Light controller w/timer for small kit DIY
- Thread starter budleydoright
- Start date
The 3 prong will work but not to code.. What DX is telling you to do is to take the white wire and the ground wire connect the ground to your natural buss bar. The unit will work like that but is a code violation to do that.
What we want is a working unit that is safe.. So you will use the 3 prong cord and you will also need to buy a 120v 6' power cord with bare wires one of the ends..HD has these I bought them there... When you get the new 3 prong cord and the new 120v cord we will help you instal those.
When you go to HD just ask for these items. I need a 120v 6 foot power cord with one end bare wire. they will tell ya where its at. Should be Black in color.
the new 240v 3 prog cord that DX is sending you. when you get it we can help you install it.
When you go to HD just ask for these items. I need a 120v 6 foot power cord with one end bare wire. they will tell ya where its at. Should be Black in color.
the new 240v 3 prog cord that DX is sending you. when you get it we can help you install it.
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The wire colors in the 4 prong will be the same as the 3 prong it just wont have a white Neutral wire. When your replacing just swap color for color blk to blk red to red and grn to grn.. you will need to remove the white wire that comes from the 4 prog your going to remove.
I'm in a similar situation as High74, installing a DX basic plus.
Was reading this yesterday as I was running wire/conduit, and thought it best to keep quiet, but now I'm in need of help too!
My grow is above my garage, and I ran the line for an old dryer up to the DX light controller.
When I explained to Dan what I wanted to do, he suggested hooking a 30 amp spa disconnect with GFIC breaker before running it upstairs.
All I could find was a 50A (125 Amp, 2 spaces/4 circuits, 120/240V).
There were no illustrative hook-up guide included, and I couldn't find one @ the Midwest Elec. site, so I winged wiring it up and came up w/ this:
I removed the bonding bar.
When I restored juice and put the breaker back on @ the sub-panel, the breaker blew. It's a double pole breaker but only 10A (120/240V). Shouldn't it be 30A?
BTW, my DX has 2 20A breakers.
Would certainly appreciate any help in this matter, fellas!
Was reading this yesterday as I was running wire/conduit, and thought it best to keep quiet, but now I'm in need of help too!
My grow is above my garage, and I ran the line for an old dryer up to the DX light controller.
When I explained to Dan what I wanted to do, he suggested hooking a 30 amp spa disconnect with GFIC breaker before running it upstairs.
All I could find was a 50A (125 Amp, 2 spaces/4 circuits, 120/240V).
There were no illustrative hook-up guide included, and I couldn't find one @ the Midwest Elec. site, so I winged wiring it up and came up w/ this:
I removed the bonding bar.
When I restored juice and put the breaker back on @ the sub-panel, the breaker blew. It's a double pole breaker but only 10A (120/240V). Shouldn't it be 30A?
BTW, my DX has 2 20A breakers.
Would certainly appreciate any help in this matter, fellas!
The main power line should go to L1 L2 RED AND BLACK WIRES WITH A GREEN WIRE FOR GOUND. FROM THE BREAKER YOU SHOULD STILL HAVE RED AND BLACK COMING OFF OF THAT TO WHAT EVER YOU ARE POWERING.. Sorry about the caps.
Im not following why you have the white wire connected there?? rives might see what im not.. Looks like its wired incorrectly. L1 should have a red wire and L2 should have a black wire. The white wires go to a Neutral buss bar not to the breaker or L1 L2...
Im not following why you have the white wire connected there?? rives might see what im not.. Looks like its wired incorrectly. L1 should have a red wire and L2 should have a black wire. The white wires go to a Neutral buss bar not to the breaker or L1 L2...
420shooter
Member
Looks like it's shorted straight to ground with the white and red wires on the same bus.
The red & black are connected to what I assumed were the L1 & L2. (large screw-downs on lower far left. The disconnect had the white wire running from the breaker to the neutral buss, and that's where I connected my white neutral wires. The buss is above the L1 & L2.
Ground wire connect to ground buss upper right.
Thanks, guys! Have a mind to just wire them direct, but will see this thru, not in any rush.
I still blew that 10A breaker & will have to replace. Do I need to go bigger?
Mucho thanx!
Ground wire connect to ground buss upper right.
Thanks, guys! Have a mind to just wire them direct, but will see this thru, not in any rush.
I still blew that 10A breaker & will have to replace. Do I need to go bigger?
Mucho thanx!
Man, I don't know what the hell you have done there! Which wires are your hot wires coming in, and which are your load wires going out?
The neutral buss is the buss on the lower left - there shouldn't be anything but white wires on it unless you are using cables that don't have the appropriate colors, and then they should be phase-taped (colored electrical tape) to indicate what they are.
The two lugs located between the neutral buss and the breakers are where you will want to attach the hot legs from your 240v, which should be red and black. The neutral on your feeder should connect to the neutral buss, either in one of the two large lugs on the bottom far left or on the strip to the right of it.
The coiled white pigtail from the breaker should be connected to the neutral buss, as it is. The neutral going to your load will then connect to one of the terminals on the lower breaker of the double-pole breaker. This allows the breaker to sense ground-faults, and trip when needed. I'm not sure which terminal is which - it should be marked, or if you have a voltage tester we can talk you through it.
The wire to your load will attach to the breaker terminals - the upper one is obvious, the lower one will be the one which is not the neutral connection.
