters and air conditioners.

for my grow room, I'm getting a 400 watt lamp, and running a dedicated 20 amp 12 gage line to outlets, with 1 gfi outlet protecting everything, as well as an arc fault breaker.

I will be replacing the two 50's with two 20's. Should I leave the two 50's in the main panel or switch them out to 20's as well?

Thanks again

B4 Time said:

How many out lets could I wire off this set up? Would 3 out lets for each 20 breaker be ok? (total 6 plugs)

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that sounds like a good plan. you can put however many outlets you need on a circuit. post a thread if you have questions hooking it up. and be safe!

B4 Time said:

I will be replacing the two 50's with two 20's. Should I leave the two 50's in the main panel or switch them out to 20's as well?

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if there's nothing running off the 50's, you can turn them off and pull them out. just watch you don't touch the metal bars behind it. they are live and painful/deadly. (shh, I heard they taste like candy)

You will have to trim down the wires to fit in a 20A breaker's lug. The wire is at least #8 and could be #6.

Lorenzo.....they taste like toffee

I'd like to see someone try hooking a 6 gage cable to an outlet. maybe with one strand of the wire.

lorenzo08 said:

I'd like to see someone try hooking a 6 gage cable to an outlet. maybe with one strand of the wire.

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stub wire and wire nuts.

Yeah, He'll have to pigtail with #12 solid

I think he has 6 or 8 gage going to the sub panel with a 50 amp 2 pole breaker for a main in there. he's then adding 2 20 amp breakers to that sub panel and running 12 gage from there out to 6 outlets. it's nice to see someone taking the time to do it right. hope he's proud of his work when it's finished.

I'll post some picks when it's all ready. will be a while tho.

Thanks for the complement, and all the help

lorenzo08 said:

I think he has 6 or 8 gage going to the sub panel with a 50 amp 2 pole breaker for a main in there. he's then adding 2 20 amp breakers to that sub panel and running 12 gage from there out to 6 outlets. it's nice to see someone taking the time to do it right. hope he's proud of his work when it's finished.

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Yes do this! Good advice +rep....

Its not really advisable to to advise to trim down #6 or #8 wire to fit into receps or smaller guaged breakers. You really shouldnt even use a Pigtail...

Sorry.

ganjagoddess said:

Its not really advisable to to advise to trim down #6 or #8 wire to fit into receps or smaller guaged breakers. You really shouldnt even use a Pigtail...

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hah... not sure about them, but I was joking about it. I try to keep jokes like that obvious so no one tries it. also been trying to help keep people safe, but try not to be pushy or step on toes.

how do you give rep anyway? I haven't seen a button for it.