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i had a fire in my grow op

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larry badiner

I almost had fires twice. Once when a nylon string touched a vertical bare bulb 1k, the house filled with smoke in the early am.

And once a 1k bulb wasn't screwed into the socket all the way and it arced until the socket and wiring burnt. Luckily that 1k was on a gfci protected circuit and it shut itself off before major damage could be done.

yeah man, fire is serious to a home grower. you need to do like five different jobs and if you screw up, well, things catch on fire lol.

you gotta look at burn victims online and seriously think "man do i want to look like that for 800/lb?"
 
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larry badiner

Wow nightmare. Glad you weren't harmed. That's my biggest fear fire. I'm half convinced my ballast will blow up most of the time.
I would say I'm more paranoid about fire than the police.

screw it man, its a plant, sell some clones or product and get leds. i run 4 and i can cool it using 6'' duct fans

i honestly thought i was too smart for my grow to catch on fire, when the smoke came and i saw that fire i fucking knew it wasnt worth running an hid light
 
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larry badiner

This is too scary! So I would rather spend more money and buy a safe light!

thats what i ended up doing. i live in california so weeds legal, i keep a small 3x4 tent with 2x3 rack for clones and sog

i use leds now, its doing its dry run and i just need to get some family to check out the electricity part
 
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larry badiner

You're lucky!! Keep your karma clean!!

Where I live, the Fire dudes frequently travel in tandem with the State Troopers. They're no longer just the friendly guys they once were, putting fires out in near-altruism; they bring the heat, too. Double-entendre intended.

I once gave an older magnetic 400 watt ballast to a friend in the bush, which I delivered by snowmobile out a remote trail. Don't know if it was the bumps on the long ride, the age of the ballast and/or defective workmanship, or some less-than-clean current from a generator, but on a subsequent trip out to his place, he showed me a fried set of wires at the ballast. Near cat-ass-trophy!!

Keep your circuits tight, and monitor how much wattage/amps you're pulling off of any one circuit/outlet/switch.

My older son once had a whole SHIT-LOAD of stereo and other equipment plugged into a surge protector strip, and I could smell hot plastic. I almost kicked his butt just for principle, but instead educated him, hoping to put the fear of GAWD into him..

Amps x Volts = watts. One of many 'most important' equations we'll ever learn. Check your breaker ratings, outlet ratings, etc., and read the draw on ANY equipment.

Hell, atypical draw from a failing device can increase the amount of juice it pulls, not to mention friction from things like a failing fan bearing creating heat, etc.

Don't inadvertently bring folks to your home/op who won't understand or be forgiving of the way you live. "It's a rule!!"
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EDIT: Conversely, watts divided by volts = amps. Again, important shit for anyone who doesn't want strangers taking an unintentional and unguided tour of their grow operation. ** And everything electrical can age poorly, just like we can, though for similar but different reasons. Circuit breakers, switches, and even outlets CAN wear out!! A 15-amp or 20-amp circuit breaker may come to a point that it trips under less draw.... if you're lucky.

Thank you for the kind words! I'm completely giving up on HID lights since I just love growing weed and smoking, I can buy a jar of farm grade from harborside in california but theres something about growing plants that I just love

I have family that I grew up with that does electrical work, I'm waiting for an uncle and my cousin to show up to check my small tent, all it has is 4 "600w" leds about the size of a bag of chips
 
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larry badiner

Yo Larry...hope you rewarded your cuzz. I'd suggest a couple of willing virgins. The guy probably saved your life.

So, here's my close call. Way back during one of my earlier indoor grows, I went to check my plants but lights were off. On exploration, I found that my timer looked all melted like a Salvador Dali clock. Now, for all lights and heavy loads, I will only use an industrial strength 40 amp timer. Overkill perhaps, but safe.
Cheers,
JD

hahahha. my cousin has a college education, a 25k car, a nice house, and yeah if i could get the guy virgins i would, he helps me and my family alot


yeah after my "incident" i dont use hids at all, i keep my power cables mounted on my wall, and run multiple test runs in addition to my other multiple test runs.
 

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