Experienced Electrician! Here to Answer Any and All Growroom Electrical Questions

groputillor said:

Hey I posted this somewhere else but you seem like you know a lot. Maybe you can help. Thanks
So this is my first project. I was working on plans for a box to put in the garage, which seemed like an ideal place until I realized that there is no vent. Shit. Well I have a room air conditioner that I don't use, and - forgive me if this is a stupid idea - could I just place it in the garage with the box and connect it to the intake fan on the bottom of the box? The garage is on a ground floor and gets very little sun. It's not all that hot now but I'm worried the summer is gonna change that. The box will be 2.5 by 4.5 by 6 feet and I won't be using anything hotter than a 600 watt hps. Will the A/C even help without drawing air from outside the room? Do I even need it or will having an intake and outtake fan in there be enough? The garage will open and shut a few times a day so some fresh air comes in. My alternative locations are small and more troublesome. I don't wanna just give up on this. I'm stoked and wanna make this work. Please help.

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Venting of the enclosed space is absolutely necessary. What you are doing is enclosing co2 eating monsters, they will need 'fresh air'. Air that is not co2 depleted. You can't put fresh air in unless you pull stale air out. And if you are going to put a 600 watt furnace in that size box you will want to air cool the light separate from the intake and exhaust system. Don't forget the oscillating fan to keep the air moving.
If your going to cool the whole garage.......?? VV

Giant said:

I know it needs to be fixed, but does it need to be fixed before I start my grow? The way I see it, I am using a max of 20A for my house at a time (between the washer, gas dryer, microwave, TVs, fish tank and filter, and lights), even if my grow uses 7A I should be well under the dangerous threshold.

Realistically, I should be able to afford to do the electric in a few months with the money I save from the grow alone. Thanks for the help!

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Plug the light in and try it. If you would be able to do this in a couple of months use cfl's or floros for the vegging or the sun for that matter. It takes 5 months from seed to usable weed.
I have always had a tendency to over supply. VV

VictorVIcious said:

Plug the light in and try it. If you would be able to do this in a couple of months use cfl's or floros for the vegging or the sun for that matter. It takes 5 months from seed to usable weed.
I have always had a tendency to over supply. VV

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Hopefully Ill order the light today, then be able to test it out in a week or so.. Ill be starting with clones, so Ill have a less chance of screwing things up.

dowjones618 said:

Hello everyone. I am new to the forum and I need some advice to run 1 50 amp extension cord to one of my room and 1 30 amp extension cord to my other room.

The first room:
Since I have an electric stove and I don't plan to use it. I am thinking about plugging the 20-30 feet 50 amp extension cord in the electric stove outlet. I check the breaker and it does say 50 amp. Then, I going to plug a 50 amp timer box in the extension cord.

The second room:
Basically the same setup except this is going to be a 30 amp extension cord from the washer and dryer, don't need to use it, and plug it in a 30 amp timer box.

Here is a picture of the 50 amp timer box: http://www.garden.com/item/50-amp-ti...digital-timer/

30 amp timer box:
http://www.horticulturesource.com/pr...oducts_id=1969

50 amp extension cord:
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/c...1&kwtid=210236

30 amp extension cord:
http://www.rvsupplywarehouse.com/pro...d/300/pid/2170

My questions are: Is it safe? Is this setup doable? Does the extension cord have to be in a straight line or can I mount it on every ceiling wall corner running it to room 1 and 2. Please give me some advices. Thanks!

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Yes it would be safe, yes you can attach the cord to the walls. Yes what your thinking of is expensive. VV

VictorVIcious said:

Venting of the enclosed space is absolutely necessary. What you are doing is enclosing co2 eating monsters, they will need 'fresh air'. Air that is not co2 depleted. You can't put fresh air in unless you pull stale air out. And if you are going to put a 600 watt furnace in that size box you will want to air cool the light separate from the intake and exhaust system. Don't forget the oscillating fan to keep the air moving.
If your going to cool the whole garage.......?? VV

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Ya I was crazy thinking I could put 600 watts in there. But if I can't make it work without venting, even with a much smaller light (which I sorta know is a longshot anyway) then I'm gonna have to change plans or give up and that pisses me off. It looks like there are a million first time growers here who have made it work in spaces that are not ideal.

Does anyone have any bright ideas to solve my problem?

Ya gotta love it! Actually anytime any amateur (including myself) works with electricity without fully understanding whay they are doing is and invitation to disaster. Or, at the least, a wonderfully comic moment....
I'm not trying to be scary, and I have often overstepped my knowledge level with Mr. Electricity, but I'm just saying be careful. Playing with plumbing and carpentry and fucking it up will only cause a mess. Fucking up with electrical work has the potential to cause a fire or electrocution. Just be over-careful is all. The world needs all of us growers to teach our children...
And no, I won't change my name to BuzzKill...

