Grow Room Electrical

hiboy · May 2, 2012

ttystikk said:
The other holdup at this point is knowing exactly what model of breaker it is. The panel says square D, but I don't dare open it up hot.

Another question for you; I'm thinking of investing in a new type of lighting system that uses 400v to light the bulbs- Gavita Proline digital ballast, exclusively for the new Philips Greenpower 1000 DE HPS bulb, if anyone's interested. Do I need any sort of special flipbox, if I decide to go this route? I'm aware that ballasts conforming to ANSI S52 for normal HID run at 250v- just want to be safe, as always.

Most panels have a label on the inside of the access door. Or the breakers are labeled usually what they are.
Not too sure on the flip system u would use. I would think they wouldnt work before they would due to the high amount of voltage. a flip just switches which load to use to fire the lamps , so that might be a problemo
hb

evu80 · May 2, 2012

sup Hiboy

I went back and made some of the changes you recommended. I added the 50 amp breaker and wanted to know what would happen if one of the strain from the hot hire touches the plastic part of the breaker. Will this shock me.

The other pic is my aluminum wire that I had a few strain trimmed off so I could fit the other wires from my sub panel into the lugs. At the tip of the wire, only 4 strain is exposed instead of the normal 8 which makes up the wire. I barely have enough length to re-strip the wire. Can I leave it the way it is and still be safe?

The Electrician · May 3, 2012

Not sure why you are trimming down the size of that wire? It looks like #6? You trimmed it down to like a #10? Not a good idea. Yes 1strand of wire will electrocute you the same as grabbing the whole wire.

evu80 · May 3, 2012

The Electrician said:
Not sure why you are trimming down the size of that wire? It looks like #6? You trimmed it down to like a #10? Not a good idea. Yes 1strand of wire will electrocute you the same as grabbing the whole wire.

If those ends are going into a breaker or say a lug in the panel, does it need to be cut and restripped to its original size?

and if I exposed too much wiring at the tip and it touches the breaker when i tighten those screws, will the breaker suddenly become "hot" where I can electrocute myself when I flip on the breaker?

I paid someone who had some electrical knowledge ( not a electrician by trade ) to trouble shoot a problem for me and this is how he end up rigging it. Now I'm trying to make it right.

The Electrician · May 3, 2012

I would get my money back if I was in your shoes. Yes turn it off and restrip the wire to its full size.

hiboy · May 4, 2012

evu80 said:
sup Hiboy

I went back and made some of the changes you recommended. I added the 50 amp breaker and wanted to know what would happen if one of the strain from the hot hire touches the plastic part of the breaker. Will this shock me.

The other pic is my aluminum wire that I had a few strain trimmed off so I could fit the other wires from my sub panel into the lugs. At the tip of the wire, only 4 strain is exposed instead of the normal 8 which makes up the wire. I barely have enough length to re-strip the wire. Can I leave it the way it is and still be safe?View attachment 213752 View attachment 213753

Plastic doesnt conduct so ur ok to touch the breaker, but of course if you touch that strand it will shock u. About the trimmed down wire, how many amps or watts is going thru it, if its low then u would be ok, but if you can get some slack and do it right its obviously better.
hb

sox · May 15, 2012

Hey HB,
I keep tripping the fuse, my house has 3 bedrooms, all upstairs, and the two on the left are veg and flower and the third is my room, i have two t5s in the veg and I have 2 600s and a 1k a/c unit, along with a few fans.
Its SUPER hot where i live in the summer so im running the ac 24/7.
I tried to plug the ac into the same room as the flower and of course the power went out, so currently i have only 1 600 and 1 4 inch fan running in the room, the ac and other 600w have to be run outside with cords.
Do i just keep running extention cords through out my home?
I think its only 10amps for the two bedrooms combined.

Im not to good at electric stuff so im trying to stay away from the panel unless i have to..

