Using MLC/CAP Light Controllers with 120/240v Digi Ballasts

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R

R. Face

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Hey guys, I am currently planning a new room soon, and have looked into the MLC-8DC or the MLC-8XT Controller, basically it says I can run 8 1kw components with this unit, connected to a 40amp 240v breaker.

I wanted to go with the MLC-8 bc my goal is a 4k room with a 50-70pint dehumidifier (necessary for a 4k room right?), with a 18,000 BTU Split AC(LG or Frigidaire). With 4 Lumatek 120/240v digi ballasts, I already have 2, thus the reason for the post...dont wanna drop the $ on 4 more if I dont have to...

So with all that equip, ontop of fans, inlines etc, I figure the MLC 8 was the way to go, so it can easily handle all that power.

So my question to you bigger cats doing this electricity thing, I saw on a C.A.P. PDF showing installation etc, and it warned numerous times that any 120v going into this unit will fry it, 240v only..

Then im on a Hydrostore site and read this about the units, "The MLC-8X, MLC-8XT, and MLC-8DX have eight 120/240 volt style outlets which allows for running your ballasts at 120/240 volts without having to change out your ballast power cords."

So basically, with the newest Lumatek 120/240v switchables, can I run these ballasts with this unit safely? And if so does the Lumatek ballast automatically run 240v? If so, how is it 'switchable'. I see no switch besides the 40%,60%, and Super Lumen switch.

Is the MLC-8 overkill? Ill probably be running the Romex cable from the main breaker box, as I probably wont have a 40amp breaker to dedicate, or will I also need a sub panel, like a 50amp?

Maybe a 30amp for a MLC-6 if I dont need the MLC-8...This electricity stuff is all rather new, and just want to do it right.

Thanks for all the help guys...really appreciate the time to read all that..

RF
 
L

Lost

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You chose to run 120 or 240 (110/220) you decide. The box will work for with either. I have a mlc4 for my 120 on a 30 amp 120 circut and a mlc 8 for my 220v (ballasts) on a 60 amp...
 
L

Lost

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btw you cannot run a 120v device on the mlc you have riged for 220, but 120 plugs will work which is nice because you can use your 120v plugs in the mlc running at 220... (if you have say a hydrofarm ballsat or lumatek, it will plug into the MLC no problem and run 220 even tho its a 120 prong. Thats what the whole X plug this is. Don't think you can plug a 120v fan into it like I did and make a fireworks show....
 
R

R. Face

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Ahh def good to know...thanks for that reminder. So what your saying is probably get a MLC-4 to run my 4kw digi ballasts, and then probably the outlets on the house for the fans, AC, and dedumidifier, bc im assuming the AC and Dehumidifier are 120v plugs and not 240v. So they would have to run off the outlets the house already has..

And yes I have those Lumatek 120/240v switchables with 120v plugs, so that would work with the MLC unit..So essentially the MLC units are only for ballasts that are capable of 240v capacity right?

Bc lastly I understand 120/240v but when u said (110/220) that kind of confused me, I hope Im following correctly...thank again Lost for the info.
 
R

R. Face

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Im assuming there arent very many electric friendly Farmers to lend info eh? Thanks for all the help thus far guys..
 
Aligee

Aligee

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currently running mlc 8, 6x1000 , 24k btu a/c ,sunystem galaxy ballast(run cool to touch ) using 120v outlets for a 8" and 6" can fan .no complaints controller works as advertised ...good luck bro !!!
 
L

Lost

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Ahh def good to know...thanks for that reminder. So what your saying is probably get a MLC-4 to run my 4kw digi ballasts, and then probably the outlets on the house for the fans, AC, and dedumidifier, bc im assuming the AC and Dehumidifier are 120v plugs and not 240v. So they would have to run off the outlets the house already has..

And yes I have those Lumatek 120/240v switchables with 120v plugs, so that would work with the MLC unit..So essentially the MLC units are only for ballasts that are capable of 240v capacity right?

Bc lastly I understand 120/240v but when u said (110/220) that kind of confused me, I hope Im following correctly...thank again Lost for the info.


