Experienced Electrician! Here to Answer Any and All Growroom Electrical Questions
- Thread starter bricktown73
- Start date
sorry, I just checked &both spares are 115 volt only.this has become a mission for me as well.PM me if you find the answer-I will do same........so i probably wont run it 220 but i have wanted to know the answer to this question for 2 years now, so its kinda a "mission" now
I would be leary of conecting to the 110 & common w/ 2 legs of 110. either feed neutral to the lamp common only & 1 leg to the ballast 220 and the 2nd leg to either the 110 terminal or the ballast common terminal- not 1 leg to 110 and the other to common.
wow,hope that makes sense,had to read it 2x to make sure I didnt confuse myself & I wrote it!
how many plugs is a loaded question,safely or by code? code allows either 6-8 (i think)outlets on a breaker,remember that breaker will feed more than just your 1 room. the number of outlets on a single breaker isn't as important as the load used on them at the same time.you could safely put 30 outlets on 1 breaker if you were going to only use them to power 1 CFL from each outlet or run a power tool from any 1 outlet at a time w/ nothing on any of the others.add up your draw from each device and dont put more than 17 amps on either breaker. best to split the load as evenly as possible & dont forget to add anything else on either circiut inc the plug in the room above or below that the wife uses to plug in the vacum.
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as for the surge protector,assuming you mean will it protect your house if you plug an extension cord into a surge protector & the cord gets hit by lightning,yes it will help protect the surge from coming into your house.
surge protectors use a thing called MOVs that "eat" the surge however,while a large surge like lightning will Kill the protector and stop the current, a few hundred small surges will kill the MOVs and the protector will still carry current so dont trust an old surge protector,replace them every yr or 3.
Sparty, your answer is here
you are billed for watts used & it doesnt matter if you draw 10 amps on 1 110 breakers or 5 amps on each leg of a 220 circiut.I have already decided the bill will still be the same either way ,(always thought less amps = less bill) ...Anyways i also learned that the only benefit from running 220 , would be that you can run double the lights without upgrading the service.
Aloha, I have a question in regards to plugging in my new 250w light. I have a surge protector(Transient Voltage Surge Suppressor) that I was hoping to plug this light into, I'm just not sure if it can properly handle the load. I will list the specs of my surge and hopefully someone with knowledge can explain if it's adequate enough.
Suppressed Voltage Rating: UL 1449 330v
Max Load: 15A 125VAC 60HZ 1875W
This might seem like a dumb question, but I need to assure myself that I don't start a fire or kill my new light.I appreciate any help or guidance on this. Thank you.
Correction: I first want to plug the light into a timer that will be plugged into the surge. Does the timer need to have certain specs as well to carry the load of the light?
Suppressed Voltage Rating: UL 1449 330v
Max Load: 15A 125VAC 60HZ 1875W
This might seem like a dumb question, but I need to assure myself that I don't start a fire or kill my new light.I appreciate any help or guidance on this. Thank you.
Correction: I first want to plug the light into a timer that will be plugged into the surge. Does the timer need to have certain specs as well to carry the load of the light?
sir rance alot
Active Member
Everyone write this formula down. Amps x Volts = Watts.
Add the amps of everything you have plugged in, multiply that total by the voltage you are plugged in to and that is how many watts you are getting billed for. Example: If you have a light (or fan, or television) that draws 2 amps, and you have it plugged into a regular wall recepticle, you multiply 2 (amps) x 120 volts (recepticle) = 240 watts. The reverse is also true. Example: Add up all the wattage of every light, fan, etc. and divide that by the voltage you are plugged into. So, if you use 120 volts divide watts by 120. If you use 240, divide watts by 240. This tells you amps. Also, remember the electric company bills you by watts used, not amps. A 120 watt light will draw 1 amp at 120 volts, a 120 watt light will draw 0.5 amps at 240 volts. The amps are cut in half but the wattage stays the same. You get billed for 120 watts no matter what.
Add the amps of everything you have plugged in, multiply that total by the voltage you are plugged in to and that is how many watts you are getting billed for. Example: If you have a light (or fan, or television) that draws 2 amps, and you have it plugged into a regular wall recepticle, you multiply 2 (amps) x 120 volts (recepticle) = 240 watts. The reverse is also true. Example: Add up all the wattage of every light, fan, etc. and divide that by the voltage you are plugged into. So, if you use 120 volts divide watts by 120. If you use 240, divide watts by 240. This tells you amps. Also, remember the electric company bills you by watts used, not amps. A 120 watt light will draw 1 amp at 120 volts, a 120 watt light will draw 0.5 amps at 240 volts. The amps are cut in half but the wattage stays the same. You get billed for 120 watts no matter what.
sir rance alot
Active Member
And by the electric dude, you were right about the 150 watt ballasts. They are only pulling about 163 watts each. I was going by the label on the ballast which says 3.2 amps. I assume that is the max draw at start up and not the constant draw while running? Anyways, thanks for the input. Rep for that.
Greetings,
Upon inspection of a sub panel I installed in my grow room, I've discovered that the panel along the bus bar has melted, along with the insulation on the white load wire. Very unsettling. I've attached picks, and I'd like to know if this happened is because I underestimated the amp rating required for my panel, or if something else could have caused this problem.
Thanks for any assistance.
