wireing new circuit need elecricians help

[Dr. G]

so i wanted to run a completely new circuit capable of handeling 3400w in lighting plus all the bells and wistles including room so i dont start fires

what type im i gunna have to run i have a friend who has done electric b4 but is no licenced electrician

can i run just a 240 connection will that be enough

now can i just run new conduit in the wall and cut out a new box?

is there a way to do it so i dont have a 240 outlet cuz im renting and dont want it to standout like it would in a spare bedroom

and we jsut get a new breaker to go in the pannel run the wire to the room to the outlet correct?


do i even need conduit?

can i use the flexable conduit?

also i have an extreame greenhouse controller controlling my lights now how to i add more lights to that since it only supports 1000w?

would this be good and how do i hook it up
http://www.discount-hydro.com/productdisp.php?pid=79&navid=5

 

[Guest]

It will help if you could provide some detail as to the layout of the residence. Where is the Main Panel in relation to the grow room. and are there any unused slots (knockouts) for additional breakers?

For your purposes conduit is not necessary. Your reasons for running 240V other than having a sub panel. Hydro or soil?

Post a photo of the panel if you will, it can make this easier.

Ty-Stik

 

[Dr. G]

soil

dunno any about electricy thats why i said 240 or anything that will hold like 4500w just to be safe

and yes theres a knock out and i can go from the box in the garage to the garage attic to the wall in the spare bedroom pretty easily

no conduit? i dont wanna burn anyhting down

 

[Guest]

If your garage is attached to the house there should be no problem, determine your total watts/amps usage for the grow and size your cable accordingly. Probably #6 WITH ground that would require a 50A breaker, or #4 @ 60A. This is available with all conductors within a single outer sheathing. Copper wire is way up in price, make sure you measure the length of the run carefully. The power cable is VERY stiff and doesn't BEND around corners easily, so it usually takes a bit more than the direct route measurements you calculated. At the grow room mount a sub panel with at least a 60A capacity. From the new Sub you can run your 120V circuits.

Ahhh, a new grow room----fun to build.

Ty-Stik

 

[Guest]

I will leave the Q of the greenhouse controller expansion to another esteemed member of this august forum, whom ever that might be. Poetic tonight?, not! But definitely pleasantly buzzed.

TyStik

 

[Dr. G]

what kind of sub panel? can you provide a like ill cyber smoke you down with some sour bubble oil

 

[Guest]

Sub panel is a lesser panel that taps off a Main. Go to a home improvement center and ask for a sub panel and they will gladly show you. All it is is a smaller version of your main panel with multiple knockouts for breakers.

Dude say Wassup? Tell the Dude you are running a 240 line to a sub panel in the garage so you can run multiple circuits to your work benches. Be cool and remember to take that doobie (the one over your right ear) and leave it in the car before you go into the store. Dude will never be the wiser. LOL

Ty-Stik

YUMMERS, thanks for the cyberdown.

 

[yamaha_1fan]

instead of running a bunch of small lines to the grow room, you are running one big one to the grow room. Then the sub panel distributes it to the different circuits.

As for the light controller, maybe you use it to control a relay or contactor to run your lights. That link you posted is way too much money. You can DIY for way less.

Use a water heater timer from Home Depot, the WH40 will work. $40. then you can wire the outlets from the WH40 or you can do like this:



I ran the wire out of the timer and put it into distribution bars. Solid connection and easier than wiring up multiple outlets. Only downside is you cant shut down a ballast while the lights are on.

 

[Guest]

Dr G I neglected to clarify the wiring run, if you are going to run 240V only it takes 2 hot and a ground---------------If you intend to run 120V circuits off of the Sub Panel it will take a 3 conductor with ground, that being 2 hot, 1 ground and the neutral of course.

The hour was late and I focused on your 240V question without pointing this out to you as well.

