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Code says that we need an additional earth rod for sub panels, only if the subpanel is for a detached structure. If the sub is in the same structure as the main..NO you do not need an additional earth rod.I'm hooking up a sub panel directly behind my main. I'm even connecting them with a nipple lol that's how close. My question is can I use my mains ground?
Have you totaled the load for your main service? Same 80% rule. Digital ballasts would be better than magnetics, magnetic ballasts have been known to run higher or hotter than the rated bulb. Save yourself a headache and install one 50 amp breaker. Just never max out the main with the total household load.Have any of you guys ever run 3 1000w lights off a 240v 20amp breaker?
I'm moving to a new spot and there's only room in the fusebox for two 240v breakers. I want to run 6 1000's which means three per breaker.
According to my math each light is running at 5amps (actually a little less) at 240v and so I should be able to run 3 at 15amps which is below the 80% capacity you're supposed to cap your draw at.
I realize that ballasts draw more at start up, but as long as I stagger them all by 15 minutes, I should be all good, correct?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Have you totaled the load for your main service? Same 80% rule. Digital ballasts would be better than magnetics, magnetic ballasts have been known to run higher or hotter than the rated bulb. Save yourself a headache and install one 50 amp breaker. Just never max out the main with the total household load.
Also..every sub panel does ground @ the main..even when it is required to have it's own earth rod. Neutral and ground (4-wire required by code on all new work) should ALWAYS be separated at the sub panel. Sometimes it's a simple tab to break off between ground and neutral bus bars.I'm hooking up a sub panel directly behind my main. I'm even connecting them with a nipple lol that's how close. My question is can I use my mains ground?
Have any of you guys ever run 3 1000w lights off a 240v 20amp breaker?
I'm moving to a new spot and there's only room in the fusebox for two 240v breakers. I want to run 6 1000's which means three per breaker.
According to my math each light is running at 5amps (actually a little less) at 240v and so I should be able to run 3 at 15amps which is below the 80% capacity you're supposed to cap your draw at.
I realize that ballasts draw more at start up, but as long as I stagger them all by 15 minutes, I should be all good, correct?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Appreciate the advice, man. Couple more Qs:
All digital ballasts.
100amps from the street. Not much else being run in the house (except fans on other breakers) at least not while the lights are on. Will the 50amp reduce the draw to the main at all?--I dont think it should, but this isnt my area of expertise.
One of the reasons I want to run the 2 20amps is because I already have them each with 60ft of 10 gauge wiring and whatever the insulation required for floating oulets. What would I do with the 50, run one 6 gauge wire off of it to a 6 outlet panel?
Yeah, ignore that comment, I misread your previous post and thought you were saying that using the 50amp breaker would be of benefit becuas it would reduce the draw to the main relative to the 2 20's, but now I see you were just talking about having those extra 10amps as a buffer, or if I want to increase the number of lights.Not sure how to answer the question about the 50 amp draw on the main..reduce the draw? What ever load you put on your panel is determined by the appliances..not the breaker size.
Yeah, ignore that comment, I misread your previous post and thought you were saying that using the 50amp breaker would be of benefit becuas it would reduce the draw to the main relative to the 2 20's, but now I see you were just talking about having those extra 10amps as a buffer, or if I want to increase the number of lights.
I'm definatly not going to increase the number of lights at this spot, as I'm already worried about using up too much of the power from the main. One thing I omitted earlier is that there is an oven that will occasionally be used as well, different breaker, obviously.
Is there any way to actually test how much draw there is on the main? If im going to be using ~30amps for the lights that still leaves ~50 for the rest of the appliances before I hit 80%. Can I go turn everything in the house on and check the draw before I put in the lights?
Also, worst case scenario, I can always run 4x1000 and 2x600 which should reduce my draw by ~5 or 6 amps.
Another thing..I'm curious about your existing 10AWG wire..if it is 10-3 the ground should be insulated not bare..code for 220v.
I'm building a light controller/flipbox for my new rooms but have a few questions. The input power is coming from a 30amp 240v 10-30R outlet. The 10-30R outlet has two hots and a neutral, no ground. Seems this outlet was designed to power the older style 3 prong dryers which used 240v for the heating element and 120v for everything else.
Now on to what I want the controller to do. I want it to power four 240v 1000w digital ballasts and shut them off at 12:00pm, at 12:05pm I want the flipbox to flip, and at 12:10pm power back up.
I have pretty much figured everything out except the timers. I plan on using two in-wall digital timers, one to control the ballasts, and one for the flipbox. Here's where I get lost. The timers are 120v and the coils on the contactors/relays are also 120v. How do I wire them using the 10-30R outlet I have? Also would I be able to use just one timer and on/off delay relays versus two timers?
Thanks in advanced for any answers.
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