For those who have exp with electricity and cap light controllers.....

[smurfin'herb]

I just got a lighting controller ive never used before made by cap. Its very common. Its a MLC-4X 240vlt 30 amp controller. It has 4 outlets for ballast plugs. Im only gonna be runnin 4x600's off of it. Heres what it looks like just to make sure you theres no mix up. http://images.google.com/imgres?img...ox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&sa=N&um=1

I need to rig this up, but have very limited electrical exp. so please help..!!!!
The directions say you can hardwire to fuse box or attach a dryer cord to it. I went to my fuse box and saw i had a 60amp breaker for my oven. I said "i can go without an oven for a while". So i went to hardwware store and bought an oven cord to try and hardwire into my controller. The oven cord is 6/2-8/1 gauge 50amp. The directions that cap has show colored wires coming in, and the cord i bought has 3 tips all identical in color!! And it seems the tips are too big to fit where the directions say they go.... Heres what it looks like....http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BQ8D7A...e=asn&creative=380341&creativeASIN=B000BQ8D7A

And to access the pdf for the wiring diagram go to cap's home page at..http://randmsupply.com/productdisp.php?pid=605&navid=5

What should i do...?

a couple more q's...

Is it ok to hook my 30amp light controller to a 60amp outlet? (both 240vlt of course).. Im only using 4x600's remember. Or is 60amps too much power for the relay?

The oven cord is rated for 50amps @240vlts. Is this not a big enough cord for a 240vlt 60amp outlet, even if im only gonna be runnin 4x600's?

 

[Lazyman]

Take a picture of your oven outlet, and see if your plug matches it, if not return it to the hardware store and get the right one. Grab a multimeter from the electrical section while you're over there. must have for any electrical work.

Look up the NEMA plug type online and it will tell you which prong gets what. You'll have two hot (120V+ usually black) leads, 1 neutral (usually white) and one ground. Just make sure the ends of the wires correspond to the right prongs on the cord you bought.

Someone else will have something to add though. Ah there he is!

 

[Cheeb]

Hey,

1)are you trying to run the MLC using the oven plug (male) on the oven outlet (female)??
2)or are you merely trying to use the 60amp 240v breaker space in the basement?

If its #2 easiest thing is to just use the appropriate guage wire and go straight from the panel into your controller. If your just running 4 sixers then your amp draw is only 10amps so you could just use a piece of 12guage wire, 10guage would be 30amp rating your controller is looking for.

- -

your 50amp oven cord is too large most likely to fit in your 30amp controller connections.

- -

unless your planning on plugging your controller into your oven outlet (in the kitchen?) option #2 seems to be your best bet.

 

[smurfin'herb]

Its number 1. I was goin to take apart the oven outlet and pull it thru the floor into the basement and then reassemble it there. Do they even make a 30amp 240vlt oven cord?

Now im just wondering if it will be okay to connect my 30 amp light controller to a 60amp breaker... Will it fry it even tho im pulling low wattage? Im confused, does the breaker on on fuse box deliver only what you pull from it, or does it deliver all 60amps at once and then the appliance is supposed to regulate that power down to what it needs?

 

[Makk]

Its number 1. I was goin to take apart the oven outlet and pull it thru the floor into the basement and then reassemble it there. Do they even make a 30amp 240vlt oven cord?

Now im just wondering if it will be okay to connect my 30 amp light controller to a 60amp breaker... Will it fry it even tho im pulling low wattage? Im confused, does the breaker on on fuse box deliver only what you pull from it, or does it deliver all 60amps at once and then the appliance is supposed to regulate that power down to what it needs?

ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!
You can never exceed the rating on your controller cable! The breaker will trip at 30 amps. Do not go bigger than 30 amp breaker!! do not use smaller wire than a #10.

 

[cyberwax]

what does that box do exactly? tried reading the description but they didnt really say.

 

[smurfin'herb]

ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!
You can never exceed the rating on your controller cable! The breaker will trip at 30 amps. Do not go bigger than 30 amp breaker!! do not use smaller wire than a #10.

