Growroom Electricity and Wiring

[madpenguin]

Is running a small household exstenion cord for a 400w HID light ok?

You roll the dice. You'll 'probably' be ok just as if you would probably be ok if you never looked either way before crossing a backwoods country road.

If your ok with those semi decent odds then go right ahead. The wire can handle it, it's just the male/female connections that could eventually fail....

Extension cords of any kind are really a bad idea unless your keeping the male end, snipping the female end and then hard wiring it to a junction box. Even then, the extension cord should be 12/3 "heavy duty".... I guess what I'm talking about is that ugly industrial looking extension cord I made back on page 27...

That's really the only safe way to use an extension cord. Even then, the male plug could fail if not made from a reputable company.

 

[noobiE]

quick question i got a 400 mh from a friend and it only has 3 wires hanging out how do i tell if its on 240 or 120? oh and the wires look like they are a 8 or 10 gauge. is it ok to down size?

 

[madpenguin]

quick question i got a 400 mh from a friend and it only has 3 wires hanging out how do i tell if its on 240 or 120? oh and the wires look like they are a 8 or 10 gauge. is it ok to down size?

I assume your talking about a magnetic ballast and the wires hanging out are the ones that are supposed to go to a reflector hood?

 

[noobiE]

well actually i was talking about the wires that go in to the outlet. but i figured that one out i opened the ballast and the wires were black 120v and yellow common and copper ground. i used another ballasts plug and cut off the end where it connects to the ballast and spliced them and everything is working good.

 

[noobiE]

one more question can i plug a 600w hps and a 400mh and a exhaust fan into a surge protector? is that to much to run on one outlet? would i be better off plugging the lights in the same outlet and using a extension cord from a separate outlet on another circut for my fans?

 

[madpenguin]

one more question can i plug a 600w hps and a 400mh and a exhaust fan into a surge protector?

I wouldn't....

is that to much to run on one outlet?

No. Not really. As long as that is a dedicated outlet and nothing else is on that circuit. Also depends on the condition/type of wire that is in the wall.

would i be better off plugging the lights in the same outlet and using a extension cord from a separate outlet on another circuit for my fans?

That's what I would do. Always plug your lights directly into a wall receptacle and avoid extension cords and surge protector strips.

 

[noobiE]

thanks im going to plug in my lights straight to an outlet and plug my fans in to an extension cord from the other room

 

[thirst4knwledge]

noob

noob

I don't know too much about electricity and wiring, I intend to educate myself before starting my grow or doing anything crazy as far as wiring. I'm starting a setup in my new 2 br apartment, planning on growing in a grow tent with three 600w fixtures, all 120v appliances. I'll also be using a ventilation fan as well as a dehumidifier. Will this be to much? I know I'll have to use at least two outlets with dedicated breakers, but I want to make sure I'm not going overboard as far as what I'm thinking about running. Any help is appreciated!

 

[madpenguin]

......three 600w fixtures, all 120v appliances. I'll also be using a ventilation fan as well as a dehumidifier.

You can just barely squeeze 3 600's @ 120v onto one dedicated 20A circuit. Don't put anything else on that run. I'd also suggest implementing a heavy duty timer (intermatic 30-40A water heater timer) OR a relay and a small timer (like my light controller back one page) if you need them to all come on at the same time.

Your average dehumidifier pulls around 9-10 amps also so that needs to go on another dedicated 20A run along with your ventilation fan...

Put each 20A run on opposite phases or legs of your panel. Meaning the lights on one breaker and then the dehumidifier breaker right below it. Don't have them directly opposite each other.

This would be an ideal candidate for a 12/3 MWBC....

 

[BubbleMan420]

excellent thread. i learned that im an idiot and need to do some rewiring. cause my house should be on fire right now. lol. Im runnin to many extentions into outlets. i need to just wire off the room itself. which i will be doing soon thanx to this thread. hope i dont get jolted. lol. peace yall

 

[madpenguin]

Just kill the power before you start to work on anything. They have those receptacle testers that you plug in and they light up telling you if it's wired correctly. Buy one of those and plug it into the receptacle you need to work in. Start throwing breakers. When the lights go out on the receptacle tester then you know you've killed the right breaker...

 

[GeorgeSmiley]

Well shit!

Well shit!

I just disconnected the 6/3 cable from the box it was in, pulled it back through the studs. Then I go under that crawlspace and find that the area I can drill down is over the foundation with no way to drill down to run the wire to the basement.

Any ideas?

Edit add sketch

 

[madpenguin]

Yea, I've had to do this once or twice but never with anything larger than 12/2..... Nice illustration BTW....

Do you have an exposed stud cavity above as your pic suggests? You drilled down and hit cinder block?

If so, measure out exactly where you need to be in the crawl space and drill right into the sill plate to try and meet the downward hole. It's about the only thing I can suggest unless you want to find an alternative path to route your cable.

Your going to have to use at least a 1" bit as well. Maybe something a tad bigger. Not sure what that will do structurally... Shouldn't be too bad drilling like that. Just a pain in the f'ing ass to fish a 90 degree angle inside wood with a 6/3 cable.

