Lost partial electricity-- im stumped - Grow Room Safety - International Cannagraphic Magazine Forums

DrCaligari · 04-13-2011, 08:09 PM

hey dudes and dudettes,

During week 7 of flower, I enter "the room" to find 1 out 2 of my 1000w lights shut-off, my portable A/C off, and my exhaust fan off. All girls severely suffering from heat and a panic attack quickly overcoming me. I realize power is lost to one of the quad metal boxes.

I caught the problem in enough time to save my efforts, and finished the cycle (over the next few weeks).. just not with the intended 2000w.

Before the next flower cycle, the non-electric needs to be remedied.

When the room was being designed electricity was a major concern, therefore I had an electrician come out and set up what was needed.

It was a bitch! The goal was to get 40 amps to a third floor townhouse closet. The floors are concrete, so he couldn't route any wires through, and the position of the breaker (only breaker in the house, on first floor in tough spot) didn't allow for wall routing either. He used the line from the breaker that goes out to the air conditioning unit outside to route the wires up the side of the back of the townhome, drilled through concrete, and into the closet that way. The guy was brilliant.

He set up two quad metal boxes, one on top of the other.

Since there were no extra breaker slots available to dedicate the power, he replaced the houses A/C unit breaker with a breaker that had double the amps and ran the closet outlets off the newly replaced breaker. Therefore, the home A/C unit shares power with the 2 quad boxes upstairs.

That is the situation. To sum it all up, there is one quad not working (the top quad) but the other does, and the a/c unit for the home works just fine. So I assumed since the breaker clearly works the outlets may have died? I changed them and nada. I bought a volt checker.. no readings -- I may be ignorant on how to use it although I did read the directions and gave it my best.

What do I do? What other information do you need? What pictures do you need? When it comes to electricity I am simply at a loss.

04-13-2011, 08:53 PM

sounds like you may have burnt a connection in the box that isn't working or the line to it but i'm no electrician

Midnight · 04-13-2011, 09:19 PM

Find the last place in the circuit that you have voltage, your problem will be the next thing after that in the circuit.

Electrician · 04-13-2011, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midnight

Find the last place in the circuit that you have voltage, your problem will be the next thing after that in the circuit.

Exactly. The problem usually is in the last thing on the circuit that still works. Sounds like a bad connection. All you need to do is get your meter and start checking voltage. Sounds pretty simple.

DrCaligari · 04-13-2011, 09:29 PM

Quote:

sounds like you may have burnt a connection in the box that isn't working or the line to it but i'm no electrician

Quote:

Exactly. The problem usually is in the last thing on the circuit that still works. Sounds like a bad connection. All you need to do is get your meter and start checking voltage. Sounds pretty simple.

Thanks for the input. Thats what'll do, start checkin the connection.. you guys are lifesavers!

gardenbug · 04-21-2011, 09:51 AM

So the a/c and room share a breaker? Not cool unless there is a sub panel somewhere, probably at the a/c that has a seperate breaker for the a/c and a seperate one for your room. Possibly seperate brakers for each outlet box. Hopefully the wire was upgraded as well and you aren't running the extra load on the old a/c power wire. If it was done right you may have tripped that breaker at the sub panel. If both of your outlet boxes are on the same breaker whether it's done right to a sub panel or wrong all on the one breaker, then you have a lose or burnt wire going to the outlet box.
Although it's been a week so hopefully you have it sorted out by now.

Buzzsmirk! · 05-22-2011, 11:57 PM

souunds liike u burnt one pole of your two pole breaker service up.
u prob gotz a bad breaker (two pole)
check that out too>
Buzz!

Stress_test · 05-23-2011, 12:58 AM

Well now all this advice and nobody asked if the breaker is 240v?

It most likely is, which would suggest that 1 leg isn't getting power from the breaker.

If that is the case then your AC unit probably isn't getting power to that leg of the 240 either. Which is where I would check first as it could burn out the AC unit.

The description you gave of the hassle in wiring gives me the idea that there are probably a couple of junction boxes in route from the main. If so then you may want to trip the breaker and remove the covers from any J-boxes and check connections there as well.

05-23-2011, 05:11 AM

i would call the sparky that setup your service,,this is obviously over your head

h.h. · 05-23-2011, 05:52 AM

Sounds like a breaker. If your boxes are in series., your last box isn't getting enough amperage.