Basically how a 120 circut and a 240 circut is this. On a 120 volt circut you have one wire (hot) in your circut feeding 120 volts at whatever amps.. A 220 is 2 wires off of the main. The box can run one or 2 "hot" wires. If you run a 220 circut breaker, then it will be energised to 240 at whatever amps, you you would need one mlc4 for your 120 needs, and another mlc for your 24 needs. Make sence?


p.s. - im not including the ground because both 120 and 240 should use a ground wire.. also 110 and 120, same same, some houses have etter draw I guess.. :) (same with 220 or 240)
 
Globel

Globel

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also I think the neutral /ground is different in some way bit it is of no concern to you when wiring the mlc.

I wired about 10 mlc's or mlc style lighting controllers. MOST ghetto... I am not so proud of.

I can tell you they have pre ran conduit at home depot that will save you alot of money and time. I use outdoor 6 gage that has 2 large wires (6 gage) and one smaller coat hanger size wire in the center. I have used this for as much at 10 kw watt of light. anything more I use a metal conduit and run 3 2 gage wires down it(expensive).

also 110 vs 120 and 240 vs 220 is of no concern to you at this point in the game... all you need is a double pole breaker and some pre-ran conduit. (wire nuts and a wire box)
 
R

R. Face

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^^ Indeed, those were just the posts ive been looking for. Thank you guys so much! I now have a direction on how to go about doing this, if i cant, then itll be done professionally absolutley.

So in all, since ill be needing at least an AC with 14-18k BTU's plus 4k Lumateks's it might just be the best idea and spring the extra $80-100 on the bigger/ more capable unit.

My last question is this though, I know that alot of ppl use the wash/dryer breaker since its usually a 20-30amp. But if one was to get a MLC-8, which I believe runs on a 40amp breaker, would one need to go to a place like Home Depot and get a nice lil 50amp breaker, then rig it to your main, then install the MLC unit?

Or is it just ran through the main line of the house?

Thanks so much again!!

RF
 
FLB

FLB

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hold on bro. Your mlc 8 can run on 120v or 240v depending on how its wired to the panel. It is designed to run at 240v, if you want to run all 120v, buy a different box. You can use the mlc to run other components at 240v as long as you dont exceed the 15 amp per outlet. A lot of air conditioners run on 240v, not sure if a plug and play can be wired the same. A 50 amp double pole breaker is recommended with 8-2 wire. Word of advice: it took 3 different boxes to finally find one with a timer that worked, just make sure to spin the timers before buying one. Electricity is something you dont want to fuck with if you dont know what your doing. It is also very easy to do if you know what your doing. You will run less power at 240v and your gear will last longer due to it running cooler. Consult with a sparky buddy if you have one. You scared me with "rig it".
 
Globel

Globel

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you will want to buy a double poll breaker. It will say 40 amp on each pole and they will be connected. the black and white wires connect to each pole of the breaker. The white connects to the panels ground.

Homedepot caries alot of different brand of breakers. Here in socal however the homedepots split up witch ones carry witch brands so I have to do some searching some times.
 
R

R. Face

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FLB- thanks for your concern buddy, ya what im coming to know is that your right, the MLC will be wired up 240v style, so I can also add the AC, which some ppl said can be ran on 240v right?

Bc i know that I can go plugging 120v style fans and accessories into that box if its wired 240. Bc the ballasts I have are swtichable, so they can run on 240v on the 120 outlet or i can just get the cable that has a 240 out let.

Either way, im looking at a MLC4 boc to control JUST the light, and all other components like AC, Dehumidifier, and fans will have to run off the main breaker(s) of the house, like our lamps, tv's, etc...

Or..

Do it MLC8 style and try to get most of what im running 240v, and then just use the rest in regular house outlets...


Does all this sound more or less on point with what I need? Globel, so I would need a 40amp breaker with this idea?

Thanks so much guys, and no rigging here, itll all be done properly or not at all.

Thanks again!!
 
L

Lost

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FLB- thanks for your concern buddy, ya what im coming to know is that your right, the MLC will be wired up 240v style, so I can also add the AC, which some ppl said can be ran on 240v right?

