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

TokinPodPilot

TokinPodPilot

Well-Known Member
OK, electrical experts... I have a similar situation to chunkymunkey33 as far as the layout of my apartment's circuit. I have a wall A/C unit that is connected to a 230v receptacle wired to two breakers paired together. Since the A/C doesn't work well at all and the apt manager doesn't want to replace it, I've decided to reroute that power to better use. What I am looking to do is use that 15A 230v receptacle, wire an appropriate plug (http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=22873-334-5666-L&lpage=none) into about 30ish feet of 12 gauge wire to the grow room. The other end would terminate in a junction box (like http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=10029-223-E987N-CAR&lpage=none) which would connect to a Solatel LP-240S light timer. Plugged into that would be 2 Dual-600W 240V ballasts for a total of 2400W of HPS lights . So the questions I have are:

1) Am I on the right track? Will this actually work or am I on a path to doom and destruction?

2) Stupid simple question.... what do I do in the junction box? Just match wires and cap them together?

I'm sure there's more I should ask, but I am stoned.... anywho... thanks in advance for any advice.
 
Ligerius

Ligerius

Well-Known Member
great! finally a thread for electrical questions that would seem suspicious to ask the home depot salesman. well im not sure how much you know about using leds, but any help you could offer would be great. So i am trying to put together my own led grow light panels, pretty much copying this guy who has been experimenting with leds as grow light for a while. He has a DIY section on his website, the link is http://www.creatiesintechniek.nl/Led/diy.html anyways, i am planning to have about 30 leds, running at 2 watts each, at a constant current of 700ma. the thing that confuses me about leds is the drivers they use. the guy recommends using the LM3404HV switching current regulator, however the only led drivers i have been able to find that use that regulator are the LM3404HV evaluation boards, here is a link to it http://www.digikey.com/scripts/dksearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=LM3404HVEVAL-ND However i am unfamilar with what an evaluation board really is, or whether it will work without modification, or even work at all. So in short do you think it will work as an led driver for me?
 
Hemp4Victory

Hemp4Victory

Well-Known Member
I sat and read through this thread and learned some excellent information. I have a question of my own now though. I recently bought a 400W remote ballast. Can run 110V,220V, or 347V. I wired everything up to the 110V because that was the voltage of my outlet. The ballast was running fine for about a week. Within the last couple days it has started to buzz/hum VERY loudly. To the point where it is hard to talk to people in the room. I called the electrical supply store and the guy seemed to be giving me the run around. He mentioned that the ballast came pre wired for 347V. Any idea what he meant by pre wired seeing as none of the connections had been made until I started joining wires. I checked for all possible sources of the buzzing(loose connections, loose mounting hardware, etc) and I cannot find a problem in setup. Any ideas? The buzzing is way too loud to be normal and it is causing a great deal of suspicion from everyone who visits my house.
 
Purplecheeser

Purplecheeser

Well-Known Member
im going to be running about 3000w in a garage. should i add a breaker thats rated at like 30A to keep things safe and run fans, vortex, light movers off the house power?
 
Hemp4Victory

Hemp4Victory

Well-Known Member
Bob Huxell said:
im doin a small grow and i wanted to know if its possible to plug smaller mh or hps bulbs into regular sockets/fixtures. i was thinkin juse like 100 watt bulbs or less. maybe 150. iff this isnt possible. why not.?
Click to expand...
The ballast is a necessary component when using HID lighting. Your regular socket does not work in the same way that a ballast does and therefore will not properly ignite your MH/HPS bulb. My understanding is that the ballast acts to regulate the current being fed to the bulb which is essential for proper operation of a MH or HPS bulb. I'm not the Licensed Electrician though so there may be something I am missing. This just comes from my knowledge as an amateur electrician and the things I have gathered while researching Metal Halides and High Pressure Sodiums.
 
heathaa

heathaa

Well-Known Member
people say incandescent bulbs are bad. last year i grew a sativa strain over 4 feet tall on one 75 watt incandescent bulb. turned out to be a male. but i have learned if you keep the bulb 2 to 3 inches off the plant it will grow. i have also learned with some strains to alternate between light and sun so the plant doesnt become top heavy. ive always started outside in natural sun untill veggie state and then i begin putting them on the 75 watt for over night. i have two plants one is 4 inches tall grown on sunlight and i have one 9 inches tall grown on sunlight for first 2 weeks of growth then i put it on 24 cycle of incandescent. they do work!!
 
VictorVIcious

VictorVIcious

Well-Known Member
chunkymunkey33 said:
This is the question I had.
Click to expand...
Hey chunky, you have the idea. Kinda. For a normal 110 volt circuit you would have 3 wires, black (Hot), White (Neutral), and Green (Grounding wire). To make it a 220 circuit you would add a fourth wire (Usually red) that wire would be considered hot as well.
In order to change the 220 into 2-110 volt outlets, you need to change the dipole breaker for 2- single pole breakers. Check the manufacturer of your panel and go get the right ones at one of the big box stores, I used 20 amp breakers just to be safe and I used 12 wire instead of the normal 14 used for most household circuits.
Remove your old wire from the dipole breaker or turn the old receptacle into a work box for the 2 circuits you want. I would have a tendency to redo it with new wire from the service panel out, it can be done using the existing wires. The black wire would be used to run one circuit and the red wire would be used as the hot for the other circuit. The white wires ( the 2 new ones and the old one) would all be tied together, they are returns and you can attach the green wires to a screw in your new work box. I just did this for one of our members, it is really as simple as abc and in this case d. Took less than an hour, we did not have to go through any walls.
Remember when you turn off the main switch to connect the wires in the service panel, you will want a good flashlight and someone to hold it for you would be nice. VV:eyesmoke:
 
