A Bored Electrician to Answer Your Questions

my friend gave me a sexy top of the line digital ballast but it is only 240v and the outlets in my appartment are 120v there is a circut box with switches in my closet do you know how i could run this 240v ballast in my room?

Danielsgb said:

I wanted to check on something. I wired my 70W Pulse Start M.H. for a PC. I don't have the socket and bulb in yet. To test it first and not risk the CMH Bulb I tested it with the voltage indicator and it showed all 3 bulbs lit up. 120v 240v and 277v. Is that normal? I think I wired it right, but I wasn't positive and wanted to check.
Thanks
Daniels

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a non contact voltage indicator will pick up backfed voltage off of the transformer taps depending on the ballast type, it also may backfeed the taps and act as an autotransformer.... dont use it as one though.

yeeee510 said:

my friend gave me a sexy top of the line digital ballast but it is only 240v and the outlets in my appartment are 120v there is a circut box with switches in my closet do you know how i could run this 240v ballast in my room?

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dryer outlet? stove outlet? add a 240v circuit? all these things can be done....

I have made a cfl fixture with four sockets. They are wired with all the hot leads together and connected to the cord and the same for the neutral leads. Do I need to add a ground to the reflector or something metal on the fixture. The frame of the light is made from pvc pipe. I see most lamps use just a two wire cord, but I'm not sure if I need to be grounded because of the water usage around the lights.

I brought in my 220v range ciruit from my kitchen to my grow room, currently running 2 1000w ballast with no problem and pretty sure I should be able to run 3 with no problem,but just wanted to ask you. Its 20amp off each leg and I ran #10solid to a 5s box. With the ballast rated at like 3.2amps on 220v and without exceeding 70% capacity of the 20amp breaker does this mean I should be able to run 4 1000w ballast(or 14amps) off one 20amp 220v?

pointswest said:

I have made a cfl fixture with four sockets. They are wired with all the hot leads together and connected to the cord and the same for the neutral leads. Do I need to add a ground to the reflector or something metal on the fixture. The frame of the light is made from pvc pipe. I see most lamps use just a two wire cord, but I'm not sure if I need to be grounded because of the water usage around the lights.

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you will be fine... NEC allows lamps and light fixtures with a cord length of 18' or less to be 2 wire

UrbanAerO said:

I brought in my 220v range ciruit from my kitchen to my grow room, currently running 2 1000w ballast with no problem and pretty sure I should be able to run 3 with no problem,but just wanted to ask you. Its 20amp off each leg and I ran #10solid to a 5s box. With the ballast rated at like 3.2amps on 220v and without exceeding 70% capacity of the 20amp breaker does this mean I should be able to run 4 1000w ballast(or 14amps) off one 20amp 220v?

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you can run 3840watts on a 20 amp, 240 v circuit....

i was wondering if one of yall know how to wire a relay/timer between a ballast and 2 light sockets
so i could use one ballast for 2 rooms
thanks in advance

its cheaper and easier just goet another ballast. ive answered this b4 tho if you dig.

IAm5toned said:

its cheaper and easier just goet another ballast. ive answered this b4 tho if you dig.

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10-4,thanks for the reply
sorry for the repeated question,must have been in one of the pages i skipped
fire in the hole

So I was talking to a caregiver my sister knows who stopped by. He's expanding a lot. He said he had 20 HID lights put in with 70 to 80 more coming. I asked what kind of Amps. he has. As in Panels, he thought 4 or 5 100 Amp panels. I said "all lights to 240v, right?" He said the electrician said the 110v was better and the efficiency was the same. Is that electrician Crazy? The electrician said something about Waves he didn't get. Balance of a 240v I think. I told the guy I was pretty sure it was a 10% saving. Why would you run 70 to 100, 400W to 1000W bulbs what way? Did I miss something here? Glad I try to get this stuff so someday when I get to expand I'll have a clue.
Daniels

Daniels, if you get a 70-80 light setup, I am gonna come work for you changing bulbs and watering plants!! If those are your hopes though, I hope them for you! Must be a crazy setup that's for sure!

gumball said:

Daniels, if you get a 70-80 light setup, I am gonna come work for you changing bulbs and watering plants!! If those are your hopes though, I hope them for you! Must be a crazy setup that's for sure!

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Not too sure WTF this guy is up to. I saw his flowering room. Not real impressed. I still think those spider mites were from there.
My plan is for something like a 'sought after' strain for this Area. I'd love to work with you for sure.
Daniels

Okay, going to try to post again and give some good details.

I am trying to build my own multiple socket CFL lighting fixture for my girls. I am planning on using 10 100W equivalent bulbs. I am trying to put them all on one 110 volt plug and have them all wired together on the fixture. Any suggestions on how I would wire these or how I could put the whole fixture together? Here are a couple of drawings of the fixture I'm trying to achieve.

I am using PVC pipe for the housing of the wires and bulb sockets. Please help me. I'd really like to get this fixture going so I can start growing my girls.

Thanks for your advice!

I just bought this and have no idea how to go about wiring it, I have wired lampholders before, but I'm not sure about this one.



http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=26766&C=SO&U=strat15

my apartment only is one of three units that are connected. i have a separate breaker box with 3 different 20amp breakers. i was trying to figure out what outlets go to what breakers by turning them off one by one. the only problem was when when i turned off the first two nothing happened to any electricity in my house. all the outlets were still functioning. when i finally tried the last breaker everything turned off. does this mean i am running on only one 20amp breaker? or are they all connected? there are only four outlets in the house.

Hey fellas I've got a regular light switch wired to control my 6inch exhaust fan... I have a Lutron dual fan/light dimmer I want to use just the fan dimmer which is rated for 1.5amps. Will this be sufficient? will dimmering of the fan reduce its life? thanks again

Help me people.

I have brought a new fan but i having trouble wireing it up.

I have three connection blocks on the fan, 1 is live, the other is switched live and the other is netural.

I have my live wired to the live on the fan, the same with my neutral but it doesn't work.
I have figured out that of it touch the switched live block with a live wire then it will work.

How do i wire this up to work with my time?

CypressRyan said:

Hey fellas I've got a regular light switch wired to control my 6inch exhaust fan... I have a Lutron dual fan/light dimmer I want to use just the fan dimmer which is rated for 1.5amps. Will this be sufficient? will dimmering of the fan reduce its life? thanks again

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you will burn up the motor over time.... very risky. that speed controller was made for a ceiling fan, which has a very different load charecteristic than your 6" can fan....

oh this is just super annoying... i answered ALL of these posts not a week ago and i see now the replies never got posted... sorry guys