04-13-2011, 08:09 PM	#1
DrCaligari Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 50	Lost partial electricity-- im stumped hey dudes and dudettes, During week 7 of flower, I enter "the room" to find 1 out 2 of my 1000w lights shut-off, my portable A/C off, and my exhaust fan off. All girls severely suffering from heat and a panic attack quickly overcoming me. I realize power is lost to one of the quad metal boxes. I caught the problem in enough time to save my efforts, and finished the cycle (over the next few weeks).. just not with the intended 2000w. Before the next flower cycle, the non-electric needs to be remedied. When the room was being designed electricity was a major concern, therefore I had an electrician come out and set up what was needed. It was a bitch! The goal was to get 40 amps to a third floor townhouse closet. The floors are concrete, so he couldn't route any wires through, and the position of the breaker (only breaker in the house, on first floor in tough spot) didn't allow for wall routing either. He used the line from the breaker that goes out to the air conditioning unit outside to route the wires up the side of the back of the townhome, drilled through concrete, and into the closet that way. The guy was brilliant. He set up two quad metal boxes, one on top of the other. Since there were no extra breaker slots available to dedicate the power, he replaced the houses A/C unit breaker with a breaker that had double the amps and ran the closet outlets off the newly replaced breaker. Therefore, the home A/C unit shares power with the 2 quad boxes upstairs. That is the situation. To sum it all up, there is one quad not working (the top quad) but the other does, and the a/c unit for the home works just fine. So I assumed since the breaker clearly works the outlets may have died? I changed them and nada. I bought a volt checker.. no readings -- I may be ignorant on how to use it although I did read the directions and gave it my best. What do I do? What other information do you need? What pictures do you need? When it comes to electricity I am simply at a loss.
	Quote

04-13-2011, 09:19 PM	#3
Midnight Banned Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Third Planet From The Sun Posts: 973	Find the last place in the circuit that you have voltage, your problem will be the next thing after that in the circuit.
	Quote 2 members found this post helpful.

05-22-2011, 11:57 PM	#7
Buzzsmirk! over from overgrow Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: in a house Posts: 320	souunds liike u burnt one pole of your two pole breaker service up. u prob gotz a bad breaker (two pole) check that out too> Buzz! __________________ overgrow refugee
	Quote

05-23-2011, 12:58 AM	#8
Stress_test I'm always here when I'm not someplace else Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 2,527	Well now all this advice and nobody asked if the breaker is 240v? It most likely is, which would suggest that 1 leg isn't getting power from the breaker. If that is the case then your AC unit probably isn't getting power to that leg of the 240 either. Which is where I would check first as it could burn out the AC unit. The description you gave of the hassle in wiring gives me the idea that there are probably a couple of junction boxes in route from the main. If so then you may want to trip the breaker and remove the covers from any J-boxes and check connections there as well. __________________ "I would. I'd really like to meet an honest man. But I'd have to lie to him cause I smoke pot." ______________________________ ______ First Outdoor Guerrilla Grow 2011 Understanding Ph. Ingenious $4 Walmart Cloner. SOG's DIY micro-cloning factory tutorial. (Very well illustrated and explained). Handy site for the Gardener (A wealth of information for any gardener). Sometimes when I'm really medicated, I can really crack me up.
	Quote

04-13-2011, 08:53 PM	#2
Graham Purwatt Guest Posts: n/a	sounds like you may have burnt a connection in the box that isn't working or the line to it but i'm no electrician
	Quote

04-21-2011, 09:51 AM	#6
gardenbug Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 266	So the a/c and room share a breaker? Not cool unless there is a sub panel somewhere, probably at the a/c that has a seperate breaker for the a/c and a seperate one for your room. Possibly seperate brakers for each outlet box. Hopefully the wire was upgraded as well and you aren't running the extra load on the old a/c power wire. If it was done right you may have tripped that breaker at the sub panel. If both of your outlet boxes are on the same breaker whether it's done right to a sub panel or wrong all on the one breaker, then you have a lose or burnt wire going to the outlet box. Although it's been a week so hopefully you have it sorted out by now.
	Quote

05-23-2011, 05:11 AM	#9
RedRain Guest Posts: n/a	i would call the sparky that setup your service,,this is obviously over your head
	Quote

05-23-2011, 05:52 AM	#10
h.h. Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: desert Posts: 1,955	Sounds like a breaker. If your boxes are in series., your last box isn't getting enough amperage.
	Quote