Regards,

TyStik

 

[Dr. G]

i dont need multipul circuits only one for my lights and fans

my ac is on a seperate circuit

my vegg room is on a seperate crcuit

i do need to run 120 off this 240 and i was going to getthe light controller that runs 120 plugs also on a 240 30 amp circuit

so this 240 goes to my subpannel in my spare bedroom and this will be enough to run

3400w hps lights
2-4 vortex fans
multipul reg. fans
my controller and co2

also could i run my 700w of florcent lighting off this too for my vegg room (i dont need to tho i can plug that into my bathroom) is 800w too muchfor 15 amps?
i really dont wanna go making a bunch of circuits only one for my flowering room (right now i have 2 flower rooms flip floping since i dont have enough power for 2400w and im adding another 1000

 

[DIGITALHIPPY]

instead of running a bunch of small lines to the grow room, you are running one big one to the grow room. Then the sub panel distributes it to the different circuits.

As for the light controller, maybe you use it to control a relay or contactor to run your lights. That link you posted is way too much money. You can DIY for way less.

Use a water heater timer from Home Depot, the WH40 will work. $40. then you can wire the outlets from the WH40 or you can do like this:



I ran the wire out of the timer and put it into distribution bars. Solid connection and easier than wiring up multiple outlets. Only downside is you cant shut down a ballast while the lights are on.

greetings again Dr G
i dont want to hijack but im in your boat, im about to be makeing a subpanel.. didnt think id need one, but i guess i do.

Yamaha_1fan
do you have any pictures of inside your subpanel? maybe the big grey box-y thing in the top left? i want to see how to break the cable down into 120-240 circuits, also maybe you could help Dr G and me out by posting a pic of how you connected the sub- to the main-

sorry again to hijack but were a tad confused (atleast i am)

 

[Guest]

Digital, go to: Electrical-online.com, there are numerous photos and diagrams of Main and sub panel interiors. A very helpful site for the layman.

TyStik

 

[Guest]

Dr.G, you can pull additional power from a 20 amp outlet circuit in the grow room and adjacent rooms that are on different breakers, 14awg extension cords will work for this, just keep them short as possible. Every thing will be ok for your purposed.

TyStik

 

[DIGITALHIPPY]

Digital, go to: Electrical-online.com, there are numerous photos and diagrams of Main and sub panel interiors. A very helpful site for the layman.

TyStik

ok, so i went there, and soemhow i lost information.. i wanted a picture... its worth 1000 words, along with google, its funny how many times the same 'words' are copied and pasted explaining a subpanel (misspellings also!)

what a crummy site, i couldnt seam to find anything. im going to go buy a book at home depot probably, i saw them before, they looked good.

i wanted to see his panel though, i like how clean his board is and all thoes words get boaring, i need pictorial stimulation.

 

[yamaha_1fan]

http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/elect/panel/sub_panel/01/overview.htm

I found this after I googled "adding a breaker"

I am no electrician and am going to explain this in general terms

Electric starts off with 4 wires and is 240 volts when it enters your home

1 120v wire (hot)
1 120v wire (hot)
1 neutral
1 ground (actually the ground is established at your home and doesnt run through the whole grid around town)

see the image above? the red and black are the two hots. Each wire goes into a lug (a terminal which has a screw that tightens to the wire).Each lug powers one side of the panel. If you look closely you will see that each side is seperated by plastic. Then the ground goes to the ground bar, and the neutral goes to the neutral bar.

The thing to remember, each side is a leg. So your 120 breaker only touches one side. But on 240, you need a douple pole breaker which is touching both legs.

I think that link gives good instructions. If you need more, maybe I will make a DIY add a panel thread. Ty will help me

 

[krustytheclown]

Oh, man, that looks like some serious stuff!

Might I recommend you hire an electrician to do the wiring for you? If you can get one that's "cool", then great! If not, get an electrician to put it in and tell him you are going to run a few servers and need the wiring to handle the current.

