Bubbling Transformer! WTF?!

[nomaad]

So... I am running about 140 amps in the garage between veg and flower lights and 5 tons of A/C. Nothing on in the house except a couple of lightbulbs. Certainly nowhere approaching the 200 total amps I should be able to pull.

The transformer at the road is making a loud gurgling/bubbling noise like its about to boil over. Sounds like boiling oil. Today was a really warm day... the A/C was working harder than usual.

Anybody have any insight?

I am thinking about switching to an "on at night" schedule. Does anybody have experiencing switching from nights to days? Should I just stay dark all day tomorrow and then turn the lights on with the opposite schedule that night? I am just ending week 3 and flowers have begun to set.

 

[joe guy]

Your fine switching over to a nite cycle.. I've done it quite a few times,
No ill effects no nanners ect.. It's cheaper to run at nite anyway not peak hours at lest in my area.. Just don't go back and forth abunch of times...

 

[greekgardner]

yup,what Joe said.......

 

[nomaad]

Thanks guys. I will switch tomorrow.

Anybody have any insight on why the transformer would be bubbling if i am well below the max amperage of my service....?

 

[Aeroguerilla]

i have blown up 2 transformers. they got smart and put a big one in. now i have no problem running whatever... i am right around 140-150amps on 200amp service the most you can go legally is 160 amps before it becomes a federal offence

 

[rives]

the most you can go legally is 160 amps before it becomes a federal offence

What on earth are you talking about?


Nomaad, there may be something wrong with the transformer or it may be low on insulating oil. Have you contacted the utility to let them know that there might be a problem with their equipment?

 

[Depth.Charge]

+1 for what rives said, you might want to alert the utility company with a quickness before that transformer fails and you're running zero amps in the garage until they send a service truck to replace it.

 

[LeeROI]

Reminds me of sitting at home one night on the computer. The lights dim a bit and there is a strange humming outside. The cat and I go to the front door and look out. KABOOOM!

The pole transformer exploded and showered white hot metal onto the street below. My cat was not amused.

:kitty:

 

[Maina]

Haa I melted the wires right of the pole lol

 

[420Bonsai]

+1 for what rives said, you might want to alert the utility company with a quickness....

Maybe not from your home or cell #

 

[nomaad]

Maybe not from your home or cell #

I live here. have the power in my name. am the only one on the transformer. i think, as they say, the jig is up.

 

[nomaad]

Haa I melted the wires right of the pole lol

in california? who is your utility company? what happened?

 

[PuReKnOwLeDgE]

When I first setup my current setup I had all new wiring, meters, panels. The transformer at the road however, sounded like SHIT. I foreshadowed the death of it by the sounds it was making, and sure enough, POOF! No more transformer and a sweltering hot room. Also it blew the circuit board on my AC fan motor, which cost me many days lost in the stretch and near death plants.

The power company had the new one installed in 2 hours or less, but I had no AC in the middle of summer for days and days and had to run flouros.

Point of the story, it sounds like your transformer is going to take a shit for sure. I was the only one drawing on that transformer as well. Also, important to know, my 5 ton AC pulls 105amps at startup, plus I am running 16 1Ks lights and 3 dehueys and many many fans and other accessories. The startup of the AC I am sure is what did it in.

I don't know if you can call the power company and tell them the transformer is being louder then normal without drawing to much attention to yourself. When they die they die they just replace, but I wouldn't want them out there investigating what is going on because they will learn you are using a lot of power. Hope that helps, sorry to hear you killed a transformer, they die of old age it seems to my old one was a rust bucket now I have a nice new shiny one and it make no noise and the lights don't dim like they used to when my ac comes on.

 

[nomaad]

I have installed a dozen mini splits and a couple of full-on plenum style A/C's and I am pretty sure that no modewrn A/C unit uses 105 on startup.

For two mini splits, the wiring would be a 50A breaker to a subpanel with 2x30A breakers.

For 5 ton plenum unit, 50A breaker to a subpanel where it is direct wired with a box with old school fuses behind a black plastic panel with a pull-out tab... I cannot remember what that panel is called.

ignore all that if that was a typo and u meant 15 amps. just realized that was a possibility.

A 16K grow with all the attendant A/C, dehus and fans should be no problem on a 200A service. I will be getting up every 2 hours tonight and checking the transformer. I am betting that running in the cool of night will alleviate the pressure on the transformer. I am still going to call the utility. I have access to a 24kw diesel genny in case i blow it in the meantime. Pretty sure its about 10% cheaper to run that my utility costs.

 

[PuReKnOwLeDgE]

No I meant 105 amps, at least that is what my 5 ton uses. There is startup amps and running amps, startup takes a huge draw. You know when you are in your house and the central ac kicks on and the lights dim for a quick flash, that is because of the startup amps. My AC runs on two 40 amp circuits but one is hardly used it only runs the heater if needed and the ac fan motor. It is the Excel Stealth 5ton, I have tested the startup amps and checked with manufacturer. Some of the amps I believe are stored in a capacitor near the motor for startup. Either way, lights dimming and loud noises were my indicator. Things simple as a filter being held onto a fan via negative pressure would eventually slide down and fall off throughout a couple days because of the power lag and quick loss of negative pressure from the fan loosing power for a VERY short amount of time.

With the old transformer my grow lights dimmed very fast like, only had a few not stay lit a couple times. I moved the light panel breaker up to the top of the board on a leg and that helped that. As soon as I got a new transformer my lights barely dim if at all, hardly noticeable when the ac kicks on. It was a big change.

 

[Aeroguerilla]

What on earth are you talking about?


Nomaad, there may be something wrong with the transformer or it may be low on insulating oil. Have you contacted the utility to let them know that there might be a problem with their equipment?

on a 200amp service you are not LEGALLY allowed to pull more then 160 amps. Both my electrician and bangor hydro told me this. anymore then 160 and you risk wires catching fire and transformers tripping. They came and had to replace mine dude says i can pull the max 160 now with no problem

 

[Aeroguerilla]

most residential setups cant even handle a continuous 150amp draw i kept blowing or tripping the transformer dude had to replace it. This also happened at another grow location 2 years back. its simple tell the electric company your going to keep blowing there shit up until they put something in that can handle the juice

 

[SooperSmurph]

If you're worried about actually having to explain yourself, wait for your next cycle to run through, clear out your room, then have friends bring over high draw appliances to plug in all over the place, since you're already near the edge it's worth a shot, and if you're lucky the transformer will blow and get fixed by the time you're ready to cycle in new plants, much easier to keep a few small babies alive with emergency lighting than it is to try and have flowering plants not thin out in the dark.

 

[rives]

on a 200amp service you are not LEGALLY allowed to pull more then 160 amps. Both my electrician and bangor hydro told me this. anymore then 160 and you risk wires catching fire and transformers tripping. They came and had to replace mine dude says i can pull the max 160 now with no problem

I think that what you are probably referring to is the 80% rule, which is part of the National Electrical Code. It states that you should not exceed 80% of the breaker rating for continuous loads, which are defined as any load of over three hours duration. The idea is to eliminate nuisance tripping of breakers that are on the extremes of manufacturing tolerances or mounted in areas subject to high ambient temperatures. There are specially listed breakers that the exclusion does not apply to, and the NEC has nothing to do with a "federal offense". It simply establishes a minimum standard for electrical installations that individual communities can accept or build further requirements onto.

 

[PuReKnOwLeDgE]

I believe my electrician told me there is 460+ available total at the transformer normally.