Your going to have to do some damage to that sill plate man if you insist on taking that route. I'm no carpenter and perhaps someone else can speak up as to the ramifications of completely mangling that in order to meet your downward hole but....... I've done it myself. Kind of whistled and looked the other way and was thankful it was in a crawl space where the homeowner would never see it...

I guess it's not really the sill you need to worry about as it sits vertically and can stand to loose a couple inches width wise without causing any structural compromise, but it's the plate that sits on the cinder block is what you kinda don't want to fuck with too bad. It'll be a tough one for sure.

 

[GeorgeSmiley]

Yeah the 1 inch bit isn't close more like 1.25 so gotta buy6 a bit. I drilled down and after 5 inches I stopped and went below to see that I'll hit solid concrete in another inch.

So I measure off a reference point above..... go under and measure/make the placement of the down hole and drill horizontally to "find" the vert hole?

I wonder if I could scallop the joist to make lt a 60 degree and not 90 degree. This cable is massive. My lineman pliers has trouble cutting through the 6awg conductor alone

It's a double 2x12 it seems. I almost want to pull it back into the attic and find an interior wall to drop it down but didn't want to buy a long drill bit setup.

If it aint one thing its a motherf@cking other


Also the link you gave to the timer relay I need is gone.... well the website is. I couldn't find another one.

How many 15a receptacles can I pass through on 1 20a breaker and single 12/3 conductor?


Thanks m8

If I could pay you I would but understand the security risks. You figure it out and I'll kick down something. No bullshit

Cheers
GS

 

[madpenguin]

So I measure off a reference point above..... go under and measure/make the placement of the down hole and drill horizontally to "find" the vert hole?

Yep... Have fun... That or run new cable somewhere else...

I wonder if I could scallop the joist to make lt a 60 degree and not 90 degree. This cable is massive.

Yea.... Don't mess with a joist too bad like that. especially if it's the part that sit's on the sill/plate..... Usually when drilling or altering joists in any way, take a speed square with the 45 angle pointing towards the wall. Slide it along the bottom of the joist until it hits the plate and then use a pencil to draw a line along the 45 edge of the speed square. Your not supposed to drill or mess with at all that area.

So that's all of the joist above the plate and then a 45 degree angle out towards the center of the room starting where the bottom of the joist meets the plate and up towards the subfloor overhead..... If that made any sense.

Do what you want... Do what you have to... It's just I've worked side by side with carpenters for years and you'll catch holy hell for doing some shit so you learn the basics pretty quick.

Also the link you gave to the timer relay I need is gone.... well the website is. I couldn't find another one.

That was GE timer from Home Depot. I'm not a big fan of GE products. Dig thru the light controller tutorial (that I still haven't finished) and I list the exact part number of the Tork timer I used. It's bad ass and will be way better than that GE timer.

How many 15a receptacles can I pass through on 1 20a breaker and single 12/3 conductor?

Are you asking how many receptacles you can put on one run? If so, as many as you want.

 

[madpenguin]

Sorry. It was the relay URL that is down. The whole levitonsupplies web site is temporarily down right now.

Here is a link to another one: Same kind, atleast for the light controller. It's a DPST 30A relay.

http://shop.willyselectronics.com/b...o-30a-relay-heavy-duty-industrial/4,6796.html

 

[GeorgeSmiley]

The timer I got is the Aube TI033 2400w max 1HP max. I wanted to use this timer to be the trigger for a relay just to turn the lights off and on, not any sort of flip.

Can I just call Platt Electrical supply and they might have a relay like that?

Wanted to put 16 110v receptacles on the power board for any accessories, pumps, fans etc etc. I want to know how many receptacles I should put per breaker. 2 receptacles (4 holes total) per breaker considering a lot of constant equipment.

Then timed receptacles for the flower and veg lights.

I'm not too worried about taking a small chunk out of the joist. The addition is a 12x12 room and was built with 2x12 joists even though the house has 2x10 and they run parallel with the foundation side I'm on. Still I'll do all the measuring and reading up on drilling joists.

BTW Before I pulled the 6/3 through i checked the breaker as I always do.... sure enough it was live. No hot tub anymore but it was still sending juice. :O

Cheers
GS

Edit, just ordered a relay

 

[madpenguin]

That supply house has contactors. Pretty much the same thing.

 

[GeorgeSmiley]

That relay, can only be used with ballasts operating on 120v right? For ballasts that run 240 I need the 240 relay?

Also, I will need another timer and relay for the veg lights???

 

[madpenguin]

No... It depends on the voltage of your timer as to what voltage you'll need for the relay coils.

That realy is a DP relay so you can switch 2 hot's. As per my light controller example, even tho I'm only using 120v ballasts, I still used both hots (MWBC) so I needed the DP relay... If you want to just use a 12/2 branch circuit and a 20A relay to run 120v ballasts, then a SP relay is what you want.

Are you running that 6/3 into a sub? You decided not to do that correct? If your still planning on building a light controller because your moving, then I would buy a subpanel rated for atleast 60A and one that has enough room to mount a relay inside.

Then you really would have a light controller such as the one that was for sale and posted back a few pages. You would have OC protection along with builtin receptacles and a 120v timer controlling a relay which in turn controlled some of the receptacles.