Need Advanced Feedback - 600sf 1 Plant Per Light 28k Perfect Perpetual Garden

  • Thread starter SoCalKind1
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SoCalKind1

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And @sixstring are you kidding me. You run a generator grow and are trying to persuade me not to. ffs man, share the pros and cons if you yourself are doing it.

@DirtySanchez I have seen a lot of stores offering custom quotes for large ops. I know I will probably get a 10-25% discount offer from some of them once I approach them but I wanted to stay with the figures I could find online first. Where are you suggesting I checkout?
 
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Smokey503ski

Smokey503ski

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I'm really rootin for this guy.
He has done plenty of research and seems to know his stuff.
I hope this works out for him and others can learn from either how well it works or fails.
 
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Fkngenerator

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SoCal...
I ran 40kw scene on a generator for many years . I would not do it again. But if you are sure this is your best route then here are some things to keep in mind.
Make sure you get a single phase gen, it will be much cheaper to wire up. single phase panels are 100-200 3 phase panels are 1000+ You also don't have the hassle of trying to balance your load. its doable but a pita. and you can still run a transfer switch and power acc of the grid when gen is not running.
On the single phase tip... big ones 40-60kw are not common, mine was custom made.

Have you considered running a smaller gen 24hrs, that's how we did it. I ran 2 20kw rooms plus about 10kw of veg and acc. off a 40kw motor with a 60kw generator end. If you don't know what a generator end is you are asking for trouble. it used about 750 gallons a week. more expensive than commercial power by far but close enough to residential with that damn 300% baseline.

prime power generators like to be run close to full load 80% like mentioned earlier they also run most efficient this way. underloaded gen my end up blowing out the rear main seal and leaking oil( where generator end and motor connect). expensive and pita ass fix. been there done that 2x

having two gens is a great idea. cause they always break down. we usually had at least one break down a year. sometimes simple sometimes major. even with having two you better have a good gen mechanic on speed dial. try make sure its an actual gen mechanic and not just a diesel mechanic. both can get the job done but the gen mechanic can probably fix some of your problems over the phone. things that like to go out on gen are the oil pressure sender the thermostat the alternator the fuel pump. depending on how you enclose it the radiator likes to get gunked up and will overheat the machine. run at least 2 fuel filters between gen and tank plus fuel filter on gen. water loves to get in there and grow algae then clog injectors and burn pistons.
I hope you are used to not having a life because that is what you are in for. you or someone should always be on scene gennys like to go out when no one is there or that's how it felt to me. any time I was not there I was always stressing if it had died. I have borderline ptsd from my genny. whenever the lights go out to this day I still have a baby panic attack.

If you are going to run AC you need a giant surge protector for your entire system or at least one for each AC circuit. The circuit boards on those things are sensitive and will shit the bed from weird voltage at startup and shutdown. I fried 3 mini splits before I gave up and went 100% aircooled. Never really had a problem with my lights but we ran all mag ballast back then but the few digi I ran never gave an issue. just check the hz of your power and keep it 59-61 ideally right at 60hz. if hz is too high your not pulling enough load to low and its too much load. figure out your ballpark load including any expansion ideas and consult with some one knowledgeable in this area. kVa is not kW and vice versa. Amps is what you want to know.
we had a larger oil reservoir installed so we could go longer between oil changes. you need to budget for oil too its not cheap at the rate this big gens go through it and a pita too get rid of properly.
don't bury your tank!!! dig a shallow hole for it line it with 40mil then put in sand or dg and make sure its covered and surface water doesn'tdrain in. your gonna spill a drop or 3 no matter how careful you are and this way it doesn't soak into the ground and god forbid THEY show up they will hammer you with epa shit and that is not cheap.

I don't know where you are at but I think I remember cali. but someone is gonna probably notice that you buy 500
gallons of red dye diesel EVERY week CASH im assuming,and dispose of 4-6 gallons of oil EVERY week or two. out of every thing involed with a generator run grow this is the biggest weak link imo. so unless you have a fuel delivery guy that is on board good luck. you could space it out at regular gas stations on pay the extra .$0.32 but then youll be spending hours driving around filling up. if you go try fill that 200 gallon tank at a regular gas station they will look at you like you have 2 heads unless you pulled up with a tractor backhoe or semi. Most towns only have or two places that sell red dye and you usually need to have gas card (CFN, PACIFIC ) to fill up there so you are back to paying someones big bill in cash

Hope some of this helps. I don't envy you. Good Luck
 

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