Ground wire question

PilouPilou

PilouPilou

Well-Known Member
Hi all! Sorry in advance for my english I just hope it is enough good to be understood!
I am making my own frame for my DIY light and I check everywhere to have a maximum of informations - all is clear for me except one thing! I noticed that TIMBER use a ground wire (green wire with grommet) that is connected to the potentiometer. Is it usefull and obligatory for security? If yes, where I must connect this wire? To a screw on the frame or on the box (aluminum) where I put my driver?

Timber pic:
4_COB_DIY_Kit_With_Reflectors_and_Diffusers__48958_1468594566.jpg

My frame in process of building:
20170513_150511-1.jpg

Thank you for your replies!
 
PilouPilou

PilouPilou

Well-Known Member
RandomHero8913 said:
It looks like your driver box it connected to the frame so both options will work.
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Thank you very much for your quick reply! Yes the box is connected to the frame - I was a bit confused because it's the first time I see someone use this method - growmau5 don't use it in his video.
 
PilouPilou

PilouPilou

Well-Known Member
An other question: can you tell me if grounding from the potentiometer is as efficient and secure than grounding from the driver wire? Is it the same thing? Some Timber lights are grounded from driver wire and others from potentiometer...Thanks ;)

ps: I don't know if it is important for my question but in my country we use 230V electricity
 
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Los Reefersaurus

Los Reefersaurus

Well-Known Member
the ground from the knob is for , if you wire it in its own case, you can ground it out so you wouldn't get shocked if there was a problem with the potentiometer. If it is mounted in the same case as the the driver or a case that is grounded another way it is not necessary, but you might as well bolt it to the case since it is there anyway.

About 230v your driver is smart and can adjust from 110vac to240vac, you could even run it 3 phase it is so smart.
 
SouthCross

SouthCross

Well-Known Member
The driver will heat to 41°C. The heat sinks will run about 38°C each. If you have difficulty getting the air temperatures down. Install the driver outside the grow space.
 
PilouPilou

PilouPilou

Well-Known Member
@Los Reefersaurus Thank yoouuu so much, now I understand clearly the use of a ground wire from the potentiometer, thanks again! What is your opinion about grounding from the ground wire of the driver? I see a lot of pple on internet that don't use it.. but a lot of pple recommend it... so confusing!!
 
xX_BHMC_Xx

xX_BHMC_Xx

Well-Known Member
PilouPilou said:
@Los Reefersaurus Thank yoouuu so much, now I understand clearly the use of a ground wire from the potentiometer, thanks again! What is your opinion about grounding from the ground wire of the driver? I see a lot of pple on internet that don't use it.. but a lot of pple recommend it... so confusing!!
Click to expand...
Always ground your driver, and the frame of your light fixture. There is no reason not to and it's an extra bit of safety.
 
PilouPilou

PilouPilou

Well-Known Member
xX_BHMC_Xx said:
Always ground your driver, and the frame of your light fixture. There is no reason not to and it's an extra bit of safety.
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Ok! so I will ground from the ground wire of the driver to the frame! It seems to be the best option. Thank you very much for your reply.
 
1

1212ham

Well-Known Member
Ground wire? Neither end connects to ground! One end is soldered to the dimmer pot, why would a ground wire connect to the dimmer circuit? Normally only the brown and blue wires connect to the dimmer pot. You will have to ask TIMBER why that wire is there.
 
topcat

topcat

Well-Known Member
1212ham said:
Ground wire? Neither end connects to ground! One end is soldered to the dimmer pot, why would a ground wire connect to the dimmer circuit? Normally only the brown and blue wires connect to the dimmer pot. You will have to ask TIMBER why that wire is there.
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I asked them about that ground wire. They responded that it was an old photograph and wouldn't answer the question. When the white wire is connected to the right terminal, the attenuation is from right to left. I've never seen anyone else attach a ground to it.
 
xX_BHMC_Xx

xX_BHMC_Xx

Well-Known Member
topcat said:
I asked them about that ground wire. They responded that it was an old photograph and wouldn't answer the question. When the white wire is connected to the right terminal, the attenuation is from right to left. I've never seen anyone else attach a ground to it.
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I can almost guarantee that they just wire all three poles to give the customer the option of picking direction on the pot. Then they needed 3 wires for that, and probably had a metric shit-ton of that green/white/blue laying around from other projects. The color of the wire doesn't really mean anything unless you have a reference, or it's something standardized like home wiring.
 
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