Maybetomorrow
Well-Known Member
Sorry about that missed a whole page of reading. Great thread! +rep
Experienced Electrician! Here to Answer Any and All Growroom Electrical Questions
- Thread starter bricktown73
- Start date
bricktown73
Well-Known Member
Sure, you can plug an HID into a GFI. A GFI is just that, it protects against ground faults, not voltage spikes. You may be think if AFCI which will trip the breaker when a very small arc occurs.
yes a gfi works on an ungrounded system. all the ground fault protection is a measure of current coming in and current leaving. when there is an imbalance then it will trip. so on a three phase three wire system plus ground you put the ct's around the b phase. Granted it is not a corner grounded system the current still has to have a return path. But anyways I am calling some manufactures of GFCI's becauase it takes some power to charge the ballast. Ok after talking to some manufactures they have said the following: It depends on the size/type of the ballast. They have had some flourescents trip some of thier products. (strange?) None the less it seems like as long as your not pushing the circuit to far than you will be fine. I called four GFCI people and three light fixture manufactures and most were stumped?
WantedDreadandAlive
Member
Bricktown your setup is phenomenal!! May I ask what it cost in just materials for a setup like that? And also how much money to run something of that caliper per month in electrical and per month supplies for the babies??? Thanx you seem to be the local guru here. Way to apply your skilled craft to your interests.
smokiedog
Well-Known Member
bricktown- thanks for your input on this. it arrived the other day and i lucked out. it was indeed a "pulse start" ignitor with no separate capacitor needed. AND.. both components had wiring diagrams labled on the side. i connected everything just to test it and it worked like a champ. i have since mounted the transformer and ignitor in a cpu power supply box, used the existing terminal to wire the grounded power cord and used an 8 foot 14 gauge lamp cord for the mogul socket. turned out to be a nice little DIY remote ballast for under 25.00. i'll post pics of it if that's ok with you...
+rep for your insight.
thanx bro
Tidalwavedave
Active Member
How would I connect a computer fan to a 110v outlet? Thanks
MJG420
Well-Known Member
I am running a 400w light and my exaust fan on a 14 gauge extension cord, is that too much? I would really prefer to have outlets but there are none close, the breaker box is on the other side of the wall of the room I am using. I have now idea how to do any kind of electrical work, the breaker box seems to be a bit outdated. I think there is an open breake but once again I have now idea how to hook it up without fryin myself or my equipment
What does a regular average joe do to run a 50amp 220v line from the circuit box to another room, and then connect that 50amp line to the 220v receptical that comes with a light distribution box? Once the power is to the box, I'm good from there, but I'm limited in running electrical lines. There's plenty of room on the circuits and two boxes from the power plants to choose from already. I dont know what wire to use, what parts would be needed, or how to do it. 
I'm great if I can see it done once, but this is a little trickier than asking "a friend'. 
Thanks!
I'm great if I can see it done once, but this is a little trickier than asking "a friend'. Thanks!
smokiedog
Well-Known Member
this isnt the most technical of answers but i have done it and it works....
look in all your closets and junk drawers, collect all the transformers you have laying aroung the house. these are the big black boxes that plug into the wall and have a thin cord running to whatever they are powering. like cell phone chagers, modems or routers, cordless phones, your old nintendo, etc... they all have output numbers on them. i believe like 6v or 9v or 12v. (somebody correct me if its not volts, i dont have one handy to check)
the transformer converts or transform the power to a lower voltage so you dont melt that lillte fan. the higher the volts the faster the fan. i just spliced the wires from the cpu fans to the transformer wires. if you mix the wires up the fan just runs in reverse. radioshack sells trasformers with a swith so you can change the output which alows you to control airflow to some degree. i didnt see a use for regulating a fan that small so i just used what i had around the house. you can also wire two fans to one power supply/transformer if you wanted an intake and outtake
Hi brick and others,
My friend will be setting up a Flowering Room in a 8ftx8ftx8ft walk in closet with no outlets inside of it. There are numerous regular wall outlets in the room attached to the walk in closet. How do you suggest he hooks the following room up. I am not aware of how many amps each wall outlet is.. im assuming its just a standard wall outlet. How do you suggest he gets this up and and working in a safe manner? All help is appreciated. Thanks!
He will have 2x1000 hps with reflective air cooled hoods. These will be cooled by atleast a 300cfm inline fan.
He will have a canfan 100 with carbon scrubber which moves about 750cfm that will exhaust through a cut hole in the door of the walk in closet. One hole for the exhaust canfan100 and also one hole near the bottom for the inline fan.
Also he will have an oscillating fan in the room to move air around.
****My question however is that even though i know the lights will come with a complete system with a ballast for each light i was basically wondering how to plug all these different things in.
He doesnt want to overload the circuit or blow anything or worse start a fire.
***So will he be able to simply run an extension cord out of the room to a near by wall outlet and plug it in there, then connect the other end of the extension cord in the flower room to a multi power outlet or adapter(otherwise known as a power strip). would i be able to plug and successfully run everything in the room i have named by just simply plugging it into the powerstrip thats connected to the extension chord or will this not work?
Should the fans be connected together on one powerstrip and extension chord and run into the other room outside the walk in closet where they can be plugged in? and then do the same for the lights on another powerstrip and extension chord?
