Grow Room Electrical

[jkbeing]

Great thread,
If my 1000w runs roughly 10amps @ 120v. Then if I run it @ 240v it is 5amps, but is it still 10amps against my 100amp main?

thanks Hiboy

Okay it is 100amps @240v. I knew that was easy. Thank you forum!

 

[joehank]

No I don't think that is correct. If you are using the ballast at 240v, and only drawing 5 amps, it's still only 5amps on the main. To get your 240 from your panel you are using two lines of 120v into the breaker that feeds your 240 plug. So your really cutting that 5 amps in half for each feed line.

 

[hiboy]

Rechecked the breaker and it's fine, checked the controller and its working, I believe that I just over loaded the breaker to make it trip, but then again I'm not too sure. I ran the A/C unit for the veg room before flipping and never had an issue, but now I have that HPS light going and the off and on A/C unit, the dehumidifier and the CO2 generator.

ur most likely overloading your breaker,,
hb

 

[qupee]

I have an open double 20A breaker that used to feed a dryer outlet. I'd like to use that to power a small room with a max of 2kw lights + fans etc. I am thinking I can run the ballasts on 240v and also have 120v for accessories. How should I set this up? A small panel in the room? What all wires do I need to run, both hots, ground, and one (or two) neutrals?

 

[unicorns4444]

Hey hi boy,
You've helped me in the past so I thought that I would pick your brain one more time and hopefully you'll have some answers for me. I have a main breaker box in the electrical room of my building that feeds my units 100 amp 3 phase panel. I was told that the wiring in between the fuse box and my distribution panel could handle 150 amp if I swapped out the fuses in the main shut off box. I have attached a picture of the inside of the main shut off so you can see.
Now If my information is correct, I wanted to see how I go about doing this. Do i just kill the power and swap out the 3 fuses for 150 amp versions?
Any help would be great.
Thanks in advance

 

[unicorns4444]

Here is the pic

 

[McGribble]

I had a question actually, I am sure it's been addressed but it's difficult to find definitive answer and I tend to be paranoid about electrical, lol... but I was thinking of hard-wiring a CAP 240V light timer/power box to my breaker box in the basement. Trouble is the side I designated as my garden area is the opposite side and would require a conservative estimate of 35 feet (at an angle above drop ceiling, which seems sketchy to me) or probably more like 50 feet if I was to go around the perimeter following the walls. Is using the full 50 feet in a roll of 10/2 going to be bad? I will run at most 4 600's probably and start with even less for now. The unit will support 4x 1000... is this going to be OK? would I be best off running a longer amount of cable to avoid the drop ceiling area? (other side of basement is unfinished, seems like a less fire risk but then again I would imagine insulated wiring shouldnt be one at all unless damaged.

Thanks, I am looking to install the breaker and do all wiring myself, it looks downright simple but scares me at the same time, hard wiring a power box like that seems easiest of any options too. I was going to just settle on 120v for now but I know it won't carry me along very far.

 

[McGribble]

I also wondered if something like this, with one end removed and hard wired would be sufficient to run this to my dryer outlet (on 30amp circuit) that's on the other side of the room, I could probably get away with a 3o-foot version but 50 would be easier. It's 10/3 and not 10/2 though.
http://www.amazon.com/Conntek-14368...673&sr=1-8&keywords=heavy+duty+extension+cord

 

[chazbolin]

Hey Hiboy. Very good and informative thread. I did some work last week for a room I set up and they had one of these Federal Pacific circuit breaker boxes exactly like the one in the earlier pics. Except in my case there was no where to add anymore breakers and some of the breakers had two wires under them anyway. All screwed up. So we're removing that panel and putting in a new Sq D panel in it's place. Have you heard about FPE breakers under loads burning up and starting the panels on fire or is that just a way to get people to put in new panels? If the breaker trips at full load we should be good right?

http://inspectapedia.com/fpe/fpepanel.htm

 

[BNUTTHEHUT]

Hiboy, I have a Helios 3 - 240 Volt 4 Light Timer running 4 1000w on a 30 amp breaker. I wanted to mirror this setup. Can I split the wire going to the controler and hook it up to another controler and run them at opposite times? I just dont want to add a new breaker or new wire. Is there a better way of doing this? Thanks

 

[fishwhistle]

bnutt have you considered a flipbox?ive got the same setup 2 4k rooms on a flip using 1 30 amp plug,it also saves you from buying 4 more ballasts.I use the powerbox lsm12 flipbox and a dpc7500 controller,they have a simple graphic that shows how it works on their website,click on support and then on flipboxes,it explains how a flip works pretty well.

