240 volt 30 amp breaker Electrical Question

[The_Core]

I know there are a lot of these questions out there. And I already read the sticky on Growroom Electricity and wiring, also watched an hour long informative video on youtube. Just had a question for anyone that might know about this.

Assuming my main breaker box can support the following......
Can I plug in a 240 volt 30 amp breaker into an empty breaker slot in the box and run the size 10 gauge wire about 20 feet to my grow op? Shouldn't be any issues correct? I wanted a dedicated breaker to run just my grow op.

One last question, I know their are electrical outlet boxes out there but I cant find what I am looking for. What sort of boxes can I mount on the wall that have lets say 4 to 6 power outlets that I can run that 10 Gauge wire directly into. I hope I described this right. Any help is as always appreciated.

 

[DoomsDay]

your best bet is a sub panel from your local hardware/home improvement store. you should be able to drop a 30 amp double pole breaker onto any open slot in your main box. from there you will need to run your wire (i suggest at a minimum 8 gauge for 30 amps just to be safe in case you get a surge). run that wire to the location closest to your grow that you can place a sub panel on the wall. then from there, you tie out each circuit on the sub panel to its appropriate types of plugs for your equip. that way it is all consolidated to one area, it is as safe as you can make it, and each piece of equip should have its own dedicated breaker so that if one trips, your entire rooms doesnt shut down.

 

[The_Core]

your best bet is a sub panel from your local hardware/home improvement store. you should be able to drop a 30 amp double pole breaker onto any open slot in your main box. from there you will need to run your wire (i suggest at a minimum 8 gauge for 30 amps just to be safe in case you get a surge). run that wire to the location closest to your grow that you can place a sub panel on the wall. then from there, you tie out each circuit on the sub panel to its appropriate types of plugs for your equip. that way it is all consolidated to one area, it is as safe as you can make it, and each piece of equip should have its own dedicated breaker so that if one trips, your entire rooms doesnt shut down.

So your saying I should use one of the breaker slots in the main breaker box to run a sub box? And in that sub box have enough breakers to run each circuit or outlet independently so if it flips a breaker they don't all go out? Is there a box I can buy that already has 4-6 outlets ready to be wired off of a sub box?

 

[DoomsDay]

you can pick up a sub panel with about 8 to ten slots in int for roughly 45.00 USD. then depending on what your running off of 220 and what your running off of 115 will be how many of each breaker you will need. when i dropped my sub panel.. i used a 10 position sub panel and ran a 60 amp breaker through 4 gauge wire from the main box to the sub. wire the hot sides directly into the panel bars and hit the ground and the neutral tabs with the white and the bare/green wire. (in some places the neutral and ground are merged together in the main box. verify this before thinking you can merge them). from there i ran 2 dual pole 20 amp breakers (one for each ballast im running on 220), and 4 115 breakers that i just wired into standard wall outlets. that way i have each ballast on its own breaker (20 amps is about 4-6 times what a ballast pulls at peak power) i have the fans on one of the standard wall plugs, and my reservoirs on another. i have 2 spare standard outlets that i can use for "oh shit" moments.

hope that helps

 

[OldSSSCGuy]

So your saying I should use one of the breaker slots in the main breaker box to run a sub box? And in that sub box have enough breakers to run each circuit or outlet independently so if it flips a breaker they don't all go out? Is there a box I can buy that already has 4-6 outlets ready to be wired off of a sub box?

Not sure if it would help you any, but I built a 2-room sub panel box and did a tutorial with pics on how to make one. Cost me about $175 all-done with 2 relay sets; one for the grow room and one of the flower. Ran a 30-amp 220 circuit to an appliance outlet and this sub panel plugs into that outlet with an appliance cord. The panel gives me 220v and 110v for everything in the rooms, all plugged into one standard USA dryer outlet off of one double-pole breaker.

Handy as hell, safer than a direct panel connection. Put a handle on the top and its a portable power center for a 2-room grow run off one 220v outlet.

Important safety thing: before you hook up a sub panel, search the net and learn about isolating the neutral bar in the sub panel. You cannot have a common neutral between the main panel and the sub panel.

Few pics pics attached to show what I mean about the box.

​

 

[Aeroguerilla]

if you dont feel like making one for half the price then order the premaid units search for 30amp timer box on google. i prefer the 50amp and run 6 gauge for that

 

[mowood3479]

U can buy A light controller.. I have a solatel roughly (200$) its got 4 240v recepticles.. So I have double pole 30amp breaker to 30' of 10g 10/3 romex wired to the light controller... Im not an expert but I have seen this set up at a number of different spots... I could run up to 4k on my set up..
ask rives... his electrical advice is great

 

[The_Core]

you can pick up a sub panel with about 8 to ten slots in int for roughly 45.00 USD. then depending on what your running off of 220 and what your running off of 115 will be how many of each breaker you will need. when i dropped my sub panel.. i used a 10 position sub panel and ran a 60 amp breaker through 4 gauge wire from the main box to the sub. wire the hot sides directly into the panel bars and hit the ground and the neutral tabs with the white and the bare/green wire. (in some places the neutral and ground are merged together in the main box. verify this before thinking you can merge them). from there i ran 2 dual pole 20 amp breakers (one for each ballast im running on 220), and 4 115 breakers that i just wired into standard wall outlets. that way i have each ballast on its own breaker (20 amps is about 4-6 times what a ballast pulls at peak power) i have the fans on one of the standard wall plugs, and my reservoirs on another. i have 2 spare standard outlets that i can use for "oh shit" moments.

