Electrical usage question

[iscrog4food]

I currently have 6000 watts running on a 30 amp fuse at 240v. My room started as 4k watts and since I have added the 2 extra 1000's i began to smell fish then today after harvesting i went to turn the room on and the lights flickered and went out. I checked the dryer plug and it was fried. my questions are as follows:

1: How many lights can i safely run on a 30 amp breaker at 240v if it is only the lights? (I have all digital ballasts 4 lumateks and 2 phantoms)

2: when replacing the recepticle which wire is supposed to go to the connection labled white? (I am assuming it is the one without insulation but im really not that experienced with electrical and even less with 240v)

Thanks in advance for the help as I am a noob when it comes to this stuff.

 

[mittenmedgrow]

You can run 4 1000wt on 30 amps ov 240v. U need 10/2 wiring.

 

[mittenmedgrow]

u can get an 8 light controller 8/2 wiring and a 50 amp dual pole breaker.

 

[hiboy]

You can put 6-1000 watters on a 30 amp 240v breaker. Thats 25 amps.
On changing the device, the silver screw is the neutral. Hot colors are normally gold in color. Green is obvioulsy ground. And turn your breaker off,, ya never know.

 

[mittenmedgrow]

Im pretty sure theres a rule about not running a circuit at more than 70 % for 3 hrs.

 

[hiboy]

well,
its actually 80%.
and whats 80% of 30.
24 if im not too hi....
and if your at 25 amps.
i think you'lll make it.Put five if that makes ya feel better.
good luck

 

[mittenmedgrow]

Ya I was just goin with how my electrician set me up and thats what the lighting controller man. reccomend.

 

[OGONLY]

Taking electrical advice from a guy that calls himself Hi boy...could be a recipe for danger. JK highboy. Good to have qualified people to give this type of advice.

 

[hiboy]

It's always better to be safe than sorry,
and equipment lasts longer.
If your trying to max then six.
If not fives your lucky number.\
good luck

 

[iscrog4food]

Ok so basically I can run 80% of the 30 amps or 24 amps total on the breaker. I was under the impression that each 1000w ballast requires 5 amps witch puts me at 25 amps with 5 lights. Am I correct in this?

also concerning the connection of the receptacle I was a bit unclear in my question. Coming from the wall there are 2 insulated wires and one without insulation. I am assuming the wires with the insulation are the hot wires and the uninsulated is the ground/neutral wire. My question is where to connect the uninsulated wire? Only one of the terminals is labled as "white"(it is the terminal with the L shaped hole) and I was thinking that is where to connect the ground/neutral. I have tried to search it but to no avail. THanks again for the help.

 

[hiboy]

yes the L shape is the ground.
Oh yeah. I remember reading from i think it was PAPA on here that some ballasts draw more than the 1000 watts than they say they do. Thats something to remember. You can probably read the manual or paperwork that came with the ballast to check. Im all for safety so its always better to drop it down one if you have any doubts. As long as your around the 80% mark its most likely ok. MOST LIKELY. I went out on a limb there.
4.16 amps per ballast. Probably a hair more if they are drawing like 1070 watts. If

 

[mittenmedgrow]

my electetricion said my quantums were drawing 4.8 amps each.

 

[hiboy]

thats definitely possible. sounds like your electrician will hook you up right.
goodluck

 

[mittenmedgrow]

Seriously this is kinda bugging me. If u have the money to run a 6k setup spend the extra 300 get a proper wire a proper breaker and controller. Do you want to burn a house down. Its kinda like a hightemp shutoff for your room. After shit happens you won

der how you could have been so stupid. Im not trying to personally attack anyone but those two things seem to get ignored until after something happens. Most insurance companies will deny coverage if your faulty wired grow burns your house down. Ive seen 3 grow fires in my area. Two were small caught early the other one burnt up a 1/4 of his house.

 

[iscrog4food]

ok so i guess i will run 5 and see how it goes. As far as a breaker, honestly i dont own the house and I alreaddy have the grow setup so I really dont want to call in an electrician in. It has nothing to do with me trying to save money it is more of a security thing. I am moving my grow soon and I have learned many lessons (this is my first real grow). In my next place I will have an electrictian come in and wire the place first and also ill get cable internet hooked up because now I am forced to use a shitbox wireless card. I thank you guys for the replies and advice. I guess I will just run 5 on the 240 breaker and 1 on 120 for the next grow then I will likely be shutting her down to open a new op. Thanks again!

 

[iscrog4food]

Seriously this is kinda bugging me. If u have the money to run a 6k setup spend the extra 300 get a proper wire a proper breaker and controller. Do you want to burn a house down. Its kinda like a hightemp shutoff for your room. After shit happens you won

der how you could have been so stupid. Im not trying to personally attack anyone but those two things seem to get ignored until after something happens. Most insurance companies will deny coverage if your faulty wired grow burns your house down. Ive seen 3 grow fires in my area. Two were small caught early the other one burnt up a 1/4 of his house.

ALso wanted to say thank you for this. I dont take it as a personal attack at all. That being said we all have to start somewhere. I also realize that maintaing proper wiring is more important than security. My grow will not be very secure if it is ashes. Thanks again for the advice... one question though, when you say a controller for the breaker what exactly do you mean? Thanks again for the info.

 

[mittenmedgrow]

Sorry for the rant. I understand security issues. Im probably over paranoid. If u dont have a high temp shutoff for your lights u might want to check into it. They dont cost that much and can save a crop in case of ac or venting failure.Good luck

 

[hiboy]

He was referring to a lighting controller . Not for the breaker specifically, but to control all the loads going to the lights. Its a turn key set up so to speak. So you dont have to wire time clocks, contactors..etc
good luck

 

[iscrog4food]

I will surely look into it. ALso i forgot to thank you highboy for the info on which one is ground. For some reason I cannot get the outlet to work. I am gonna buy the home depot wiring guide and study up. thanks again for the help.

 

[hiboy]

Sure you bet,
If ya got no power your breaker might be fried, sometimes even though in the on position its possible that its actually off. They get old and get stuck on sometimes.