best way to install 8 1000w lumatek ballast

[paulycali]

I had to bring in an electrician from an outside source. Sucks but you gotta do what you gotta do. Ask your local hydro store. Your going to need to bring one in for sure. Also those flip boxes can flip rooms right away but isn't really recommended. Some ballast you can do it on but most you can't as they need 10 minutes to reset. Also flipping to soon can blow bulbs. My flipbox goes off 10 minutes before my timer turns the ballasts back on. I'll let someone else chime in on the dedicated line. I know what it means but cannot explain it properly. Hopefully you'll get an answer soon

 

[Natural]

Make a list of all the items that require electric. Note the wattage and voltage. Your best bet is to plan for your mini split a/c to have it's own dedicated circuit. I'm certain they come in 120v and 220v. Personally I prefer to run bigger appliances on 220v if there is a choice. Next you should contact Olyver..try this thread https://www.thcfarmer.com/community...s-loadcenters-flip-boards.57236/#post-1087878
He will add up everything else including your lights and design a light controller/flip-flop and be able to provide both 220v needed for light and 120v needed for fans etc. on the same 220v circuit. So you will end up with one circuit for the A/C and one circuit for the rest including lights. His work is always code and he uses quality components that exceed store bought controllers...pretty reasonable costs and he has good customer service.

 

[vangs]

Make a list of all the items that require electric. Note the wattage and voltage. Your best bet is to plan for your mini split a/c to have it's own dedicated circuit. I'm certain they come in 120v and 220v. Personally I prefer to run bigger appliances on 220v if there is a choice. Next you should contact Olyver..try this thread https://www.thcfarmer.com/community...s-loadcenters-flip-boards.57236/#post-1087878
He will add up everything else including your lights and design a light controller/flip-flop and be able to provide both 220v needed for light and 120v needed for fans etc. on the same 220v circuit. So you will end up with one circuit for the A/C and one circuit for the rest including lights. His work is always code and he uses quality components that exceed store bought controllers...pretty reasonable costs and he has good customer service.

ok so should the lights have their own circuit too? and then have everything else such as fans,pumps, controllers, etc all on a 3rd circuit?

 

[CelticEBE]

Vangs.....I'm currently running a 4k flip. I am about to upgrade to 8k here soon but here's what I can tell ya as I have set up in two places doing this.

Yes, try to compartmentalize things as much as possible. I pulled off my main and installed a 100a sub panel. I have my controller, which turns my ballasts on and off, on a 50a breaker. This is overkill, you could get away with 30a but I like to be safe with Electrical. I have my AC's (2 25,ooobtu wall bangers) on a 30a breaker. My fans all and carbon scrubbers all run off the remaining 20a, which is split into two 20a 110 circuits.

Like pauli said, you want your ballasts to turn off for 10 minutes twice a day.
Example: My ballast controller timer is set to come on at 9:35am then shuts off at 9:25pm, comes back on at 9:35pm and shuts off at 9:25am. My flip controller is set to switch from room 1 to room 2 at 9:30am, and switch from room 2 to room 1 at 9:30pm.

If you don't have much experience with Electrical, and can't trust someone to come in and wire things for you, I don't know what to say. I'm lucky in the sense that I was a jack of all trades before I got into this.

Oh and one last thing....if you do the work your self, make sure you install a flame defender over the area that your ballasts will be. Best to be safe than sorry.

 

[Reebs]

ok so should the lights have their own circuit too? and then have everything else such as fans,pumps, controllers, etc all on a 3rd circuit?

yes, ideally your setup like this

240v 40 amp breaker > Light controller (outlets on timer)
120v 20 amp breaker > Fans, Pumps, Etc.


now i know that with like a C.A.P. 8 light controller box with a timer in it or not, on a 240v 40 amp breaker can handle 6 1k lights. thats the max you want to run cuz the relays inside them cant handle all that power for real. it kinda sucks but to be safe, i would PERSONALLY get 2 8 light control boxes and have them each on there own 240v 40 amp breaker and just get the ones without the timer in it so you can plug both into a relay timer of your choosing. that way your covered for your 8K plus 4 more outlets to expand.

another option is to build your own 240v setup like i did. i have 10 outlets wired into 2 high temp/High power relays which are then routed directly into 2 40 amp breakers in the sub-panel i installed. i used to build the light controller boxes like this before all these companies started making them, which was easier obviously.

something to keep in mind, you may not be an electrician but if you can figure out and teach yourself the basics to get around a grow room you can save big $$ over the course of a year without having to pay for an electrician. i think i watched my electrician do the same thing over and over again at each new house i would be setting up that it got to the point that when i'd be working on some electrical i could almost picture what he would do.