hope that helps

I had to read this a couple times but I definitely understand what you are saying here. You put a 60 amp breaker in your main box ran 4 gauge wire then hooked up a sub box. The 4 gauge wire ran directly to your panel bars in the sub box, bypassing another breaker in the sub box? You then installed 2- 20 amp breakers and 4-15 amp breakers? Then you just wired up outlets, 1 outlet per breaker. Did I understand correctly? So then if anything happens and you flip a breaker your just shutting down that device while the 60 amp breaker is still pushing the power to your sub box....

 

[The_Core]

if you dont feel like making one for half the price then order the premaid units search for 30amp timer box on google. i prefer the 50amp and run 6 gauge for that

I checked out this box, looks like it is ready to go! So exactly how does it work? I power this box by dedicating a 50 amp breaker with 6 gauge from the main panel box? and then its ready to go? Just wire it up?

 

[The_Core]

U can buy A light controller.. I have a solatel roughly (200$) its got 4 240v recepticles.. So I have double pole 30amp breaker to 30' of 10g 10/3 romex wired to the light controller... Im not an expert but I have seen this set up at a number of different spots... I could run up to 4k on my set up..
ask rives... his electrical advice is great

I checked this out, Looks pretty damn simple, Just dedicate one 30 amp double breaker with 10 gauge wire from the main panel box, then directly wire up the light controller?

I am going to have to need a max of 3000 watts for my grow, that's if everything was running at the same time. Some of my devices run 120 and some run 240. So I like the idea of this light controller

 

[mowood3479]

ya, u got it. its pretty simple... if ur only gonna run 3 to 4k thats the route id go...
mo

 

[The_Core]

So to run a sub panel box and then wire up some circuits what kind of power would I need to be pulling? Are you saying a sub panel box is overkill for 3k watts?

 

[DoomsDay]

I had to read this a couple times but I definitely understand what you are saying here. You put a 60 amp breaker in your main box ran 4 gauge wire then hooked up a sub box. The 4 gauge wire ran directly to your panel bars in the sub box, bypassing another breaker in the sub box? You then installed 2- 20 amp breakers and 4-15 amp breakers? Then you just wired up outlets, 1 outlet per breaker. Did I understand correctly? So then if anything happens and you flip a breaker your just shutting down that device while the 60 amp breaker is still pushing the power to your sub box....

you hit it on the head man! building a system this way will save you quite a bit of money vise purchasing a pre-built controller box... either one will work.. just more what you can afford and how you want it to be set up.

 

[The_Core]

you hit it on the head man! building a system this way will save you quite a bit of money vise purchasing a pre-built controller box... either one will work.. just more what you can afford and how you want it to be set up.

Thanks DoomsDay! Do you think I should still run a sub panel if I am only pulling 3-4 K watts max?

 

[dansbuds]

The control centers are a little expensive but unless you know exactly what your doing with the electrical circuits .... i'd say spend the extra for a plug & play .
heres one for 327$ that you can just hook up a 30 amp 4 wire citcuit to & your set to go .

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Power-Box-DPC-7500-COMBO-120V-240V-Lighting-Controller-Powerbox-Grow-Light-Timer-/220894229808?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=520055364586&hash=item336e527530

good luck with whatever you decide to do .

 

[watts]

much cheaper here: http://www.plantlightinghydroponics...sid=d026f68697a7af80148d7134c18ef0dd&x=40&y=6

 

[dansbuds]

Holy shit !!! i guess so .....
thanx for that link watts

 

[The_Core]

The control centers are a little expensive but unless you know exactly what your doing with the electrical circuits .... i'd say spend the extra for a plug & play .
heres one for 327$ that you can just hook up a 30 amp 4 wire citcuit to & your set to go .

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Power-Box-DPC-7500-COMBO-120V-240V-Lighting-Controller-Powerbox-Grow-Light-Timer-/220894229808?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=520055364586&hash=item336e527530

good luck with whatever you decide to do .

Hey dansbuds, I like this pre-wired power box, I am confused how exactly it works. I dedicate a breaker and run a wire to this box? Or does it plug into something?

 

[rives]

The pre-made units are certainly handier than building your own, but I haven't seen any that actually meet code requirements. The Powerbox units may be different, I see that they claim to have an ETL listing, but I would be surprised if your local inspector would consider them compliant. The sub-panel approach is far better in my opinion, at least if you are capable of doing the work yourself.
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[The_Core]

much cheaper here: http://www.plantlightinghydroponics...sid=d026f68697a7af80148d7134c18ef0dd&x=40&y=6

Hey watts, How do these boxes work. I understand you plug both reflector cords into the flip box and then the ballast plugs into the flip box. Allowing a flip flop of light cycles. But how does this help with my power situation?