Experienced Electrician! Here to Answer Any and All Growroom Electrical Questions

Dubbz0r said:

Hello electricians! I have a question regarding my ballasts and timer.

My ballasts = 1000w Baddass low frequency digital ballast (x2)
My timer = Sentinel MDT-1

I would like to run both ballasts off of this timer. What I've been told is this... I will need a 240v line and a relay switch? Once I have the relay hooked into the 240 I can plug in both ballasts and run them off of the MDT-1 without a problem. The MDT-1 can only handle 1440w so is there a way to run both ballasts off of this MDT-1 and if so, how exactly? What kind of relay? Links?

Thanks in advance!
I will +rep for help!

Click to expand...

Cant say i know a lot bout relays , but that timer ran at 110v will not be sufficient for 2 1000's. yes you would have to run the lights at 240 to get that controller to work. i will look into the relay thing for you.


wyteboi

hittsfromthebong420 said:

is two 250 hps 12/12 with 6" or 8" vent oscilating fan too much for one outlet goona plug it into a power strip surge protector?

Click to expand...

you should be fine IF there is not too much other stuff in your house ran off that outlet. Most outlets are minimum of 15 amps and your setup is less then 7 amps so you should be fine. (the surge protectors are good for about 1000w and some are more......keep an eye on your surge protector , some of those things are junk!)



wyteboi

dragun said:

i have been using ungrounded power strips for 3 years now.no problems yet..what could go wrong? also i want to use a extension cord to power my window a/c.but the owners manual says not to.they just tryn to cover there ass?

Click to expand...

as long as the cord has a big enough guage of wire in it then your fine. some cheap cords are very tiny an cannot handle the load of an a/c unit.....



wyteboi

alphawolf.hack said:

i have a quetion about 240 volt does it lower the amps used or just seperate them? and is my dryer runnin 29 amps on 120 or 240? i would like to us the ciruit cuz i cant add new breakers plus they dont exist . "type p270" google it. and my main is the same type of breaker and its only rated at 100 amps

Click to expand...

There are 2 110 wires going to your dryer so its tecnically runnin at 110. (you cant change that) Yes running at a true 240 cuts the amps in half but does not increase or reduce the watts being used , so it dont save money to run at 240 but it enables you to put more things on one wire. (if you run 2 1000's at 110 each it will be around 17 amps and would melt a 15 amp circuit , but if you ran the same lights at 240 then you would only be usin around 8or9 amps and a single 15 amp would be fine, BUT your still usin 2000 watts.)



wyteboi

so is it the dryer running at 28 amps or half that because it is on a 30 amp 240 circuit and if it is half of that i would like to use the remainder of the amps for lights

its says "120/240 26.1Amps"

I'm wondering how much cooling I will need to cool 12 x 1000W lights in 1140 sf basement, "closed system" i.e. all lights will be fully vented pulling outside air directly into the light and exhausting it to the outside, I'd much rather buy inline fans than A/C units of course

Basement is in Michigan and relatively cool even in summer house is on central A/C and relatively well insulated.

my intention is to have each light lighting a 5'x5' area with four plants under each light

I run a room off a 30 amp 220 dryer run, 10-4 cable(dryer plug one end) to a load center then 4(110) circuits out from there (these are relay controled, 1600 watts on a single relay without any issues)

alphawolf.hack said:

so is it the dryer running at 28 amps or half that because it is on a 30 amp 240 circuit and if it is half of that i would like to use the remainder of the amps for lights

Click to expand...

there are 2 "hot" wires going to your dryer. One uses x amount of amps an the other uses the rest to = 26 amps, so its using the full amount it says , just not on one single conductor. If you are using the dryer too , then you will not have enough power left over to run anything.


hope that helped......

wyteboi

michmed said:

I'm wondering how much cooling I will need to cool 12 x 1000W lights in 1140 sf basement, "closed system" i.e. all lights will be fully vented pulling outside air directly into the light and exhausting it to the outside, I'd much rather buy inline fans than A/C units of course

Basement is in Michigan and relatively cool even in summer house is on central A/C and relatively well insulated.

my intention is to have each light lighting a 5'x5' area with four plants under each light

Click to expand...

your going to need quite a bit of cooling even with the lights being "closed". The ballast get really hot too. i just cant see one window unit being enough. you will need your central a/c and some to cool that down.




wyteboi ....

hey wolfhack ..... you can still get those old style breakers from the internet, they are high as hell but you can get them.
here is a 40 amp on ebay : http://cgi.ebay.com/Gould-Ite-pushmatic-circuit-breaker-40-amp-240-vac-NEW-/220708683887?pt=BI_Circuit_Breakers_Transformers&hash=item336343406f

google "pushmatic breakers" you'll get more results....


wyteboi....

im building my room, its a empty bedroom, 8'10'8, with 4 outlets in the room , one on each room , no gfi outlets. i am wondering if a t5, 4 bulbs(6500k 54 watts) and a small fan, i inline fan, the other outlet a small fan, plus the 600hps light and ballaster, outlet 3 is the inline fan for carbon filter, a fan, outlet 4, i might want to put a portable a/c unit in. (my room already tripped when i bought the house last year,) it was built @ 2007, i just want to be safe, thanks

pacmanII said:

im building my room, its a empty bedroom, 8'10'8, with 4 outlets in the room , one on each room , no gfi outlets. i am wondering if a t5, 4 bulbs(6500k 54 watts) and a small fan, i inline fan, the other outlet a small fan, plus the 600hps light and ballaster, outlet 3 is the inline fan for carbon filter, a fan, outlet 4, i might want to put a portable a/c unit in. (my room already tripped when i bought the house last year,) it was built @ 2007, i just want to be safe, thanks

Click to expand...