VictorVIcious

VictorVIcious

Well-Known Member
heathaa said:
people say incandescent bulbs are bad. last year i grew a sativa strain over 4 feet tall on one 75 watt incandescent bulb. turned out to be a male. but i have learned if you keep the bulb 2 to 3 inches off the plant it will grow. i have also learned with some strains to alternate between light and sun so the plant doesnt become top heavy. ive always started outside in natural sun untill veggie state and then i begin putting them on the 75 watt for over night. i have two plants one is 4 inches tall grown on sunlight and i have one 9 inches tall grown on sunlight for first 2 weeks of growth then i put it on 24 cycle of incandescent. they do work!!
Click to expand...
Sound great, got any pictures, we like pictures, a picture is like a thousand words and did I mention we like pictures. Not in a thread about electrical questions, that doesn't mean we don't like pictures. VV:twisted:
 
VictorVIcious

VictorVIcious

Well-Known Member
Bob Huxell said:
im doin a small grow and i wanted to know if its possible to plug smaller mh or hps bulbs into regular sockets/fixtures. i was thinkin juse like 100 watt bulbs or less. maybe 150. iff this isnt possible. why not.?
Click to expand...
Because they are bigger around than the regular socket, they have a MOGUL BASE. The sockets are available at Hydro Shops with the cord attached for about $10.00. VV
 
F

freeskier

Active Member
hey brick hows it going.. i want to set up a cfl fixture but not sure on how to wire it and exactly what supplies i need to do it. i was walking thru walmart the other day and saw some sockets and house hold wire and sttuff like that. would i be able to use that stuff, how do i set it up and would thewy each have a different plug in or could you wire it all to the same plug> please reply i need help.
 
con10twithlosing

con10twithlosing

Active Member
con10twithlosing

con10twithlosing

Active Member
I use one of these setups with my Aerogarden.
https://www.rollitup.org/do-yourself/159868-diy-cfl-fixtures.html

It can be used in soil grows too. An even cheaper way which alot of people seem to do is to buy a "squid" type extension cord combined with prong to socket converters which can be bought at Lowes or Home Depot as well and hang the cfls like that. Some people use bathroom vanity light setups and just hang those. Pretty much anything with a fixture can be used. The more flexible the better to adjust around your plants growth of course.
 
heathaa

heathaa

Well-Known Member
well last night i changed to cfls due to the glory talk of them i was just wondering i have single plant with one cfl 1200 lumens 20 watts is that sufficient
 
M

Max Girth

Active Member
I currently run five 65 watt CFLs (2700k) for flowering 3 - 4 plants.
They are mounted to a modified ceiling fan.
Homemade "slip rings" route the 110v to the 5 CFLs.
My question is simple...

I have an old school (core and coil?) 1000w HPS ballast.
Can this ballast run multiple smaller wattage lamps?
My thought is, if this is possible, I could remote locate the ballast, and run the output (2 wires) through my "slip rings), and perhaps swap out the CFLs for HPS. If I had 5 200w HPS lamps (do they come in that wattage?), could they all run off of a single 1000w ballast?
If yes, how would they be wired?


I think it's great that you have offered your expertise in this forum.

Thanks in advance!

Max G
 

Attachments

N

NegligentMother

Well-Known Member
Max Girth said:
I currently run five 65 watt CFLs (2700k) for flowering 3 - 4 plants.
They are mounted to a modified ceiling fan.
Homemade "slip rings" route the 110v to the 5 CFLs.
My question is simple...

I have an old school (core and coil?) 1000w HPS ballast.
Can this ballast run multiple smaller wattage lamps?
My thought is, if this is possible, I could remote locate the ballast, and run the output (2 wires) through my "slip rings), and perhaps swap out the CFLs for HPS. If I had 5 200w HPS lamps (do they come in that wattage?), could they all run off of a single 1000w ballast?
If yes, how would they be wired?


I think it's great that you have offered your expertise in this forum.

Thanks in advance!

Max G
Click to expand...
LMAO!! does that fan still work?
 
N

NegligentMother

Well-Known Member
Max Girth said:
I currently run five 65 watt CFLs (2700k) for flowering 3 - 4 plants.
They are mounted to a modified ceiling fan.
Homemade "slip rings" route the 110v to the 5 CFLs.
My question is simple...

I have an old school (core and coil?) 1000w HPS ballast.
Can this ballast run multiple smaller wattage lamps?
My thought is, if this is possible, I could remote locate the ballast, and run the output (2 wires) through my "slip rings), and perhaps swap out the CFLs for HPS. If I had 5 200w HPS lamps (do they come in that wattage?), could they all run off of a single 1000w ballast?
If yes, how would they be wired?


I think it's great that you have offered your expertise in this forum.

Thanks in advance!

Max G
Click to expand...
LMAO!! does that fan still work? Reminds me of Garrisons spinning lights.
 
vapor85

vapor85

Well-Known Member
hey brick...could you explain to me what (if anything) is better about digital ballasts as compared to magnetic ones?? And whether I should shell out the extra 200 bucks for a Lumatek over the cheaper kind of ballast.....Thanks :peace:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top