Good luck with the light and power situation. Trust me when i say you always want to over do the electric just a little like the 2 8 controller boxes and only using 12 of those 16 outlets.

 

[vangs]

Vangs.....I'm currently running a 4k flip. I am about to upgrade to 8k here soon but here's what I can tell ya as I have set up in two places doing this.

Yes, try to compartmentalize things as much as possible. I pulled off my main and installed a 100a sub panel. I have my controller, which turns my ballasts on and off, on a 50a breaker. This is overkill, you could get away with 30a but I like to be safe with Electrical. I have my AC's (2 25,ooobtu wall bangers) on a 30a breaker. My fans all and carbon scrubbers all run off the remaining 20a, which is split into two 20a 110 circuits.

Like pauli said, you want your ballasts to turn off for 10 minutes twice a day.
Example: My ballast controller timer is set to come on at 9:35am then shuts off at 9:25pm, comes back on at 9:35pm and shuts off at 9:25am. My flip controller is set to switch from room 1 to room 2 at 9:30am, and switch from room 2 to room 1 at 9:30pm.

If you don't have much experience with Electrical, and can't trust someone to come in and wire things for you, I don't know what to say. I'm lucky in the sense that I was a jack of all trades before I got into this.

Oh and one last thing....if you do the work your self, make sure you install a flame defender over the area that your ballasts will be. Best to be safe than sorry.

thanks for this info man, you gave me a push into the right direction as far as how to start this whole process because having my house burn down is not what i want and this issue is holding me back from starting. iwill begin to make a list of everything i need that requires electricity if thats what u mean by compartmentalize. some questions for you...

so basiclly once your flip box switches the ballast from room 1 to room 2 at 9:30am it still keeps the ballast off for another 5min until the timer kicks them on?

what kind of controller timer do you use?

are you ballast wired 240v or 120v?

i have a eletrician that i can trust bro.. let me ask you this, say i tell the eletrician to set up the sub panel and i have him wire it the way you listed, assuming that i use 30a for the lighting control, that leaves me with an extra 20amps but what should i do if i have a mother/clone room and a veg room as well that will require more than just the 20amps left over that i have? should i just tell the electrician to install say a 120 amp sub panel so i have 40 extra amps to work with?

 

[vangs]

yes, ideally your setup like this

240v 40 amp breaker > Light controller (outlets on timer)
120v 20 amp breaker > Fans, Pumps, Etc.


now i know that with like a C.A.P. 8 light controller box with a timer in it or not, on a 240v 40 amp breaker can handle 6 1k lights. thats the max you want to run cuz the relays inside them cant handle all that power for real. it kinda sucks but to be safe, i would PERSONALLY get 2 8 light control boxes and have them each on there own 240v 40 amp breaker and just get the ones without the timer in it so you can plug both into a relay timer of your choosing. that way your covered for your 8K plus 4 more outlets to expand.

another option is to build your own 240v setup like i did. i have 10 outlets wired into 2 high temp/High power relays which are then routed directly into 2 40 amp breakers in the sub-panel i installed. i used to build the light controller boxes like this before all these companies started making them, which was easier obviously.

something to keep in mind, you may not be an electrician but if you can figure out and teach yourself the basics to get around a grow room you can save big $$ over the course of a year without having to pay for an electrician. i think i watched my electrician do the same thing over and over again at each new house i would be setting up that it got to the point that when i'd be working on some electrical i could almost picture what he would do.

Good luck with the light and power situation. Trust me when i say you always want to over do the electric just a little like the 2 8 controller boxes and only using 12 of those 16 outlets.

so if i make my setup with a 240v 40amp breaker and 120v 20amp breaker then i would have both those breakers put into a 60amp sub panel basically? and i can just install a larger subpanel if i need more than 60amps?

also if i run the ballast on 240v then it will only need 5amps instead of 9amps on 120v then all 4 ballast would equal to 20amps, why do i need 40amps? and if im running a 4k flip, and say i got those CAP controller that u just talked about, i could connect 4 ballast to each controller and just leave the other 4 slots open just so it doesn't overload it, but why would i need to put them in their seperate 40amp breaker? if only 4ballast will run at once? couldn't i just run both controllers on the same 240v 40amp breaker and connect the timer so both light controllers dont come on at the same time?? or is there something I'm not getting?

sorry to get confusing i just dont want my house to burn down, and im trying to understand what ur saying and acouple other growers who have joined in to help me out...

