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

fadrian

fadrian

Well-Known Member
What's goin on my man, I've got a question for you. I want to put together a couple of things for my grow room and I want to do it cheap. First, I want to buy 4 of these fans to cool my room (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835200048), hook them up to a fan speed controller (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811998808), and hook them up to a power supply. My question is what is the compatibility of all this? What power rating do I need on the power supply to get this all to work?

Also, If I want to put together my own light by buying a bulb, ballast and socket from a lighting store, do I need to worry about heat from the ballast? How can I keep it cool and safe?

Thanks man.

Fadrian
 
erkelsgoo420

erkelsgoo420

New Member
Ok so I got some pics up on my photobucket http://m725.photobucket.com/albums/erkelsgoo420/?pbauth=1_uLEBonVPfaLdh1h3YMYz2d23xwntUa92m9/yoJGkHkypsZcn3ZcxEPHmboGw1KXWNSstD1DmSkqYmKlGK6swM9da6Uy+C67UrnnDhtNB0ZrP5ZLfDTcg5SdQ6Ux6n6TM0RFAuxT9eWl98PCnSIuaXgrTQiUIBJDl8OCqQgKMy7A=
Sorry about the quality I'm on a phone but if u can take the time to check it out I would appreciate it its not too bad really just fkin annoying and with the new dehumidifier it would be nice to make this remote to help with the heat in there
 
VictorVIcious

VictorVIcious

Well-Known Member
fadrian said:
What's goin on my man, I've got a question for you. I want to put together a couple of things for my grow room and I want to do it cheap. First, I want to buy 4 of these fans to cool my room (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835200048), hook them up to a fan speed controller (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811998808), and hook them up to a power supply. My question is what is the compatibility of all this? What power rating do I need on the power supply to get this all to work?

Also, If I want to put together my own light by buying a bulb, ballast and socket from a lighting store, do I need to worry about heat from the ballast? How can I keep it cool and safe?

Thanks man. Fadrian
Click to expand...
Why would you want to make a project out of a job? Buying four fans that are designed to cool a computer and then a controller. Those fans might be good for one plant under cfl's they are not adequate for a grow room.
You will need a power converter from 110 to 12 volt, its internal in your cpu. If you want cheap and effective, this ain't it.

What does buying it at a lighting store have to do with the amount of heat? You know why most of us buy ours all together? Because it is less expensive. You mention a ballast so lets assume we are talking high intensity discharge (hid) and cheap would mean just getting the High Pressure Sodium (hps). It is not just a ballast, there is a started and a capacitor.
The old man checked this out at an electrical supply store, the do have a ballast kit for 1000 watt hps lights, its $189.00, and I would have to supply the power and case to put it all in. Instead I went to ye olde hydro shop and bought a ballast kit in a case with the power supply cord already in place and a proprietary conversion plug, for $189.00, and all I have to do is plug it in.
The heat from the ballast is a minimal aggravation compared to the heat from the light. VV
 
VictorVIcious

VictorVIcious

Well-Known Member
erkelsgoo420 said:
Ok so I got some pics up on my photobucket http://m725.photobucket.com/albums/erkelsgoo420/?pbauth=1_uLEBonVPfaLdh1h3YMYz2d23xwntUa92m9/yoJGkHkypsZcn3ZcxEPHmboGw1KXWNSstD1DmSkqYmKlGK6swM9da6Uy+C67UrnnDhtNB0ZrP5ZLfDTcg5SdQ6Ux6n6TM0RFAuxT9eWl98PCnSIuaXgrTQiUIBJDl8OCqQgKMy7A=
Sorry about the quality I'm on a phone but if u can take the time to check it out I would appreciate it its not too bad really just fkin annoying and with the new dehumidifier it would be nice to make this remote to help with the heat in there
Click to expand...
The pictures show a non air cooled hood, you are trying to vent the room through the light, it needs to be a separate system. You can make the ballast 'remote' by adding an extra cord between your ballast and the plug for the light, your hydro shop will have them in 25' and 15' lengths. Your will have a 'proprietary plug' so make sure you match it. VV:bigjoint:
 
VictorVIcious

VictorVIcious

Well-Known Member
SEXMAN619 said:
I am curently building 2 rooms
grow and bloom
grow = 3x400watt. 120v , 2x1000watt 220v
flower= 6x1000 220v

