Electrical question about 220. 5k

Hi, I have five lights,five ballast,two of them are on 220(solisteks). I have 3 solisteks, 1 quantum,and a magnet old school hydrofarm ballast. I have 2 of the solisteks plugged into the two 220 outlets I have,and the rest plugged into the regular outlets. I have 220 plugges for them. How can I get all five of the lights on the two 220 outlets?i do not want to pop brakers when I run the ac in the summer. Is there like power strips in 220?iv ben looking at these lighting controllers. Is that what I need?do I need more 220 outlets/power?
Sorry if I sound dumb. Thank you

BLVDog said:

Hi, I have five lights,five ballast,two of them are on 220(solisteks). I have 3 solisteks, 1 quantum,and a magnet old school hydrofarm ballast. I have 2 of the solisteks plugged into the two 220 outlets I have,and the rest plugged into the regular outlets. I have 220 plugges for them. How can I get all five of the lights on the two 220 outlets?i do not want to pop brakers when I run the ac in the summer. Is there like power strips in 220?iv ben looking at these lighting controllers. Is that what I need?do I need more 220 outlets/power?
Sorry if I sound dumb. Thank you

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You need a 6 light controller . It should call for a 30 or 40 amp breaker . You shouldn't pop anything if you set it up right because your using more amps running them on 110. It tells you the wire and the breaker size to buy . Hire an electrician

Check what breaker you have, you dont have to have a controller, you could add 220 outlets, as long as your breaker is rated to handle the current the lights would all draw....they have lables telling what the draw would be at 110 and 220

Wow.. I didn't know that there was that much of a popular trend going on in the RIU forums to run multiple 1k lighting ballasts from just the wall receptacles. What are you guys using as a means to time the on/off cycle during flowering? I was under the impression that using a plug-in wall timer would eventually fail by either getting too hot that it melt, or the electrical contacts inside the timer would burn-out or weld itself together. I have never tried it on a 1k lighting ballast, so I can't speak from experience. As a noob I was under the impression to use a lighting controller that has a contactor inside designed to handle the massive amount of current. The plug-in wall timer would then be used as a trigger to the "relay coil" on the contactor. The relay coil would only draw milliamps of current and thus would impose no damage to the timer. Of course, using a lighting controller would require installing another 240 volts dedicated circuit from the circuit breakers panel to the lighting controller using a much heavier gauge cable or wires, not exactly a project for the average DIY if you don't have the necessary electrical knowledge, and there are also conflicting code issues involved that most of you aren't even aware of (which is another story I should elaborate on when I get the time to do another post on that subject).

Those 1000W lights use a little more than 5A each if I recall. With 5 of them on a single circuit you're going to need to check some things.

1. Wire Size. With 25(+)Amp draw you'll need to have at LEAST #10 AWG copper. Caveat: If your wife and children live in this location with you then seriously consider #8 AWG.
2. Breaker. Again, 25(+)Amp draw means you should have a 40Amp breaker. You might get by with a 30Amp but that's pushing it and see caveat above.
3. Lighting Controls. If you don't have a rated contactor then your controller becomes the central point and needs to be rated appropriately.

If your infrastructure (wiring, breaker, panel) is rated then you could build a 220V "Power Strip" and even add a contactor so you could run it with any run-of-the-mill timer. HomeDepot parts would cost probably around $75 bucks.

I should add that you should never skimp out on your timers. Always ensure your lighting controller designed for hid lighting. HID Lighting have high inductive loads at shut down, can weld the timers internal pins together and the lights won't shut off or turn back on. (As you have already researched).

I recommend using lighting controllers like the following:
http://www.hydroworld.com.au/electrical/timers/?sort=pricedesc

Note: Some of these require an electrician to install. Some of them have outlet plugs and a resettable breaker/fuse especially the ezi grow gear. Great for protecting your wall outlets and/or wiring!

R1PJAW said:

I should add that you should never skimp out on your timers. Always ensure your lighting controller designed for hid lighting. HID Lighting have high inductive loads at shut down, can weld the timers internal pins together and the lights won't shut off or turn back on. (As you have already researched).

I recommend using lighting controllers like the following:
http://www.hydroworld.com.au/electrical/timers/?sort=pricedesc

Note: Some of these require an electrician to install. Some of them have outlet plugs and a resettable breaker/fuse especially the ezi grow gear. Great for protecting your wall outlets and/or wiring!

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Easy enough for you, and your fellow Australians and New Zealanders to say, considering the fact that the manufacturer engineered those lighting controllers for use on your 230volts 50Hz electrical circuits that comprise of one ungrounded current-carrying conductor and one grounded current-carrying conductor. Your manufacturer would only be required to use single-pole circuit breakers for the built-in circuit breaker protection to the sockets. Problem is... the vast majority of residents living in North America are supplied with a 240/120 volts split-phase 60Hz electrical service. Although we use a grounded conductor (neutral) as one of the current-carrying conductor in our 120 volts circuits, we do not use a grounded conductor as a current-carrying conductor in our 240 volts circuits. Therefore we are required to use double-pole circuit breakers for the built-in circuit breaker protection to the sockets. The problem is that none of the brand names manufacturers of lighting controllers (those rated for 50 amps or less) sold in the United States are willing to manufacture lighting controllers with built-in overcurrent protection to the sockets (which is another story I should elaborate on when I get the time to do another post on that subject).

@Stevie51 , what do you think about something like this? Too advanced for the average grower?

orbo said:

@Stevie51 , what do you think about something like this? Too advanced for the average grower?

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Although widely used, controllers like the one you mention do not properly protect 15A cords & devices connected to them. By purchasing a 6-Space Main Lug Load Center at Home Depot (priced between $20 - $30), and three 15 amp double-pole circuit breakers (purchased separately), and a couple of offset nipples...I would think a person could easily mount the breaker panel between the contactor box and the first duplex receptacle box. The output from the contactor would feed into this breaker panel (using #8 AWG). Each 15 amp double-pole breaker would thus feed each duplex NEMA 6-15R outlet (using #14 AWG would be sufficient). Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that this has become the status quo of the DIY constructed lighting controller now. In regard as to if this is too advanced for the average grower, all I can say is that I can't read an individual mind.

In line 10/15 amp breaker-40 amp 12vdc activated relay-1kw HID. In that order. I plug my grow into 30-50 amp receptacles so the op can be hard wired.

Thanks everyone iv ben working on it. I have learned a lot in the past few weeks, I almost started a fire.Totally my fault I had heaters plugged into the same outlets and didn't set time timers on the heaters to turn off before my lights turned on(got sloppy). So when the lights turned on the outlet blew up basically. Iv talked to my dad ,its his property. He told me i have two 50 amp brakers running the shop I'm using. One is for the spa(currently broken and empty). . I have ditched the electric heaters, put up more insulation,and replaced with small propane heater.but I haven't need it becuase its ben warm lately. I need to replace my old ballast for a new electric one ,should help.and I'm also saving up for a light controller.