If you feel comfortable doing it yourself, then Godspeed. If you have even the slightest doubt in your abilities, then get someone who knows what they are doing.

It would suck to have your house burn down AND get arrested when they find your grow because of bad wiring.

 

[Dr. G]

ok got a book and im planning shit out butthis book isnt the greatest

ok

so now what kind of switch do i get for the 240 in the subpannel like whats the exact name?

also what kind of switch for a 120 in the sub pannel

and when i run fromthe switch on the subpannel does the 240 still have 4 cords to the receptacle? where do the grounds and the nutral go?

if you could just modify my plans that would be awsome

should i do a 50 amp sub pannel? and is that any different than a 30 do i need 2 double switches in the main then?

 

[headees]

Thanks again Yami!

 

[Guest]

The sub panel has breakers not switches. Head to Home Depot or go to Borders or Amazon and pick up a decent DIY book. When you have it there in front of you to see and read it will all become very clear. Guys need to learn to do these kinds of things, they also need to study the subject whenever in doubt.

You'll get it done,

TyStik

 

[yamaha_1fan]

ok got a book and im planning shit out butthis book isnt the greatest

ok

so now what kind of switch do i get for the 240 in the subpannel like whats the exact name? ITS A DOUBLE POLE BREAKER

also what kind of switch for a 120 in the sub pannel SINGLE POLE BREAKER

and when i run fromthe switch on the subpannel does the 240 still have 4 cords to the receptacle? where do the grounds and the nutral go? PROBABLY 3 WIRES, 2 HOTS AND A GROUND. LIGHTS DONT USE THE NEUTRAL

if you could just modify my plans that would be awsome

should i do a 50 amp sub pannel? and is that any different than a 30 do i need 2 double switches in the main then? YOU NEED A DOUBLE POLE BREAKER REGARDLESS. GO BIGGER SO YOU IN THE FUTURE YOU HAVE ROOM TO EXPAND

Think of it like a water pipe. You can only get so much at a time with a given size pipe. too much water, you blow the pipe. So if you need more water, you dont run multiple pipes, you run one big pipe.

Your main panel is going to supply the sub-panel. Hence the word SUB. Once you decide how much you are going to need at the sub panel, you can plan accordingly. It will not hurt to over estimate. If you have the remote possibility of needing more power, now is the time to plan for it. It wont add much to the cost and you will kick yourself in the ass down the road if you need it.

In your main panel, you can add up to a 125 amp breaker I BELIEVE. Mine has a 100 AMP breaker. Any breaker you add in the main panel must be a double pole breaker that connects to both legs. Thats how you get to 240.

Now it gets wired like your little drawing. Just run the appropiate sized wire from the main panel to the sub panel. The bigger the wire, the tougher to work with. I think I ran #2 and its not light or very bendable. Then pop in your breakers. Each breaker will run a circuit. If you want to add a 20 amp 120 volt circuit to run fans and pumps, then drop in a single pole 20 amp breaker. connect one wire to the breaker, one to ground, and one to neutral and out to your outlet. Need a 30 AMP 240 circuit? Then connect one wire to each lug on the breaker (2 wires), one to ground, one to neutral and run to your outlet. I will say that I dont have anything that has required the neutral. The AC, lights and compressor run off two hots and a ground. No neutral required.

I dont want to make light of electricity cause if you screw it up, it could be fatal to you and others. But it really isnt that hard. Once you understand it, you will be like, shit, i get it. most important thing is to make sure everything is done properly, right size wire, good connections, no mickey mouse stuff.

BTW, doesnt matter how many breakers you add, you are limited to what comes in. If the service coming in the house is 100 amps, you are capped. If 200, you are capped there. Same with the sub panel. You can add 100amps worth of breakers but if you only installed a 50 amp breaker in the main panel supplying it, you are maxed at 50 amps.

Also remember the 80% rule. You can pretty much count on using only 80% of your rated load. So a 30 amp panel will only give you 24 amps capacity.