Fire safety for electrical equipment like HID and LED! - Grow Room Safety - International Cannagraphic Magazine Forums

spurr · 11-11-2010, 01:12 AM

Hi all,

I thought I would post this here. I wrote this post for a journal entry about LEDs and how they are 'safer' than HID for fire hazards (which isn't a correct statement BTW, it's all about the details...).

From the journal entry "The unmentioned benefit of LEDs... " ( https://www.icmag.com/modules/Journa...?journalid=909 )

Quote:

Skyver wrote:

So Spurr, would you recommend using flouros instead? I mean as in for safety over HPS when on holiday?

Spurr wrote:

I would suggest sound electrical safety procedures with HID while on vacation. The same suggestion applies for HID and LED, because if LED cooling fans fail LEDs can catch fire too. The issue with fires is equipment failure and circuit overloads, not just with HID...

Ex. use a high temp shutoff relay for the HID or LED, heavy gauge surge protectors, proper (grounded) wiring set to at least 15 amp breaker (20 amp is better), and *do not* max-out or overload the circuit! Use heavy gauge, and as short as possible, extension cords; and *only* use UL (Underwriters Laboratories) listed products and HID ballasts (if possible). Also, *only* use "GFCI" outlets for HID, replace any other outlet, even the normal non-GFCI grounded outlets.

Having one circuit per HID is a good idea, ex., a 20 amp circuit just for a 1,000 watt, or two 600watt, etc. Then put other electrical equipment on a different circuit.

Make sure to *not* exceed 80% of the max amperage load for the circuit breaker.

To find out how much electricity will be used by an HID do the following, this will allow a grower to know if they are maxing-out, or overloading the circuit:

https://home.howstuffworks.com/home-i...t-overload.htm

Quote:

"So how do you find out how much [electricity on a single circuit] is too much? Actually, it's pretty easy. To determine how much electricity you're using with all of those holiday decorations, you just need to do a little math. The formula looks like this:

p/e=i (wattage divided by volts equals amps)

Say you're using 2,000 watts of power with your holiday lights and other decorations. You divide that number by the volts in your house (usually 120) and you come up with 16.6 amps of current that you're using. With a 20 amp electrical outlet, you're using around 80 percent of the available current, which is the most you should be using per circuit."

I follow those rules like they were the golden rule, and I have never had issues. YMMV. Good luck and stay safe!

11-11-2010, 06:02 AM

Yo I love seeing threads like this, I've experienced the life altering devestation fire causes REAL FAST multiple times in my life.

I am planning to put all my lights on circuits with AFI Breakers.

Even though they were second hand which is sketchy I suppose, fire safety is the reason I chose to run magnetic ballasts that are UL listed and made in the USA.

I'd love to hear anyone else inputs on this subject.

junior_grower · 11-11-2010, 11:14 PM

AFI breakers do not woprk well with HID lighting, the tubes strick an arc and the breaker blows. GFCI are the best choice for grow rooms.

spurr · 11-12-2010, 02:22 AM

Thanks for the warning about AFI breaks. I have been using GFCI outlets for years and wouldn't grow without them. I use them for all outlets in my house.

Maj.Cottonmouth · 11-12-2010, 02:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spurr

Thanks for the warning about AFI breaks. I have been using GFCI outlets for years and wouldn't grow without them. I use them for all outlets in my house.

You actually only need one per circuit I believe

Bulldog11 · 11-12-2010, 02:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maj.Cottonmouth

You actually only need one per circuit I believe

You can have a circuit breaker that is GFI protected.
You can have a GFI plug, that is the start of a daisy chain. The following plugs don't have to be GFI protected because they all run off the first GFI plug if "daisy chained."
You can also have GFI plugs wired normally every where needed.

Pick one, but you need to know what each GFI is rated for. You can't daisy chain 10 1000w lights on one GFI and so on.

spurr · 11-12-2010, 03:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bulldog11

You can have a circuit breaker that is GFI protected.
You can have a GFI plug, that is the start of a daisy chain. The following plugs don't have to be GFI protected because they all run off the first GFI plug if "daisy chained."
You can also have GFI plugs wired normally every where needed.

Pick one, but you need to know what each GFI is rated for. You can't daisy chain 10 1000w lights on one GFI and so on.

Nice post

Tilt · 11-12-2010, 03:02 AM

Don't get complacent about magnetic ballasts. I was working on a parking lot pole light today. 400 watt mh. The bulb and ballast blew the lense cover off and coated the inside of the fixture. The smell is still on my hands "yuck". Fried the lighting contactor for the lot too. I will find out what blew it when I get the boom lift out there next week.

Tilt · 11-12-2010, 03:05 AM

FYI gfci breakers are exspensive. 2 pole gfci breakers are very exspensive for the 240v crowd. It is more cost effective to daisy chain off a gfci outlet

11-12-2010, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tilt

Don't get complacent about magnetic ballasts. I was working on a parking lot pole light today. 400 watt mh. The bulb and ballast blew the lense cover off and coated the inside of the fixture. The smell is still on my hands "yuck". Fried the lighting contactor for the lot too. I will find out what blew it when I get the boom lift out there next week.

Good post, please do. Could it have been related to the bulb life? I'm guessing not many people bother servicing those bulbs until it's out.

11-11-2010, 11:14 PM	#3
junior_grower Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 905	AFI breakers do not woprk well with HID lighting, the tubes strick an arc and the breaker blows. GFCI are the best choice for grow rooms. __________________ another successful out door year at 52*north, beat bugs, the wettest season in memory, and a early frost. Auto flowers have been a blast
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11-12-2010, 03:05 AM	#9
Tilt Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: usa Posts: 738	FYI gfci breakers are exspensive. 2 pole gfci breakers are very exspensive for the 240v crowd. It is more cost effective to daisy chain off a gfci outlet
	Quote 2 members found this post helpful.

11-11-2010, 06:02 AM	#2
argoagro Guest Posts: n/a	Yo I love seeing threads like this, I've experienced the life altering devestation fire causes REAL FAST multiple times in my life. I am planning to put all my lights on circuits with AFI Breakers. Even though they were second hand which is sketchy I suppose, fire safety is the reason I chose to run magnetic ballasts that are UL listed and made in the USA. I'd love to hear anyone else inputs on this subject.
	Quote

11-12-2010, 02:22 AM	#4
spurr Banned Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: https://www.scirus.com/ & https://www.google.com/schhp?hl=en Posts: 2,431	Thanks for the warning about AFI breaks. I have been using GFCI outlets for years and wouldn't grow without them. I use them for all outlets in my house.
	Quote

11-12-2010, 03:02 AM	#8
Tilt Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: usa Posts: 738	Don't get complacent about magnetic ballasts. I was working on a parking lot pole light today. 400 watt mh. The bulb and ballast blew the lense cover off and coated the inside of the fixture. The smell is still on my hands "yuck". Fried the lighting contactor for the lot too. I will find out what blew it when I get the boom lift out there next week.
	Quote