Bc i know that I can go plugging 120v style fans and accessories into that box if its wired 240. Bc the ballasts I have are swtichable, so they can run on 240v on the 120 outlet or i can just get the cable that has a 240 out let.

Either way, im looking at a MLC4 boc to control JUST the light, and all other components like AC, Dehumidifier, and fans will have to run off the main breaker(s) of the house, like our lamps, tv's, etc...

Or..

Do it MLC8 style and try to get most of what im running 240v, and then just use the rest in regular house outlets...


Does all this sound more or less on point with what I need? Globel, so I would need a 40amp breaker with this idea?

Thanks so much guys, and no rigging here, itll all be done properly or not at all.

Thanks again!!

Just to clarify a few things you already know..

If you wire up a 50 amp MLC 8 running 220, you cannot plug in anything 110, it will blow it up and possible start a fire. The only thing the "X" plug means is that if you have the box wired for 220 then you can still use a 110 plug but it will be at 220 (110 volt prongs are the ones you are used to, a 220 volt plug the prongs are rotated 90 degrees so it will not plug into a 110 plug.) If you wire up the 220 to the MLC, then it will only run the 220 stuff you have, you need another box to run 110. The ballasts have a sensor that detects line voltage and switched to that mode for that power level. Thats why some ballasts run off of 90 volts, 90 volt generators..

Yes, you could run the rest of your 110 off of household outlets, but if its a significant grow, you will hit more than 20 amps of 110 pretty quick..

Look into this.. It has 120 and 220 plugs. Much more user friendly than the MLC..

Check out the DPC-7500 and DPC 7500 combo. The links are down as the company is launching a new site so it won't be back up for 2 weeks but you get the idea... :)

http://www.powerboxinc.com/
 
R

R. Face

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Ahh ok Lost ive seen those before, thank so much. So with this, I can mount it in my grow room and then run cable thru the attic or w/e to the main breaker box, or does it suggest using something like a washer/dryer/refridgerator outlet? Bc i see the outlet style on those units. Can they be installed as is, or would I need a 60amp subpanel to support all that power? I will def look more into those units! thanks again.
 
L

Lost

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If you have a stove outlet or a dryer outlet and the wire and circut breaker are up to spec, yes..
 
R

R. Face

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Thanks Lost you got this electrical shit down homie. Do you know if the powerboxes can be rigged to a, lets say, 80-100amp, if i dont want to use the dryer outlet or dont have enough power to do it safely?

Bc besides that site, I cant find too much detail on the unit, just how much it is etc...

Bc when its all said n done, I figure the safest way to go about a 4-6k is gettin a 100amp sub panel installed with the main breaker to the house, then have that sub panel power your lights/AC/and any other 240v accessory or equip.

Then since the house is pretty much not running off anything growing related, my inlines and mount fans..etc...800w in T5's would be able to be ran off the house with the 120v.

Does all this make sense and sound legit? With the Lumateks I have, all i need to do is get the 240v cable and im set yea? Since theyre switchables...

Thanks for being patient with me guys!

RF
 
L

Lost

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It all comes from the same place but if you want to run a subpanel then you can run 60 amps of light controller (Powerbox or CAP, Powerbox is 10 times the quality of cap), 20 amps of ac..(Id run 2 15's but realize they will never pull 15..) and 20 amps of 110 for pumps and fans..

My next buy is 4-5 flipboxes and a powerbox... Im just a little guy so it will be a while...
 
C

Chew

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Wondering if someone can help diagnose my mlc-4xt problem?

I have power going to the relay but no power at the plugs,I called CAP and they said it MAY be a bad relay.
I'm sure i've got it hooked up right...any ideas?
 
L

lumbee420

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1
In the c.a.p PDF it states that the mlc8 can operate UP to 8 lights ,If mlc8 is wired to 50 amp breaker would there be any issues with only using 4 lights instead of 8 My friend gave me a mlc8 but say I only wanted to run 4 lights would this be ok to do ..OR would I need to buy a new 4 light controller ??
 

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