 

[BNUTTHEHUT]

bnutt have you considered a flipbox?ive got the same setup 2 4k rooms on a flip using 1 30 amp plug,it also saves you from buying 4 more ballasts.I use the powerbox lsm12 flipbox and a dpc7500 controller,they have a simple graphic that shows how it works on their website,click on support and then on flipboxes,it explains how a flip works pretty well.

Thanks, great info.

 

[hiboy]

Hey hi boy,
You've helped me in the past so I thought that I would pick your brain one more time and hopefully you'll have some answers for me. I have a main breaker box in the electrical room of my building that feeds my units 100 amp 3 phase panel. I was told that the wiring in between the fuse box and my distribution panel could handle 150 amp if I swapped out the fuses in the main shut off box. I have attached a picture of the inside of the main shut off so you can see.
Now If my information is correct, I wanted to see how I go about doing this. Do i just kill the power and swap out the 3 fuses for 150 amp versions?
Any help would be great.
Thanks in advance

that wire does not look to be able to handle ur load. For 150 amps u need at least 1/0 wire.
hb

 

[hiboy]

I had a question actually, I am sure it's been addressed but it's difficult to find definitive answer and I tend to be paranoid about electrical, lol... but I was thinking of hard-wiring a CAP 240V light timer/power box to my breaker box in the basement. Trouble is the side I designated as my garden area is the opposite side and would require a conservative estimate of 35 feet (at an angle above drop ceiling, which seems sketchy to me) or probably more like 50 feet if I was to go around the perimeter following the walls. Is using the full 50 feet in a roll of 10/2 going to be bad? I will run at most 4 600's probably and start with even less for now. The unit will support 4x 1000... is this going to be OK? would I be best off running a longer amount of cable to avoid the drop ceiling area? (other side of basement is unfinished, seems like a less fire risk but then again I would imagine insulated wiring shouldnt be one at all unless damaged.

Thanks, I am looking to install the breaker and do all wiring myself, it looks downright simple but scares me at the same time, hard wiring a power box like that seems easiest of any options too. I was going to just settle on 120v for now but I know it won't carry me along very far.

if u run 2 wire u will not have a neutral at ur light controller but since ur operating 240v lights u should be ok.
10/2 on a 30 amp breaker will work to code
hb

 

[hiboy]

Hiboy, I have a Helios 3 - 240 Volt 4 Light Timer running 4 1000w on a 30 amp breaker. I wanted to mirror this setup. Can I split the wire going to the controler and hook it up to another controler and run them at opposite times? I just dont want to add a new breaker or new wire. Is there a better way of doing this? Thanks

u will be over ur load if run them at the same time.
better to run another dedicated line like u have
hb

 

[unicorns4444]

Hiboy,
Sorry to be a pain in the ass. I measured the wire with a caliper and it was 9.4 mm with the coating. From what ive read up that means its 1/0 and could handle 150 amp main fuses?
Thanks in advance

 

[gogetta]

if you can add any suggestions/advice, how major could a 4k watt grow be in a state that hasnt legalized mj yet??...of course "any" grow illegal is a risk, but would 4k set a "high risk" as far as having a very "noticeable" power consumption?? thanx........gg

 

[ttystikk]

if you can add any suggestions/advice, how major could a 4k watt grow be in a state that hasnt legalized mj yet??...of course "any" grow illegal is a risk, but would 4k set a "high risk" as far as having a very "noticeable" power consumption?? thanx........gg

Since this question is less about wiring and more about security, I will take this one; as an example, even a relatively small hot tub pulls 4kW when the heater is running, and bigger ones pull several times this much power. Get one, and keep it up and running so if anyone asks why your power bill is high, you have something tangible to point to... Try to run it only when your bloom room is off, to keep your total use from spiking- this is more important if you have a smart meter. Keep your power bill up to date. do NOT under any circumstances allow yourself to be tempted into stealing power at this level- it's a huge and unnecessary risk.

 

[serpent]

i have a 20 amp outlet with two 15 amp belkins power strips.over the past year ive been adding stuff to them(fans,lights,ect)i figured one of the breaker would trip when they got over loaded.well i noticed in the main panel the neutral(white) wire caught on fire and burnt 5 inches of the insulation.but the main 20 amp breaker never tripped (its a sub-panel thats not grounded). why ? took off a lot of the load from the power strips,plan to add a 30 amp 220 control box to handle the load.

 

[ttystikk]

^^^^ Yikes, bro- that's like my worst nightmare...