Rerouting a 220V 50amp circuit to my grow

[magiccannabus]

To make a long story short, I have a broken central air system, and my mobile home has 2x 50Amp outlets with breakers, one goes to the house main panel, and the other goes to the central air system. The half of my place the grow is on is all wired together with a 15amp 120V breaker, and the only exception is the outlets in the bathrooms which are on the same circuit as the heat tapes. They are all on a 15amp 120V breaker too.

So, I have a bit of 30 amp-rated 220V line, but I could also make my own line by bundling smaller gauge cables into a larger one. What I want is to run this to a breaker panel, but I want it to have room for one 220V outlet, and at least 2-4 120V outlets. I know how to wire up speakers and computers, but household AC is just something I've not done a lot with. I've looked at various boxes at the hardware stores, but there are so many different types and sizes that I'm not sure what to get.

If any of you are electricians, or electrical-savvy. I would really appreciate some advice on what to buy, maybe even a link to some examples. Thanks in advance!

 

[Skipload]

Im sorry I dont think I fully get the picture, what is the amps per line?(each wire is leaving a 15 or 30 amp breaker). Im guessing you have a wall with two 10 or 12 gauge wires that are colored as hots. You want to use them for 220 and 110 demand.
Shareing a 220 hot with a 110 hot isn't an issue. You will need a common wire for the 110 demand to work. Can find a common wire?white one

 

[magiccannabus]

Sorry man but that isn't what I mean at all. I have a 50amp 220V line outside my trailer that is at the main box that is just going to my AC right now, but the AC is broken. So I plan to disconnect the line at both ends, and instead hook it to my grow, but I may need to extend the line to reach it. So the cable I have for that currently is a 4 wire line rated for 30amps at 220/240V. So since the extension is lower gauge than the main line, I figure maybe I should make my box a 30amp box instead. Or should I just go for it and run a full 50amp panel in here?

 

[PharmaCan]

The box outside your m/h is called a "disconnect". (The box you want to install is called a sub-panel.)

Which is closer to your grow room, the a/c unit or the disconnect?

PC

 

[magiccannabus]

The AC is currently closer to the disconnect. I have to extend from where the AC is to the grow. Actually the cable to the AC is longer than it needs to be, but not by enough to reach.

As far as it being a sub-panel, I thought sub-panels were in series with a main breaker box, but I'm wiring directly from the disconnect to my grow. The disconnect has two outlets on it, and each is a 220V 50amp line. So assuming my wiring is heavy enough, couldn't I put a small main panel in there? I want a main disconnect breaker, and a breaker for at least one 220V outlet, and 2-4 110V outlets. Or is sub-panel and panel interchangeable terminology-wise?

 

[NiteTiger]

I did a brief write up in my Tiger's Den 3 thread about putting in a 30 amp 110 circuit. It's not 220, but it will give you some idea of how a panel works.

Pay attention to the Disclaimer

Tiger's Den 3 Circuit Install

 

[magiccannabus]

Nice disclaimer lol

That box looks a lot different than mine though. I mean, I get the basic concepts, but there seems to be a lot of different styles of box and I'm not sure what's newest and best for the money. I'll probably want a central GFCI installed on it. Arc fault protection would be nice too. Once my current grow is done I'm going to buy some new parts to put this all together.

 

[NiteTiger]

I'd tie it in through the existing box, not try to put in a new one? Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're saying?

I thought you were trying to install a new breaker for that A/C line in your box? If you're just trying to redirect it, I'd just splice into the wires that lead to the A/C inside the house, and take them where you need to go.

And yeah, all boxes are different in the looks, but they're all going to have that same basic structure. Three lines in from the meter, two attached to the breaker run, one to the neutral bus bar. In most, you'll also see a ground bus, which is where you'd put your ground line for the GFCI.

Well, actually, I'd run my own circuits and get the A/C fixed

 

[magiccannabus]

Sorry, I suppose this is confusing if you don't know my setup. I have two large RV park-style outlets on my service box outside where the meter is. The 50amp 220V line comes from a breaker there, but never actually goes into my place. My household power comes from the other 50amp 220V outlet next to it. They are totally separate though. The outside breakers on the service box presumably belong to the park or the city.... So basically I am running an entirely new service to the grow room, just using the outside outlet for the central air system, because it's a completely unused line with a lot of amperage. My grow only uses 512 watts on the flower side, and 68 on the veg side, so it's very low draw right now. Still, I'd love to be able to put a 220V heater in there in the winter and run a 220V AC in the summer, which would cool both the grow and this end of the place. So basically I'm not happy with one whole half of the house being on one 15amp 110V breaker.

 

[NiteTiger]

Ahhh, ok, I got you now, I know exactly what you're talking about. Used to camp in campgrounds (we go backcountry now ), I've seen what you're talking about.

If you look at the breaker box, you'll see the lines coming out of the 50 amp breaker, and running towards the A/C unit. Splice those, and run the wire back to the house. Stick a 220v outlet on the end, and bingo, you've got a 220v outlet off of your A/C breaker.

Basically just installing an outlet. Personally, I'd get an manual edging tool (you step on it, has a curved 'blade' on the bottom) and run a little trench a few inches deep, and use some sealed outdoor conduit to run the line underground to the house. You could also just get direct burial wire, but I've found the cost to more than the conduit.

 

[magiccannabus]

Thanks for the feedback. Would it be cool to run some electrical conduit under the belly of my trailer?

 

[NiteTiger]

Yeah, it's fine, you'll probably see a lot of similar stuff under there

 

[PharmaCan]

The AC is currently closer to the disconnect. I have to extend from where the AC is to the grow. Actually the cable to the AC is longer than it needs to be, but not by enough to reach.

As far as it being a sub-panel, I thought sub-panels were in series with a main breaker box, but I'm wiring directly from the disconnect to my grow. The disconnect has two outlets on it, and each is a 220V 50amp line. So assuming my wiring is heavy enough, couldn't I put a small main panel in there? I want a main disconnect breaker, and a breaker for at least one 220V outlet, and 2-4 110V outlets. Or is sub-panel and panel interchangeable terminology-wise?

You're right, coming directly off of the disconnect it would be another main panel, not a sub-panel.

It sounds like the easiest thing for you to do would be to extend the wire from the a/c unit into the growroom and connect to a panel. I guess the deciding factor there would be if the wire going to the a/c is big enough to carry your proposed load. If it is, make a connection inside the a/c cabinet, in a junction box, and extend the wire to the new panel in your growroom. If the wire to the a/c is big enough to support your needs, there's not much sense running a new wire and duplicating the cost of what is already there.

BTW - when you install the new panel you should run a ground wire down through the floor and attach it to a grounding rod.

PC