I really have no idea what would work best. Please let me know anything you suggest. He feels this room has great potential, he just wants to make sure he does it the right way.
If anyone could answer my questions I would really appreciate it.
My friend will be setting up a Flowering Room in a 8ftx8ftx8ft walk in closet with no outlets inside of it. There are numerous regular wall outlets in the room attached to the walk in closet. How do you suggest he hooks the following room up. I am not aware of how many amps each wall outlet is.. im assuming its just a standard wall outlet. How do you suggest he gets this up and and working in a safe manner? All help is appreciated. Thanks!
He will have 2x1000 hps with reflective air cooled hoods. These will be cooled by atleast a 300cfm inline fan.
He will have a canfan 100 with carbon scrubber which moves about 750cfm that will exhaust through a cut hole in the door of the walk in closet. One hole for the exhaust canfan100 and also one hole near the bottom for the inline fan.
Also he will have an oscillating fan in the room to move air around.
****My question however is that even though i know the lights will come with a complete system with a ballast for each light i was basically wondering how to plug all these different things in.
He doesnt want to overload the circuit or blow anything or worse start a fire.
***So will he be able to simply run an extension cord out of the room to a near by wall outlet and plug it in there, then connect the other end of the extension cord in the flower room to a multi power outlet or adapter(otherwise known as a power strip). would i be able to plug and successfully run everything in the room i have named by just simply plugging it into the powerstrip thats connected to the extension chord or will this not work?
Should the fans be connected together on one powerstrip and extension chord and run into the other room outside the walk in closet where they can be plugged in? and then do the same for the lights on another powerstrip and extension chord?
I really have no idea what would work best. Please let me know anything you suggest. He feels this room has great potential, he just wants to make sure he does it the right way.
If anyone could answer my questions I would really appreciate it.
bricktown73
Well-Known Member
Installing a circuit breaker is a matter of turning a flat head screw driver a couple times. But you can't put a larger circuit breaker into replace a smaller one becuase the wire size is only suited for that breaker size. If you want to upgrade your breaker size you will have to run new wire.
Basicall, add up the total watts of his equiptmetn and divide by 120. So for example, to find out how many amps you are pullin: watts(1200) / volts (120)= amps (10).
Usually, 1 room will have 1 dedicated circuit. But, I think that you are going to pull well over 15 amps, which is what a normal house circuit is. I would suggest after finding out how many amps you are pulling, to run new dedicated lines to this room. That way you have no fear of tripping breakers and not have other rooms go out.
Mcgician
Well-Known Member
Holy shit, now that's what I call dedication! With that kind of electricity drain though, the solar panels are/were merely props. Same for the wind turbines. Most people have no idea how much energy a kwh really is. And I used to be in the solar business! Most of the people we dealt with were just trying to stop getting screwed over by the energy companies and get off the grid. Also, most of them were older, retired people with things like that to think about and spend their money on. Unfortunately, at least in Cali, without the huge rebates the state offers, photovoltaic systems would be far fewer. Energywise, most families could probably equal or even surpass their electricity demands more by using gas ranges and dryers or even by (and I hate to admit it) hang drying their laundry.
Also, and sorry if I missed it in this huge thread, but the formula is Amps X Volts= Watts. My grow room had to be rewired with 2 additional 20 amp circuits, and almost every amp got used.
Tidalwavedave
Active Member
Thanks for help
thanks for your help brick.. i honestly have no experience at all with anything electrical. how would i run new dedicated lines to the room? The walk in closet is attached to a master bath room with plenty of outlets and the master bedroom is also right next to the closet. could i run two separate lines or thick heavy duty extension chords, One to the bathroom outlets and one to the master bedroom outlet from two separate powerstrips in the closet?
GreenBully
Well-Known Member
i? for the electric man...im designing an under water grow op..i want to run 2 600 watters or or 4 400watters powered by an external solar or wind turbine generated energy..maybe even a water mill..my ? is whats the odds of theis being a beneficial source to power these lights and also what would be the better option.and how cost effective is it???
ElephantSteppedOnMyFoot
Active Member
I only have 120V outlets and I use two 600W electronic ballasts @ 120V. Is there any benefit to using a 240V electronic ballasts vs a 120V?
I never considered, until reading this thread, adding my power consumption. My room is on a 15A 120V circuit while my two 600W electronic ballasts are running that leaves 600W which should run safe on that circuit, if I'm correct.
Item------------------Watt
2 x 600W HPS----1200W
12 x 26W CFL------312W
5 x 25W pump-----125W
Can-Fan 6"----------73W
16" Fan--------------77W
--------------------------------------
Total --------------1787W
Do surge protectors or timers use power? Would you say I'm looking good here? Should I be thinking twice before plugging in my shop vac or another lamp?
I never considered, until reading this thread, adding my power consumption. My room is on a 15A 120V circuit while my two 600W electronic ballasts are running that leaves 600W which should run safe on that circuit, if I'm correct.
Item------------------Watt
2 x 600W HPS----1200W
12 x 26W CFL------312W
5 x 25W pump-----125W
Can-Fan 6"----------73W
16" Fan--------------77W
--------------------------------------
Total --------------1787W
Do surge protectors or timers use power? Would you say I'm looking good here? Should I be thinking twice before plugging in my shop vac or another lamp?