What size wire are you running? If I understand you correctly, you have a 10a 240v breaker feeding a 50a 240v breaker, which in turn feeds (2) 20a 240v breakers? You shouldn't be doing electrical work stoned!
The neutral buss is the buss on the lower left - there shouldn't be anything but white wires on it unless you are using cables that don't have the appropriate colors, and then they should be phase-taped (colored electrical tape) to indicate what they are.
The two lugs located between the neutral buss and the breakers are where you will want to attach the hot legs from your 240v, which should be red and black. The neutral on your feeder should connect to the neutral buss, either in one of the two large lugs on the bottom far left or on the strip to the right of it.
The coiled white pigtail from the breaker should be connected to the neutral buss, as it is. The neutral going to your load will then connect to one of the terminals on the lower breaker of the double-pole breaker. This allows the breaker to sense ground-faults, and trip when needed. I'm not sure which terminal is which - it should be marked, or if you have a voltage tester we can talk you through it.
The wire to your load will attach to the breaker terminals - the upper one is obvious, the lower one will be the one which is not the neutral connection.
What size wire are you running? If I understand you correctly, you have a 10a 240v breaker feeding a 50a 240v breaker, which in turn feeds (2) 20a 240v breakers? You shouldn't be doing electrical work stoned!
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I did some reading and found the install instructions..
White pigtail goes to the Neutral buss from the breaker. The red and black for 240v use will come off of the breaker to the device your powering. If your using 120v the 120v whit wire needs to go back into the breaker.. If you have a 10a breaker feeding that 50a absolutely you need to change that. these dont need to be replaced if the breaker trips just reset them..
http://www.arcadvisor.com/pdf/DEH-40456.pdf
White pigtail goes to the Neutral buss from the breaker. The red and black for 240v use will come off of the breaker to the device your powering. If your using 120v the 120v whit wire needs to go back into the breaker.. If you have a 10a breaker feeding that 50a absolutely you need to change that. these dont need to be replaced if the breaker trips just reset them..
http://www.arcadvisor.com/pdf/DEH-40456.pdf
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Also that Neutral buss is mounted in a very bad location IMO..
Oops, my bad, my very bad.
The sad thing is, I wasn't high, just a little too amped up yesterday a.m.. Truly out of my element here.
I'll reconfigure tonight after work & light's out, when I can turn things off.
Just need to figure out what I can do about upgrading the 10A breaker in the sub-panel. Should I be thinking about swapping out the 50A breaker in the disconnect for 30A or less?
Wire is 10/3, about a 35' run using 3/4" pvc conduit.
Thx for the help guys!
The sad thing is, I wasn't high, just a little too amped up yesterday a.m.. Truly out of my element here.
I'll reconfigure tonight after work & light's out, when I can turn things off.
Just need to figure out what I can do about upgrading the 10A breaker in the sub-panel. Should I be thinking about swapping out the 50A breaker in the disconnect for 30A or less?
Wire is 10/3, about a 35' run using 3/4" pvc conduit.
Thx for the help guys!
If you have 10/3 wire from one end to the other, you can change the breaker in the main panel from a 10 amp to a 30. How did this circuit ever run a dryer with only 10 amps? That breaker will protect the wire from the main panel, through your new spa disconnect, and on to the receptacle for your new panel.
This is important because your spa disconnect is worthless as protection for the #10 wire, but the ground-fault protection will still work fine. There is no need to change the spa breaker, it will simply function as a disconnect and GFCI, and the 30a breaker at the main will protect against overload. The standard double-pole 30a breaker for the main panel will be much cheaper than getting a new GFCI breaker for the spa panel, and it has to be changed anyhow.
You need to make absolutely sure that you hook up the load neutral (in the cable from the spa panel to the receptacle) to the neutral lug on the 50a breaker, not onto the neutral buss. If you hook it to the buss, the breaker will trip as soon as you apply any load to the circuit - the breakers will turn on normally with no load, but as soon as a load is applied, the 50a GFCI will trip. It will interpret the lack of return current on it's neutral lug as a ground fault, and instantly trip.
This is important because your spa disconnect is worthless as protection for the #10 wire, but the ground-fault protection will still work fine. There is no need to change the spa breaker, it will simply function as a disconnect and GFCI, and the 30a breaker at the main will protect against overload. The standard double-pole 30a breaker for the main panel will be much cheaper than getting a new GFCI breaker for the spa panel, and it has to be changed anyhow.
You need to make absolutely sure that you hook up the load neutral (in the cable from the spa panel to the receptacle) to the neutral lug on the 50a breaker, not onto the neutral buss. If you hook it to the buss, the breaker will trip as soon as you apply any load to the circuit - the breakers will turn on normally with no load, but as soon as a load is applied, the 50a GFCI will trip. It will interpret the lack of return current on it's neutral lug as a ground fault, and instantly trip.
Dude from DHX sound came threw and sent me the 3 prong, I then went to home depot and bought 20 feet 8 gauge wire then hooked the box up. Dan from DHX sent me a photo of what it should look like. All in all IM happy he came threw. It worked out in my favor casue now I can run the box where I need it to be.
but to anyone with the extra bread I suggest buying a powerbox
but to anyone with the extra bread I suggest buying a powerbox
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Ya, a big shout out to Hammer and rives from me too!
rives straightened me out via PM and I'm good to go.
I had to delete that pic, it made me cringe!
rives straightened me out via PM and I'm good to go.
I had to delete that pic, it made me cringe!