I would plug in something like a light bulb, or a radio. Then flip the breakers one at a time till you find which one it is. Then check the other 3 outlets to be sure all are on the same circuit. It's probably 15 amp or 20 amp. Here is the chart from IAm5toned.

• 15 amp breaker @ 120v = 1440w(12 amps actual) max = #14 awg Cu wire, min
• 20 amp breaker @ 120v = 1920w(16 amps actual) max = #12 awg Cu wire, min

They call it mapping the wiring. Then you know how much you can wire to it.

pacmanII said:

im building my room, its a empty bedroom, 8'10'8, with 4 outlets in the room , one on each room , no gfi outlets. i am wondering if a t5, 4 bulbs(6500k 54 watts) and a small fan, i inline fan, the other outlet a small fan, plus the 600hps light and ballaster, outlet 3 is the inline fan for carbon filter, a fan, outlet 4, i might want to put a portable a/c unit in. (my room already tripped when i bought the house last year,) it was built @ 2007, i just want to be safe, thanks

Click to expand...

and if them 4 outlets are all on the same cicuit then you will need at least one more 15 or 20 amp circuit for your project.


wyteboi

hi
My garden shed is split into two sections one for veg and one for flowering. The veg section is narrow. I have one electric cable running into the shed and it provides a feed to both rooms. Which contains fan's, extractor fans the usual stuff. However I have since discovered in the veg room which has a 250 watt cfl, that when I touch the bulb reflector I get a very small shock, now it is very small. The reflector touches both sides of the room, which is covered in mylar. The reflector type is (http://www.thebigshop.com/cfl-pro-reflector-p-675.html). All my devices are plugged into one of those RCB breakers.

Any idea’s why I’m getting this shock? How can I prevent this? Do I need to provide an earth?

Thanks in advance

I tried to private message bricktown73 but his box is full! So I will post this here and hope someone will try to anser my questions. Thanks in advance!

I am so glad I saw your thread! I know you probably answered this one to death but I'm really tired (sorry been a long day ) and your thread is really long so I thought I would just ask.
I have researched this to death but found no answers I'd take as truth.
I got a deal on some used 400w High Bays $20 each, when I got then home I noticed they'ed been running Metal Halide bulbs in a HPS ballasted fixture.
So at first I thought I hit the jackpot with conversion bulbs but no dice they are plain run of the mill MH's. So I pulled one out and replaced it with my own 400W HPS bulb and they work just fine. But it got me thinking and tinkering why not make it a convertable ballast? Here's my questions=

1. does it make a difference if I put a switch on the X3 (blue) wire to isolate the igniter as opposed to putting a double pole single throw switch on X1 & X2? Just curious as I found plans for both ways but decided to play it safe and do all three! But I'd still like to know what the reasoning behind each way is.

2. The igniter in these fixtures is an Advance L501 I believe and is rated for only 2ft igniter to lamp distance. Can this be remote ballasted in anyway? Is the igniter unerrated, or can a more powerful one be used in it's place?

3. with the igniter cut from the circuit will a MH last longer and run cooler than the way they ran these with everything stock?

Well thanks in advance for any help you give. I really do appreciate being helped.

P.S if anyone is interested in how this was done just ask and I'll send you a drawing with instructions. I would suggest however that you make sure you have sealed fixtures for safety if you try this.

I answered your PM. I'd go Ceramic Metal Halide. They use a HPS ballast. Way better spectrum. They run a bit cooler too. I'd never use a MH or HPS again. IMHO way better.

Danielsgb said:

I answered your PM. I'd go Ceramic Metal Halide. They use a HPS ballast. Way better spectrum. They run a bit cooler too. I'd never use a MH or HPS again. IMHO way better.

Click to expand...

Yeah thanks I got your pm, I was looking into a CMH for the other 2 HighBays I got but was still in the process of doing some research for info. So you think the spectrum is truly better? Does the light look natural as opossed to the blueish gray of MH or the yellow/red of HPS?

Riven67 said:

Yeah thanks I got your pm, I was looking into a CMH for the other 2 HighBays I got but was still in the process of doing some research for info. So you think the spectrum is truly better? Does the light look natural as opossed to the blueish gray of MH or the yellow/red of HPS?

Click to expand...

Here is the Chart and two plants under a 400w CMH.
View attachment 1707771
Here is the cheapest bulb.
http://www.lightingsupply.com/CDM400S51-HOR-4K-ALTO.aspx
Here is more info
http://advancedtechlighting.com/cmhfact3.htm

Cool, very cool thanks! So you use these from through the whole veg/flower cycle? no need to change bulbs?