Really? even tho im only using 4x600's...?

 

[Makk]

even though your not drawing the full load, meaning your not using all your lamps, the 30 amp breaker is needed. If you put a 60 amp in,the circuit can draw more amps than you 30 amp cable can handle....bad

 

[JackCough]

dryers and stoves are different type cords.

 

[smurfin'herb]

fuck it im just taking back the oven cord and buying a 30amp breaker to replace the 60amp with. Then just gonna have a friend hardwire it in i guess.

 

[Cheeb]

ya - i'd go with that.

breakers dont "deliver" any amount of amps..they break the circuit (flip) if you draw more then their amperage rating. you only want to use 75% of their load however to keep things safe.

60amp breaker would never trip using that controller..the wires/controller (30a) would fail before the 60amp breaker could do its job..but thats only if you exceeded the 30a rating the controller has.

4x600w = 2400w
2400w / 240v = 10amps

- - -
your only drawing 10amps so you could use the 60a if you wanted to avoid buying a 30a, but you'd not be protected..you'd be safe..but this is electrical shit which kills so its best to do things right.

Get a 30a 240v double pole breaker and a length of 10 guage romex and have your buddy install it if your not comfortable with your hands in the break box!

I have my 16 site controller hooked up to a 30amp breaker/dryer outlet..HOWEVER i am only using 9 600w @ 240v = 22.5amp..so its safe and doesnt trip. I could not however take advantage of anymore of the outlets or my amp draw would be too high for the breaker/wire..even though my MLC-16 can handle it.

hope that helps any.

peace
cheeb

 

[OVERMAN]

fuck it im just taking back the oven cord and buying a 30amp breaker to replace the 60amp with. Then just gonna have a friend hardwire it in i guess.

best idea, love mlcs for the ease of setting up grows.

 

[klouski]

hi, im from australia and im a sparkie. all the circuit breakers do is protect the cable, if for exaple there was a fault in your unit, and u had it on a 60amp circuit breaker and the fault current was higher than this it would trip. on a 240v system you would be drawing 10 amps with your 2400w of light, i would reconmend u just bite the bullet, get a sparkie in and tell him u want a socket outlet near where u wanna grow, say its for a welder or something then u can just plug it in. klouski

 

[smurfin'herb]

ya - i'd go with that.

breakers dont "deliver" any amount of amps..they break the circuit (flip) if you draw more then their amperage rating. you only want to use 75% of their load however to keep things safe.

60amp breaker would never trip using that controller..the wires/controller (30a) would fail before the 60amp breaker could do its job..but thats only if you exceeded the 30a rating the controller has.

4x600w = 2400w
2400w / 240v = 10amps

- - -
your only drawing 10amps so you could use the 60a if you wanted to avoid buying a 30a, but you'd not be protected..you'd be safe..but this is electrical shit which kills so its best to do things right.

Get a 30a 240v double pole breaker and a length of 10 guage romex and have your buddy install it if your not comfortable with your hands in the break box!

I have my 16 site controller hooked up to a 30amp breaker/dryer outlet..HOWEVER i am only using 9 600w @ 240v = 22.5amp..so its safe and doesnt trip. I could not however take advantage of anymore of the outlets or my amp draw would be too high for the breaker/wire..even though my MLC-16 can handle it.

hope that helps any.

peace
cheeb

So your saying that if i just get some 10 gauge romex, i can wire that into the 60amp breaker, and then connect it to my MLC, and then plug in 4x600's and be just fine? Im really only using 2400 watts.

 

[Pesca]

you may use #10 wire but your breaker protecting the wire must be no larger than a 30 amp double pole breaker

 

[Cheeb]

right. breakers flip before the potentially overloaded wire melts down.
your breaker size should match your wire size otherwise the breaker is doing nothing to help protect the wire.

Gauge Wire - Breaker Amps
14g - 15a
12g - 20a
10g - 30a
8g - 40a
6g - 55a
4g - 70a
2g - 95