I was looking at this link online: http://www.hydroponics.net/learn/grow-light-controller.asp
I wanted to get your imput and see if you could make a few sugestions for this particular senario.
any help you can provide would be greatly apreciated.
Click to expand...
Maybe he lives in the UK. It is not less expensive in the US to run 220 watt circuits instead of 110. And there are four wires to a 220 volt circuit here, Black, red, white and grounding. The red and black are both hot, white is neutral and bare is the grounding wire.
Why would you run 3-400 watt light, 1200watts and produce 129,000 lumens when a single 1000 watt will produce that same amount. I would suggest you check out what the cost of the receptacles and wiring is for the 220 volt circuits in the US before you continue with your planning. For an operation that size 200 amps of service will be necessary.
All of the Physical Plant items need to be carefully planned for such an operation, air handling system, plumbing, and electric. VV
 
vapedg13

vapedg13

New Member
12-3 wiring has 4 wires......The red wire is a extra lead/hot for a 4 way plug......is that correct??

I'm setting up 2- 20 amp devoted circuts.....I've added the 20 breakers to the fuse box.... set the boxes.......getting ready to hook up the wiring to the breaker

The Black goes to the breaker ....both the white and netral get grounded?? Red doesn't get used??


...........................................Heres 2 photos.................................

 
vapedg13

vapedg13

New Member
Wanted to bump this..................I'm not getting power to the outlet...Why?? Isn't this hooked up correctly?

vapedg13 said:
12-3 wiring has 4 wires......The red wire is a extra lead/hot for a 4 way plug......is that correct??

I'm setting up 2- 20 amp devoted circuts.....I've added the 20 breakers to the fuse box.... set the boxes.......getting ready to hook up the wiring to the breaker

The Black goes to the breaker ....both the white and netral get grounded?? Red doesn't get used??


...........................................Heres 2 photos.................................

Click to expand...
 
robert 14617

robert 14617

Well-Known Member
im no electrician but it looks like the breaker is not nested into the box correctly ,why is there a gap between the 15a and the 20a breakers on the right hand side ?
 
vapedg13

vapedg13

New Member
robert 14617 said:
im no electrician but it looks like the breaker is not nested into the box correctly ,why is there a gap between the 15a and the 20a breakers on the right hand side ?
Click to expand...
I forgot to trip the breaker......:bigjoint: Been up to long smokin to much weed.....I got it all working now
 
Hairy Bob

Hairy Bob

Well-Known Member
robert 14617 said:
put in a couple 220v outlets and run some HPS on the 220 its more efficient that way
Click to expand...
Based on what? Yes your drawing half the amps, and can use thinner gauge wire, but a watt is a watt at any voltage.
A ballast may be slightly more efficient at the higher voltage but any gain is marginal, you'd be looking at saving a couple of dollars a year, tops.
Ask BigBudBalls, he knows about this shit.
 
VictorVIcious

VictorVIcious

Well-Known Member
vapedg13 said:
I forgot to trip the breaker......:bigjoint: Been up to long smokin to much weed.....I got it all working now
Click to expand...
You did not need to buy 220 volt wiring, that is 12-3 with ground. Some, myself included refer to 12-3, its technically 12-2 with ground. If you were wiring a 220 circuit, and there is not any savings to doing so in the US, then you would have used a Double pole double throw (DPDT) switch, the red wire would have gone to the other leg of the breaker, and you would have had to spend about $40.00 for the receptacles, covers and plugs. The 12-2 with ground is less expensive, nothing wrong with the way you have it now. I hope you didn't buy the 12-3 with ground based on anything I said. :peace:
In any case you now have the knowledge you need for wiring a new line. VV:bigjoint::bigjoint:
 
A

anticrom

Active Member
I recently got a 240V dual 600watt setup. I was planing on wiring a 240V outlet although I don't have muhc experience. After purchasing the equipment, I noticed they sell 120 to 240v converter transformers. Would this allow me to run a 240V ballast from my 120V outlet? Does th ransformer only plug into one 120V outlet? how does that work?
 
smokecabbage420

smokecabbage420

Well-Known Member
ok i have a few questions.
Im building to seperate grow rooms in the one room... my veg room consist of 400w mh and 125w cfl a little cirular fan and a timer all going in to one socket in the wall... my flower room which is not up yet has 400w hps and 90w led plus timer and fan going into its own soket in the same room... Do u think this is too much elec going thru the room?
also i plan on hooking an exhaust systm up when the flower room is set up will this also oferdue it?
And one last question, in my veg room when the timer is plugged in the socket and the cords hang alittle and pull down on the timer it seems to shut the light on the ceiling off not blowing the circuit though just turns the light off until i take the weight off of the timer just wondering if u might no y it is doin this???
Thx for ur help.
 
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