Grow Room Electrical

hiboy · Apr 14, 2012

evu80 said:
Hiboy

is there a proper way to apply nolax onto the copper and aluminum wires? The main wire that feeds power is aluminum and the new wire is copper. I was able to tie them together through the lugs but forgot to apply it. Do I have to take main line apart to apply the nolax or can just squirt a bit on the lugs and call it a night

If it was me i would loosen the lugs a bit and squeeze it in there. Good knowledge u have to use it.
Most likely it wouldnt do damage if it was all around it, but def. better to get it in there where both metals are touching,,,, thats probably where electrolysis would occur.
hb

ttystikk · Apr 14, 2012

hiboy said:
If it was me i would loosen the lugs a bit and squeeze it in there. Good knowledge u have to use it.
Most likely it wouldnt do damage if it was all around it, but def. better to get it in there where both metals are touching,,,, thats probably where electrolysis would occur.
hb

When I was a kid, the whole second floor of an old house we bought was wired with aluminum, what a fuckin' white elephant that was! The issue is as hiboy says, electrylosis, or one metal getting eaten away as the current passes through. As the metal disappears, the gauge gets smaller and smaller, resistance climbs... until you got an electrical fire! NEVER let your copper and aluminum wires contact one another directly! That's asking for trouble. I'm not sure I could trust some kind of goop to work indefinitely and not itself degrade over time. If it were my setup, I would just junk any aluminum wire, period. Better safe than sorry.

fishwhistle · Apr 14, 2012

When i installed my subpanel in my new room i noticed my supply lines coming from the street were aluminum so i called edison to ask WTF?They sent someone by who said they mostly use aluminum for everything,In fact he told me i should have used it for my runs(250")instead of copper to save money!the 3 runs of 1/0 copper were almost 2 grand by themselves.Pretty much everything i know about electrical i learned from hiboy or reading books so i dont know whether the edison guys are right or wrong but its interesting to hear "dont use aluminum"and then have a power co linemen say thats all we use!

1971 · Apr 15, 2012

this isn't uncommon and done more due to cost. since the wires are in free air, they are derated a bit differently. also, you'll usually see a lot of aluminum in panels, bus bars, etc. this is one of the reasons you use dielectric grease at the connection points of dissimilar metals.

so yes, you could have pulled aluminum, and it might have been much cheaper simply due to crazy high copper prices. Of course the aluminum would have been more than likely 3/o. what size panel are you running? 100 amp?

fishwhistle · Apr 15, 2012

125 amp panel but im only using 100a max and really trying to keep it to 80a so i have a nice safety factor.It was Hard enough pulling the 1/0 250' let alone 3/0 or 4/0 aluminum,fuck that!I dont even know how i would have hooked up 3/0 into my main its so big.The 3-250' cuts of 1/0 copper were 1800 bucks which is crazy,I read the other day it costs like 2.5 to 3.5 cents to make a penny nowadays due to copper costs!

hiboy · Apr 15, 2012

fishwhistle said:
When i installed my subpanel in my new room i noticed my supply lines coming from the street were aluminum so i called edison to ask WTF?They sent someone by who said they mostly use aluminum for everything,In fact he told me i should have used it for my runs(250")instead of copper to save money!the 3 runs of 1/0 copper were almost 2 grand by themselves.Pretty much everything i know about electrical i learned from hiboy or reading books so i dont know whether the edison guys are right or wrong but its interesting to hear "dont use aluminum"and then have a power co linemen say thats all we use!

Yes aluminum is what the service providers use, since its outside in conduit or overhead its safe compared to having it in your house which isnt.
You have to step up the size drastically if you use it, since its not rated to carry the amps as copper is at a certain size.
Where aluminum is really bad is at outlet connections, ive replace numerous burned up ones , the installers back in the day didnt pigtail usually, so they had the power running thru the outlet, and since aluminum expands during heat it would basically melt the tabs on the outlet where the connection point was.
hb

hiboy · Apr 15, 2012

fishwhistle said:
125 amp panel but im only using 100a max and really trying to keep it to 80a so i have a nice safety factor.It was Hard enough pulling the 1/0 250' let alone 3/0 or 4/0 aluminum,fuck that!I dont even know how i would have hooked up 3/0 into my main its so big.The 3-250' cuts of 1/0 copper were 1800 bucks which is crazy,I read the other day it costs like 2.5 to 3.5 cents to make a penny nowadays due to copper costs!

Copper costs are ridiculous, like all precious metals
its up over a 1/3 from when i bid a job a few months ago, i should of put a clause in the contract if costs when up. Its hard enough making an honest buck.
hb

OGONLY · Apr 15, 2012

fishwhistle said:
125 amp panel but im only using 100a max and really trying to keep it to 80a so i have a nice safety factor.It was Hard enough pulling the 1/0 250' let alone 3/0 or 4/0 aluminum,fuck that!I dont even know how i would have hooked up 3/0 into my main its so big.The 3-250' cuts of 1/0 copper were 1800 bucks which is crazy,I read the other day it costs like 2.5 to 3.5 cents to make a penny nowadays due to copper costs!

Peenys are not made out of copper anymore, and haven't been for a long time. They are actually made out of zinc.

fishwhistle · Apr 15, 2012

My bad OG i assumed it was the cost of copper but zinc it is i guess,its still not good fiscal sense to spend 2.5 cents to make 1 cent.
"Its hard enough making an honest buck"hb
Boy aint that the truth brother.