Thanks!
-Sox

hiboy · May 16, 2012

sox said:
Hey HB,
I keep tripping the fuse, my house has 3 bedrooms, all upstairs, and the two on the left are veg and flower and the third is my room, i have two t5s in the veg and I have 2 600s and a 1k a/c unit, along with a few fans.
Its SUPER hot where i live in the summer so im running the ac 24/7.
I tried to plug the ac into the same room as the flower and of course the power went out, so currently i have only 1 600 and 1 4 inch fan running in the room, the ac and other 600w have to be run outside with cords.
Do i just keep running extention cords through out my home?
I think its only 10amps for the two bedrooms combined.

Im not to good at electric stuff so im trying to stay away from the panel unless i have to..

Thanks!
-Sox

Is it a breaker thats tripping, not blowing a fuse?
If so what size is it? 15 amp or 20 amp. It should say on it.
Without runnig a new circuit for a new breaker its hard to increase or maintain what u need. If you do the cord route make sure its minimum 14 guage wire, 12 would be better.
If you want to do make it work properly, a new wire would be needed to run from your panel to your bedrooms. Then u could plug in your air conditioner into it and ur lights would be working without trips
hb

sox · May 16, 2012

Im not sure, i dont know the diff between blowing a fuse and tripping the breaker...I would guess tripping the breaker because all i have to do is go out to the box and the switch for the two rooms is stuck in the middle, so i push it off , then flip it back on and all is well.

So best bet is go get 12 guage wire? im renting for only a year and dont want to mess with stuff if i dont have to.

Thanks for all your input, this thread is AMAZING.

sox · May 16, 2012

there 15 amp...the ones in the box are 15, 20, 40, and 100

hiboy · May 16, 2012

sox said:
Im not sure, i dont know the diff between blowing a fuse and tripping the breaker...I would guess tripping the breaker because all i have to do is go out to the box and the switch for the two rooms is stuck in the middle, so i push it off , then flip it back on and all is well.

So best bet is go get 12 guage wire? im renting for only a year and dont want to mess with stuff if i dont have to.

Thanks for all your input, this thread is AMAZING.

Thanks,
yes your tripping a breaker, alot easier than replacing fuses.
If your there a year only i would do the 12 guage ext. cords if its not a hassle having them running around. The shorter the cord the better, so if you can purchase a 50 footer thats better than a 100 footer
hb

sox · May 16, 2012

Awesome, thanks for spreading the knowledge bro!

pRiMo303 · May 18, 2012

Im assuming this is the thread I was told to post in. Unfortunately I havent been on my computer in a few days and ordered some of these..got 2 of them for 87 and some change, but can put on ebay or craigslist if you can help me out, hiboy. I have a sunlight supply 30 amp timer box, but dont want to run the entire box off the trip timer. I want to use 2 0r 3 of the 240s to flower and the other 240 and my 120s to run 24/7. Can you walk me through rewiring this timer box so only 2 0r 3 of my 240s are running on the trip timer or am I better off just using the Apollo 5 inline timers? I hope I didnt piss away $90... My other option was to have another 30 amp line put where I needed it, but we are probably only going to be in this house for a year.

hiboy · May 18, 2012

pRiMo303 said:
Im assuming this is the thread I was told to post in. Unfortunately I havent been on my computer in a few days and ordered some of these..got 2 of them for 87 and some change, but can put on ebay or craigslist if you can help me out, hiboy. I have a sunlight supply 30 amp timer box, but dont want to run the entire box off the trip timer. I want to use 2 0r 3 of the 240s to flower and the other 240 and my 120s to run 24/7. Can you walk me through rewiring this timer box so only 2 0r 3 of my 240s are running on the trip timer or am I better off just using the Apollo 5 inline timers? I hope I didnt piss away $90... My other option was to have another 30 amp line put where I needed it, but we are probably only going to be in this house for a year.

