C.A.P 24 light controller input

[pharmaseed]

I was wondering if any one has any experience with the 24 light controller by c.a.p. Not sure how reliable it is because it runs 4 ballast per 20amps.

 

[CAPO]

That's gotta be for 600's I think, cause my CAP MLC-4 runs 4 1k's at 30 amps @240v.

If you wanna run that many I would suggest building one or have one built.

 

[pharmaseed]

Thats wut im confused about it says it controls 24- 1000w ballasts im not exactly sure how safe it is. Id say most 1000w ballast are about 4.5 amps which would bring me to 18 amps per breaker but if i where to obide by the 80% rule it shouldnt be more than 16 amps per breaker. Any one know where i can find a safer alternative ?

 

[CAPO]

You can pretty much find an electrician to build you one off site.
You would have to know how to hook up the 10-3 to the sub-panel you have built yourself.
Do you have any electrician friends? I know there is a couple of guys in CO pumping these things out but I don't have a link.
I wouldn't trust CAP beyond a few lights, they don't necessarily use the heaviest duty supplies available in those things!

 

[Olyver]

CAP gets away with the 80% rule by having contactors and trigger cords, so UL/CSA consider it intermittant loads, not constant. Why they don't use 25A 2-pole breakers I don't know, even 30A. Also for the 120V loads, you can use tandem 15A breakers, same number of spaces, twice the circuits/loads. The 1" breaker has two 1/2" breakers. If you have an even number of ballasts, it's easy to balance loads. Wanna see some nice units check out www.nowirenuts.ca. The units on the website are a few years old, nicer units built since then. You get pics and pricing if you email.

 

[DaWiz]

CAP 24 Master light controllers are supposed to be wired directly from the electrical box to the MLC! The 3 wires that run from the electrical panel are #1 wire with a 125 amp breaker at 240 volt they also come with a 120 volt trigger cord so all the ballast will fire off a single 120 volt timre! These things are no joke they are made very well, nice and simple to install! Check em out!

 

[pharmaseed]

Thanks every one for the input looked at the panels on nowirenuts they look top notch think i am going to inquire on priceing with them. Does any one know if i where to go with the cap if i could upgrade my breakers to the 25amp 2 pole ??

 

[Olyver]

I'm not sure what breakers CAP use. If they're SIEMENS or CH, they're easy to switch.

 

[pharmaseed]

thanks for the info im going to look into both now

 

[mets21]

Does anyone have a loadcenter or timer from www.nowirenuts.ca. ?

Can you post a pic?