Olyver · Apr 15, 2012

When twisting wirenuts in the gangbox attached to the mogul sockets, the wires on moguls are aluminum and the 14/3 soow wire is copper. Apply a little bit of anti-oxidizing compound on the bared wires and twist. Check these wirenuts in a couple years and they won't be brittle and oxidized. One electrical inpector seen this done by me at a medical grow and was considering implementing this as part of his inspection. How many mag ballasts have you seen with brittle wires breaking inside the wirenuts, heat and humidity cause oxidization of those wires, especially in the growroom.

The Electrician · Apr 16, 2012

Be careful when adding Noalox into your panel if doing it whild panel is energized. It is conductive. Ive seen people apply to much and have it drip and go phase to phase. ;)

hiboy · Apr 16, 2012

The Electrician said:
Be careful when adding Noalox into your panel if doing it whild panel is energized. It is conductive. Ive seen people apply to much and have it drip and go phase to phase. ;)

Good advice,
and if your not skilled in electrical make sure to turn off your main breaker, i have even placed cardboard over hot terminals to protect from arcs when installing new wire or using a fish tape
hb

The Electrician · Apr 16, 2012

hiboy said:
Good advice,
and if your not skilled in electrical make sure to turn off your main breaker, i have even placed cardboard over hot terminals to protect from arcs when installing new wire or using a fish tape
hb

Absolutely, the old cardboard isolator. Standard ! Works well

hiboy · Apr 16, 2012

The Electrician said:
Absolutely, the old cardboard isolator. Standard ! Works well

Welcome to the farm bro,
always good to have a knowledgeable sparky about.
hb

The Electrician · Apr 16, 2012

Thanks, Glad to be here. Ive been on some others but this board looks good. Im here to help. Thanks for the welcoming

evu80 · Apr 17, 2012

ok guys, here's how I rigged up my electrical box. The main feed is aluminum wire and copper to the rest. I had to use another panel cause the original one was too old and did not have enough slots for my breakers.

So I tied them together by using the lugs. At first I could not squeeze in both wires cause the lugs would not accommodate them So I thought about using polaris plugs instead and bypassing the old panel. But by doing so, I lose function of the rest of the light fixture in the place.

To get these two wires into the lugs, someone suggested that I cut off a vertical section of each tip of the wire so that it would fit.

Now I have no idea if this is a bad idea or not but the lights work and does everything else. Now the question is safety. I have posted a few pictures for you guys to see and I hope this is safe.

The Electrician · Apr 17, 2012

WTF !!! Not trying to put you down but there is so many things wrong with this situation. This is a prime example of what you don't want your electrical to look like. You have lots of work to do my man

evu80 · Apr 17, 2012

ok so what must I do to correct it. I'm only running two lights so far and would like to use the rest but wanted to make sure this is ok before its on at 100% capacity.

is tying the two main wires together via the lug a safety hazard ? what is the right way to do so. thanks man. No put downs bro I'm here to learn and play it safe

hiboy · Apr 17, 2012

The Electrician said:
WTF !!! Not trying to put you down but there is so many things wrong with this situation. This is a prime example of what you don't want your electrical to look like. You have lots of work to do my man

lol
yah as i was starting to stare at the pics im like hmmmm whats that,, whats that and oh oh whats that
ok time to do a correction list. But were here to help so here we go
hb

hiboy · Apr 17, 2012

evu80 said:
ok guys, here's how I rigged up my electrical box. The main feed is aluminum wire and copper to the rest. I had to use another panel cause the original one was too old and did not have enough slots for my breakers.

So I tied them together by using the lugs. At first I could not squeeze in both wires cause the lugs would not accommodate them So I thought about using polaris plugs instead and bypassing the old panel. But by doing so, I lose function of the rest of the light fixture in the place.

To get these two wires into the lugs, someone suggested that I cut off a vertical section of each tip of the wire so that it would fit.

Now I have no idea if this is a bad idea or not but the lights work and does everything else. Now the question is safety. I have posted a few pictures for you guys to see and I hope this is safe.
View attachment 209904 View attachment 209905

its hard to see the top panel but from what i can see it doesnt look that bad. get a better pic of it and then we'll make sure it safe. Safety first.
Biggest thing wrong is the lower panel . I would take out the new jumper wires u put in and cut a hole in the drywall below the panel and put the seal tite conduit thru the panel with a connector .u have to snap out one of the round knock outs inside the bottom plate of the panel, then ur safe how the wire enters the panel and ur able to reinstall the panel, easy fix
next dont double lug the wires in the same lugs like u have, purchase a breaker preferrable a 40 or 50 amp double pole and land that red and black into the bottom of the breaker, then ur wires fused correctly. these are easy fixes and u def. want to make them. something i noticed now when i blew up the pic no pun inteneded....... not sure if you can put a breaker next to the bottom breaker on the right, the top one might be takin up some of the room where u clip it in. I cant tell what that top breaker which is the bigger breaker does, are there any wires coming out of it?
also if thats a dig timer u have in that box u might want to check the wattage load on it which would be in the instruction packet or labeled on a sticker on the unit itself. Its probably ok for 2 600 watters but i dont thing it will handle much more than that
hb
hb

Grow Room Electrical

Grow Room Electrical

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The Electrician

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The Electrician

evu80

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