U mentioned u got some of these... u mean the sunlight timer?
Normally the 240v outlets are all wired together to operate on one throw.. or timer. So if you feel comfortable opening it up.. unplugged obviously, you can locate the outlets lead wires and disconnect them from the timer control and then reattach the wires to the constant power supply before it hits the timer. Im fairly sure it can be done,,,, if you have a little knowledge of elecrtical or ur handy u might be able to do it.
Other option is to just install a couple outlets 240v and leave the timer alone
hb

pRiMo303 · May 18, 2012

I think we might be getting our wires (pun intended) crossed. What I meant when I got "some of these" was the Apollo 5 inline timers. I already had the 30 amp timer box. Im handy, but not too savvy on the sparky side. I can post pics of the outs and innards of the box? Forgive my ignorance, but your "other option".. are you suggesting not using the box at all?

hiboy · May 19, 2012

pRiMo303 said:
I think we might be getting our wires (pun intended) crossed. What I meant when I got "some of these" was the Apollo 5 inline timers. I already had the 30 amp timer box. Im handy, but not too savvy on the sparky side. I can post pics of the outs and innards of the box? Forgive my ignorance, but your "other option".. are you suggesting not using the box at all?

Post a pic of the inside of the timer, i will c if it can be changed for ur use.
How does ur 240v enter the timer, Is it a dryer plug dealio, or a box , wire, etc?
I understand what u want to do, have a couple outlets in the box controlled by the trip timer, then the other outlets in the box hot always, That would be an easy set up for u to do yourself instead of adding additional hot outlets to plug in your apollos.
Get the pic clear with wires showing on the factory outlets and we will try to make that work.
hb

pRiMo303 · May 19, 2012

hiboy said:
Post a pic of the inside of the timer, i will c if it can be changed for ur use.
How does ur 240v enter the timer, Is it a dryer plug dealio, or a box , wire, etc?
I understand what u want to do, have a couple outlets in the box controlled by the trip timer, then the other outlets in the box hot always, That would be an easy set up for u to do yourself instead of adding additional hot outlets to plug in your apollos.
Get the pic clear with wires showing on the factory outlets and we will try to make that work.
hb

Ill get that pic up in a bit. Yes, it plugs in via dryer outlet. I wasnt going to add additional outlets though, just plug the Apollos into the existing 240s and not use the trip timer at all.

hiboy · May 19, 2012

pRiMo303 said:
Ill get that pic up in a bit. Yes, it plugs in via dryer outlet. I wasnt going to add additional outlets though, just plug the Apollos into the existing 240s and not use the trip timer at all.

Thats a pretty easy way to go, i'll give u a hand if u decide to rewire the unit
hb

ttystikk · May 20, 2012

hiboy said:
Thats a pretty easy way to go, i'll give u a hand if u decide to rewire the unit
hb

I may find myself in a similar predicament; I have an 8 outlet Sentinel HPH-8 High Power light controller, with a trigger cord. I may reconfigure things around here to run 4 ballasts on a flip, while leaving the other 4 as is. That means only 4 ballasts would actually turn off (when room B is on)- and they would sync to the other 4 when they're on in room A.

Will I need to just get another lighting controller and run the two banks separately?

pRiMo303 · May 20, 2012

hiboy said:
Thats a pretty easy way to go, i'll give u a hand if u decide to rewire the unit
hb

Ok, so the trip timer has 3 wires coming out--black, white, and green. The black and white attach to the lower terminals on the box shown in the first 3 pics. The green one goes to a block where it looks like it splits and one green wire goes into the 240s and then a green and a lighter one goes into the 120s. Lastly, if you notice the first and last pic..the dryer cord has three wires. 2 of them go to the post on the Siemens box, the other connects to the block where all the green wires look to split into the outlets (sorry, my finger is blocking it, but its the largest screw at the bottom of the block). I tried to label the best I could. Let me know if you require more pics.

Grow Room Electrical

Grow Room Electrical

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The Electrician

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The Electrician

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sox

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pRiMo303

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