JDK
Upon inspection of a sub panel I installed in my grow room, I've discovered that the panel along the bus bar has melted, along with the insulation on the white load wire. Very unsettling. I've attached picks, and I'd like to know if this happened is because I underestimated the amp rating required for my panel, or if something else could have caused this problem.
Thanks for any assistance.
JDK
Attachments
wyteboi
Well-Known Member
we/you need to know how many amps you were pulling through that panel? add up the watts from each device (fans, lights,ect...) you had on that panel and let us know. Also is that a 100 amp sub? what size breaker is the sub on, in the main panel?
It does not look like the problem is in the panel at all , so you are probably right saying u might have underestimated the "load"...........
growwwww
Well-Known Member
Hahaha whoah, someones superstitious...
dangledo
Well-Known Member
This question may have already have been asked, and probably has. Anyway, with a wire coming from the breaker box that supply light to only 2 bulbs, that is not grounded, can you use a grounded outlet instead of rewiring to the breaker box? Is it considered safe in the means of an actual grounded wire? Is that what is normally done to supply a ground for older homes? Thanks alot man. I am glad that I found your thread!! rep
wyteboi
Well-Known Member
as long as the box is grounded (with a wire, not just a metal box) then yes that is fine for a ground.
i think that answered your Q ?
dangledo
Well-Known Member
Thank you kind sir. You are talkin about the outlet box right? This is in my basement, so the wire are through the ceiling. The main wire(not grounded) from the breaker box went to a light, then the other wire coming from said light went to another light. The wire in between to lights is grounded (the relay). So I placed two grounded outlets, with safety switches in place of both lights. Only using farthest outlet for supply, with a safety power strip. So three power trips to my lights and fans, is this safe? once agian thanx
wyteboi
Well-Known Member
yes i was talking about the outlet box....
i am sorry but i am totally confused on what your setup is and how it is run.
alot of people dont have a "ground" at all and it works fine but is not as safe as one with a ground. I would recommend you run a ground wire from the breaker box to whatever you want to be grounded.
dangledo
Well-Known Member
yea, I confused myself too. lol
You basically answered my question.
I just wanted a safety outlet between my ballast and breaker box. So i used a grounded outlet (as a junction box, with a safety test button) on a non grounded wire. Then ran a grounded wire from that last outlet, to another grounded outlet. using the second grounded outlet
So I am going to have my buddy rewire it for me. Thanks alot.!!
You basically answered my question.
I just wanted a safety outlet between my ballast and breaker box. So i used a grounded outlet (as a junction box, with a safety test button) on a non grounded wire. Then ran a grounded wire from that last outlet, to another grounded outlet. using the second grounded outlet
So I am going to have my buddy rewire it for me. Thanks alot.!!
sherriberry
New Member
does a 1000 w MH light have to be grounded?
Will it hurt the light, or is it only unsafe to have it ungrounded with water around?
THe only thing i can ground it to in the room is a vent that screws into the wall.
THe house is older, from the 70s, would the vent work as a ground?
Thanks
Will it hurt the light, or is it only unsafe to have it ungrounded with water around?
THe only thing i can ground it to in the room is a vent that screws into the wall.
THe house is older, from the 70s, would the vent work as a ground?
Thanks
sherriberry
New Member
anyone?????
KolorBlind
Well-Known Member
Hi everyone
Ive been around for a while now and dabbled in some entry level electrical work, mainly because I have always rented. Well just recently I bought my first house and I plan on setting up one of the bedroom closets to grow in.
I will be running a single 250w HPS for flowering, and three 42w 6500k CFLs for my moms & clones. There is a pull chain light in this closet and that is it. A friend and I have marked the exact location in my attic that is directly above the closet. We can see the junction box used for the pullchain light and a white cord running to it.
My friend has wired up most of his own house that he is currently remodeling, but the main question I have is:
Can I run a 250w HPS, 3 42w CFLs, a 135CFM Inline Fan, and 1 or 2 small room fans off of 1 receptacle safely? And should I use a receptacle with a reset switch?
I would love to only put one receptacle in the ceiling, then run a power strip from one outlet to the mom/clone side, and a strip from the other outlet to the flower side.
With the relatively low wattage used, should everything be copasetic or am I going to have to find a real electrician to help me out?
Thanks a ton in advance, I love what you folks are doing here, gives us "shade-tree" electricians some piece of mind for sure!
Peace
KB
Ive been around for a while now and dabbled in some entry level electrical work, mainly because I have always rented. Well just recently I bought my first house and I plan on setting up one of the bedroom closets to grow in.
I will be running a single 250w HPS for flowering, and three 42w 6500k CFLs for my moms & clones. There is a pull chain light in this closet and that is it. A friend and I have marked the exact location in my attic that is directly above the closet. We can see the junction box used for the pullchain light and a white cord running to it.
My friend has wired up most of his own house that he is currently remodeling, but the main question I have is:
Can I run a 250w HPS, 3 42w CFLs, a 135CFM Inline Fan, and 1 or 2 small room fans off of 1 receptacle safely? And should I use a receptacle with a reset switch?
I would love to only put one receptacle in the ceiling, then run a power strip from one outlet to the mom/clone side, and a strip from the other outlet to the flower side.
With the relatively low wattage used, should everything be copasetic or am I going to have to find a real electrician to help me out?
Thanks a ton in advance, I love what you folks are doing here, gives us "shade-tree" electricians some piece of mind for sure!
Peace
KB