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

aagiants1

Well-Known Member
Hello Bricktown, I'm wondering how much 2 600's are going to draw..I've got a 400 right now, and my room runs off the same breaker as my smoke alarms that are hot wired into the house..(i have batteries in all of them) but they're still hot wired too..I was thinking 2 6's would be too much for that 20 amp breaker? So i have that 30 amp box on the right, it looks like the only thing that is running is the hot water tank. Would that be a possibility? and how hard would it be to put in a breaker box? i'd have to go from the basement to the 2nd floor...It would be a challenge to do it, but if its a must then i will..But some of the breakers on the other box only run like 2 outlets, and some aren't marked, so i'm going to test to see what runs what...Any and all help will be appreciated..I also run my air pump, can fan 4" 220cfm, and an oscialting fan, and timer..sorry for the long spew, but i wanted u to get the full giggy.. :-o
 

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rome35

Member
you need to get a 40 amp 'HACR" rated breaker to fix that... your only pulling roughly 29 amps @ 220.
your 50 amp has a worn element, thats why its tripping every time the lights kick on. the 'HACR' stands for Heating Air Conditioning Refridgeration. these are also known as inductive loads.... the hacr rated breaker has a dual element for inrush loads. bongsmilie

Turns out my breaker is HACR so that is not the issue...still having the same problem...I think the issue is the surge at start up...people have suggested I get a Delay switch between the timer and the breaker so it does not cause the surge.
 

laughingduck

Well-Known Member
Im planning on wiring it according to the previous diagram.
OK then just connect the case of the ballast to the cases of light fixtures and you will be fine. I was thinking you might have a ballast with a hot, neutral, and a ground coming out on the light side of the ballast. if that was the case then you could find the ground in the light cord and connect that to the cases of the lights.
 

sherriberry

New Member
electrician is putting in a new 200amp box that comes with a main breaker and a few others, and all other breakers from my box are compatible, so they can swap over.

the main feed lines coming in the house from the meter are 150 amps a piece he said, so i could run 300 i guess, but who needs that much power, only if your a weed grower:hump:

he said it should take him a few hours, and hes only going to charge me 30 an hour, so 129 for the box

and another 120 for the electrician...

or 230 for a new 150 main breaker for my box...

its kind of a no brainer right?
 

iloveit

Well-Known Member
OK then just connect the case of the ballast to the cases of light fixtures and you will be fine. I was thinking you might have a ballast with a hot, neutral, and a ground coming out on the light side of the ballast. if that was the case then you could find the ground in the light cord and connect that to the cases of the lights.
Nice one mate thanks for helping out much appreciated.
 

BikerDude

Member
I just built a new grow room and have some questions:

I want to run a sub-panel to my grow room and want to know if I should run a 10/3 feeder or an 8/3 feeder. Here is what I have layed out...using 14/2 wiring. {or should I use 12/2}

Circuit 1: Dedicated line to my 6" exhaust fan.

Circuit 2: Dedicated line to my 600wt. grow light

Circuit 3: 2 GFCI outlets and one regular outlet

Circuit 4: Single pole light switch to an overhead light and then on to a regular outlet. {I will use 14/3 between the switch and the light

I was thinking all I need is 4-15 amp breakers to do this; one for each circuit.

How close am I?

Thanks,

BikerDude
 

mrmadcow

Well-Known Member
......I want to run a sub-panel to my grow room and want to know if I should run a 10/3 feeder or an 8/3 feeder. Here is what I have layed out...using 14/2 wiring. {or should I use 12/2}....
...Circuit 3: 2 GFCI outlets and one regular outlet....
How close am I?
Thanks,
BikerDude
8/3 would be a better choice,remember that the common is carrying the load for both circuits so if you tied it to a double 20 amp breaker,you could have almost 40 amps on the 1 neutral & 10 gauge is only rated for 30 amps.if you want to expand your room later 6/3 would give you 2 30 amp circuits,enough to run several 1000 w lights.

if wired properly, a GFI protects all the outlets after it so you only need 1 on the circuit.
all else sounds like you have a good plan...happy growing
 

mrmadcow

Well-Known Member
what if there was only a 150 amp service from the power company? if you did this, add a 200 panle to a 150 amp service, there is a very real likely hood you will burn up your service equipment (meterbase, wires in from street connection) then the power company will nail your ass for tampering with there meterbase.
there's a reason you need a key for it........
didnt expect her to do this herself & b4 you can change a service,your power co has to be notified.like you said,you need a key to open the meterbox.in the past 25+ yrs that I have been doing service changeovers,I have seen a drop rated for less than 200 amps only 1 time & that was to a cabin that burned down 20 yrs prior..I also didnt mention she may need a permit. this wasn't a tutorial on how to upgrade a service
 

Maripan

Member
Greetings,

I run a 600 Watt light, a six inch can fan, and electronic timers for the water and CO2. When I set up a 9000 BTU portable AC unit, everything ran fine until the circuit breaker cut off. At the time we also had three TVs on in the house that shut off with everything else. Can I replace circuit breaker with another one without burning the wires or creating a fire hazard? How many amps do you suggest. 15? 20? I am not sure what is in there now.

