ground wire gauge

currently i have 6 qb96 on a frame with an hlg-600h-54b remotely wired, so the circuit is like 54v 11.8A

the driver has about a 6' run to the frame, for which i used 14/2 cable (because its what i had). and when i ran a ground wire separately i only had 18awg solid wire. now i'm thinking the 18awg ground wire wouldn't even be able to handle the current of a short and its really just useless and i need a bigger ground wire? also, does the resistance of the 6' run of 18awg matter if its being used as a ground?

if i am going to upgrade the ground wire would 16awg be enough or should i just do 14awg?

Should be the same as gauge used for power, but even the 18awg would be better then none if you have your light is on a GFCI circuit then it should pop the breaker before frying the wire. But yeah 14 awg for the ground would pass inspection and be up to Code. I would recommend all things electrical in the grow room be on a GFCI circuit due to the large amounts of water used to grow, death is not curable most of the time , so I always say better of safe then sorry or even worse dead.

13 dollars for a 20 amp one I believe the 15 amp ones are around 9 dollars. https://www.amazon.com/TOPELE-Weather-Resistant-Receptacle-Indicator-Included/dp/B00X725XMI/ref=zg_bs_6291366011_4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=YJMWXFHZH5QG5M58FGQ7

usually one size less than the main conductors is spec'd for AC. for a ground wire on 11A 16GA would be fine. the meanwell will shut itself down in short order

CobKits said:

usually one size less than the main conductors is spec'd for AC. for a ground wire on 11A 16GA would be fine. the meanwell will shut itself down in short order

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Never have I seen a circuit pulled with a smaller ground wire then power wires and i have pulled thousands of circuits in my time working as a residential electrician. On the other side of that I have never seen a appliance cord with a smaller sized ground then the power wires. Not sure what country you are in but here in the USA you would fail a inspection for using a ground smaller then the power wires.

NEC allows for downsizing of ground conductors

maybe youre just used to pulling romex where the ground is the same size?

for any commercial electricians who size conductors and conduits, this is pretty common knowledge. in most cases (depending on circuit load) you can get away with one size down (14 when conductors are 12, 12 when conductors are 10, etc)

in my research on the topic i did see quite a few mentions of ground being one size smaller

however i chose to use 14awg for the ground. in my case, where the driver has two 14awg outputs (presumably to lighten the load on each?) i felt 14awg was the minimum i'd need for the only ground connection. also its kind of a long run.

could be wrong. but better safe than sorry.