 

[ttystikk]

First, I looked long and hard at going the flip box route- and I found you give up too much flexibility. You don't save much if any money over just getting the right number of ballasts- and then you can configure things in many more ways. I just do my 'flip' purely with timers on my control box relays. This makes it trivially simple to change daylight length as your cycle progresses, as an example.

I know water cooling can be a pain, but for flip style operations the ability to centralize your cooling plant and use it for both day and night sides IS a big money saver. I would wholeheartedly recommend you look further into it.

 

[vangs]

First, I looked long and hard at going the flip box route- and I found you give up too much flexibility. You don't save much if any money over just getting the right number of ballasts- and then you can configure things in many more ways. I just do my 'flip' purely with timers on my control box relays. This makes it trivially simple to change daylight length as your cycle progresses, as an example.

I know water cooling can be a pain, but for flip style operations the ability to centralize your cooling plant and use it for both day and night sides IS a big money saver. I would wholeheartedly recommend you look further into it.

choosing to do a 4k flip is not to save money on buying 4 less ballast. its because i cant run 8k at once, so if just buying 2 timers and 2 lighting controllers then i will.. also. i want to air cool my gardens but i dont know how to install something like that and i dont know what kind of eletrical work i need done. so im thinking of just installing acouple window a/cs. do you know any threads that have info on running watercooled gardens, etc.?

 

[ttystikk]

choosing to do a 4k flip is not to save money on buying 4 less ballast. its because i cant run 8k at once, so if just buying 2 timers and 2 lighting controllers then i will.. also. i want to air cool my gardens but i dont know how to install something like that and i dont know what kind of eletrical work i need done. so im thinking of just installing acouple window a/cs. do you know any threads that have info on running watercooled gardens, etc.?

You run four ballasts over room A for 12 hours, then the timer shuts those off and you run room B for 11:45. The 15 minute window is what you use to set timing so both never run at once. No flip box needed. Never run over 4kW.

 

[CelticEBE]

Vangs....here some pics of my set up. Yes my ballasts only run for 11 hours and 50 minutes in each room. I run 220v ballasts.

This is a 100amp subpanel and my lighting controller. The ballasts connect to the controller which turns on at 9:35 am, then off at 9:25 pm (Room 1), Then it comes on again at 9:35pm and shuts off at 9:25am (Room 2).

This picture is of my 4 ballasts and my flipbox. The flipbox has it's own timer to change from one room to the next and it is set at 9:30 am and 9:30pm. This is how powerbox recommends you do it, and I think it's so the ballasts get a break, and the bulbs are actually turned on by the ballasts instead of power just instantly diverting to them.

Last pic is of a flame defender. Such a small price to pay for peace of mind.

 

[vangs]

Vangs....here some pics of my set up. Yes my ballasts only run for 11 hours and 50 minutes in each room. I run 220v ballasts.

This is a 100amp subpanel and my lighting controller. The ballasts connect to the controller which turns on at 9:35 am, then off at 9:25 pm (Room 1), Then it comes on again at 9:35pm and shuts off at 9:25am (Room 2).
View attachment 329680

This picture is of my 4 ballasts and my flipbox. The flipbox has it's own timer to change from one room to the next and it is set at 9:30 am and 9:30pm. This is how powerbox recommends you do it, and I think it's so the ballasts get a break, and the bulbs are actually turned on by the ballasts instead of power just instantly diverting to them. View attachment 329681

Last pic is of a flame defender. Such a small price to pay for peace of mind.
View attachment 329682

hey celtic i appriciate this alot bro, im a visual learner so this just put me 3 steps ahead. the flip box in picture 2 is connected to the right side of the timer in picture 1 correct? If so, what size amp is the wall outet that the timer is connected to? and does that outlet go straight to the box with nothing else on that same breaker?

also in picture 1 under the timer, there is another outlet that looks like a dryer plug, what equipment do you have connected there?

is the subpanel the box on the left or right?

 

[CelticEBE]

I just harvested a room so I have my configuration set different right now. So the pictures aren't really showing HOW things are set up. Sorry bout that. Here's how things are set up normally.

The Ballasts power cords are connected to the Lighting Controller, which is connected to a 30 amp dryer outlet, which goes to a 30 amp circuit from the subpanel. There is also a trigger cable which goes to the timer, this is on a 110v 20 amp circuit from the subpanel, (I have other things on this circuit as well). All this does is turn your ballasts on and off.

The ballasts light cords are connected to the flip box, which in turn splits off and goes to room 1 and room 2. There is also a trigger cord on the flip box that powers the timer on it so it can "FLIP" from one room to the next.