Maripan
 

BigBudBalls

Well-Known Member
Greetings,

I run a 600 Watt light, a six inch can fan, and electronic timers for the water and CO2. When I set up a 9000 BTU portable AC unit, everything ran fine until the circuit breaker cut off. At the time we also had three TVs on in the house that shut off with everything else. Can I replace circuit breaker with another one without burning the wires or creating a fire hazard? How many amps do you suggest. 15? 20? I am not sure what is in there now.

Maripan
You can NOT, safely, put in a bigger breaker without replacing/upgrading the wire.

Now if the breaker has tripped a whole bunch of times, it can get weak and trip easier. In that case, replacing it can help, but only one of the same rating.
 

Maripan

Member
You can NOT, safely, put in a bigger breaker without replacing/upgrading the wire.

Now if the breaker has tripped a whole bunch of times, it can get weak and trip easier. In that case, replacing it can help, but only one of the same rating.
Thanks. I looked at the circuit box and all the breakers are 20 amps, except the one that tripped, which is 15. The 15 amp breaker looks newer than the others. Could it be that someone replaced a 20 amp breaker with the 15 amp one that is giving me problems?
 

IAm5toned

Well-Known Member
Thanks. I looked at the circuit box and all the breakers are 20 amps, except the one that tripped, which is 15. The 15 amp breaker looks newer than the others. Could it be that someone replaced a 20 amp breaker with the 15 amp one that is giving me problems?
that is a very probable scenario, however you need to make sure that ALL of the wire connected to that 15 amp circuit is #12 awg Cu (copper). typically in residential construction it is common to use #14 awg on a 15 amp breaker... #14 is only rated for 15 amps, so if your pulling 16-17 amps on that circuit, and there is some #14 on it, there is a very real chance of a fire hazard. you might want to trace out that circuit and make sure there isnt a peice of #14 running between two outlets... what your dealing with is a minor problem, but if not fixed correctly can turn into a worst nightmare situation. you might want to find an electrician buddy to take a look at it for you.

or it could just be a bad/worn out breaker, tho i doubt it. i think most tv's average 2-400watt.. 3 of em would mean a minimum of 600 watts. you can get 1440watts out of a 15 amp circuit.... you might want to try and split up the load.
 

Maripan

Member
that is a very probable scenario, however you need to make sure that ALL of the wire connected to that 15 amp circuit is #12 awg Cu (copper). typically in residential construction it is common to use #14 awg on a 15 amp breaker... #14 is only rated for 15 amps, so if your pulling 16-17 amps on that circuit, and there is some #14 on it, there is a very real chance of a fire hazard. you might want to trace out that circuit and make sure there isnt a peice of #14 running between two outlets... what your dealing with is a minor problem, but if not fixed correctly can turn into a worst nightmare situation. you might want to find an electrician buddy to take a look at it for you.

or it could just be a bad/worn out breaker, tho i doubt it. i think most tv's average 2-400watt.. 3 of em would mean a minimum of 600 watts. you can get 1440watts out of a 15 amp circuit.... you might want to try and split up the load.

Thank you for getting back to me... I just looked at the sticker on the inside of the door of the breaker panel and it says exactly the following:

USE 15 THRU 70 AMP. TYPE Q24
(CAT. NO. Q2431) CIRCUIT BREAKER
ON POSITION 1, 2, & 5 ONLY.

My problem 15 amp breaker is in position 5. Does this information help in any way?

Thanks again.
 

IAm5toned

Well-Known Member
Thank you for getting back to me... I just looked at the sticker on the inside of the door of the breaker panel and it says exactly the following:

USE 15 THRU 70 AMP. TYPE Q24
(CAT. NO. Q2431) CIRCUIT BREAKER
ON POSITION 1, 2, & 5 ONLY.

My problem 15 amp breaker is in position 5. Does this information help in any way?

Thanks again.
tells me thats a square D panel lol... thats about it.
the problem is with the wiring, your trying to run too much off of it, not the breaker.....
 

k@nyeW3st

Member
I just got this dayton blower in the mail. Its rated at 115V. The blower did not come wired for AC. I have purchased a 14 gauge grounded electrical cord. It is rated for 125V (insulated for 300V... ) My question is How do I wire this up SAFELY? Any help will be greatly appreciated. Pics should show you what the blower looks like.
 

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laughingduck

Well-Known Member
I just got this dayton blower in the mail. Its rated at 115V. The blower did not come wired for AC. I have purchased a 14 gauge grounded electrical cord. It is rated for 125V (insulated for 300V... ) My question is How do I wire this up SAFELY? Any help will be greatly appreciated. Pics should show you what the blower looks like.
Take the cover off the small gray box and show what is inside.
 
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