That said, I have a question for someone more knowledgeable that me about ballasts and HID lighting. I just picked up eight older (10 yrs) 400 watt HID fixtures when a store did a switchover to flourescent. They were $25 bucks apeice so I couldn't say no and I'm just building a new grow room.
My question is about MH and HPS lights. I've heard and read that the two bulbs are not interchangeable using the same ballast. Is that a fact? Right now, all the fixtures (with ballasts attached, but I'm going to seperate them) came with 400 watt MH bulbs. Is it possible to install a 400 watt HPS in the same mogul fixture?
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

BTW: I've done some of my finest work (I'm a contractor) while buzzed with weed or wine, but I've also gotten some HELLASCIOUS shocks...

And BTW: I never thanked Bricktown and all the others who started have contributed to this thread. We all appreciate the time and energy and it's very good to have a forum to discuss this stuff. Thanks much!

The ballast themselves are not different, the hps bulbs require another part attached to the ballast. They have different capacitors and the hps has a starter as well. If it were me, I would fix one of those, try it and see what I think of it, let me explain.
A 400 watt fixture will do a dandy job for clones or seedlings. It doesn't take much space for those until final transplant, so it is likely one will be enough. For $125.00 you could have new 400 watt hps ballast, hood, and bulb. This will not be much more than the conversion bulb you would need to use with the mh ballast, and the hood will be a better configuration for growing. This does not mean I recommend the 400 watt lights, I do recommend getting the most you can for the money you have. VV

Okay so i only read like 8 pages on this thread so it prolly has already been asked but how would i go about getting a "im thinking its called" thermostat running to my intake and exhaust fans so that when im gone at work and the room heats up they will turn on. Its going to based in my attic and yesterday my highest temp was 103.8 and thats without any lights or anything so im slightly worried. Thanks

nice thread, really informatic...

I used to do rough ins when I was young pulled the homeruns and set the switch boxes while the master did the rooms.

I want to add 2 - 20 amps to my fuse box to have 2 devoted plugs ..... I have the space in the box.....What wiring do I want to use?

Martibacardi said:

Okay so i only read like 8 pages on this thread so it prolly has already been asked but how would i go about getting a "im thinking its called" thermostat running to my intake and exhaust fans so that when im gone at work and the room heats up they will turn on. Its going to based in my attic and yesterday my highest temp was 103.8 and thats without any lights or anything so im slightly worried. Thanks

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That is the problem with attic grows, it is either too hot or too cold. See the floors below the attic have insulation between them and the attic to keep the hot air and the cold air out of the house. Now you need to insulate your attic grow space just like it is living space if you want to grow living things there. I have been discussing what you need for an attic grow in a thread I have posted here and this is not really about an electrical question. Please take a look at the thread. https://www.rollitup.org/do-yourself/187391-diy-venting-grow-room-lights-2.html VV

vapedg13 said:

I used to do rough ins when I was young pulled the homeruns and set the switch boxes while the master did the rooms.

I want to add 2 - 20 amps to my fuse box to have 2 devoted plugs ..... I have the space in the box.....What wiring do I want to use?

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12-3 for 20 amp breakers. VV

VictorVIcious said:

12-3 for 20 amp breakers. VV

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Thank you sir

Hey Brick, I have a question from another thread and figured your an electrician so you should have the right answer. Would you save money on your electric bill using a 240 amp ballast opposed to a 120amp ballast? And would the saving warrant switching over?

REEFS said:

Hey Brick, I have a question from another thread and figured your an electrician so you should have the right answer. Would you save money on your electric bill using a 240 amp ballast opposed to a 120amp ballast? And would the saving warrant switching over?

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ha 240amp ballast??? i dont know if ive heard of such thing.. but a 240v line is simply 2 120v lines, therefore twice the current.... so yes savings IMO are warrant for switchin.

anyone used a sentinel hph4? im wondering what kind of terminals to install on the 3wire 10awg when connecting to the sentinel. ANYBODY??

please....

jtreezy420 said:

ha 240amp ballast??? i dont know if ive heard of such thing.. but a 240v line is simply 2 120v lines, therefore twice the current.... so yes savings IMO are warrant for switchin.

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Sorry, You are right I meant 240v Guess I shouldn't have taken that last hit.

Thank God for this thread...



For some reason my breaker in my grow room sucks big time.

I only run

650 CFM fan
2 18" osilating fans
2 1000Watt HPS
3 Air Pumps
3 small timers
1 Wall AC Unit.

And my breaker kicks in.
Right now i had to down grade to 2 600watts

How can i solve my problem so i can use 2 1000watt?

NewHiddenGrower said:

Thank God for this thread...



For some reason my breaker in my grow room sucks big time.

I only run

650 CFM fan
2 18" osilating fans
2 1000Watt HPS
3 Air Pumps
3 small timers
1 Wall AC Unit.

And my breaker kicks in.
Right now i had to down grade to 2 600watts

How can i solve my problem so i can use 2 1000watt?

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I'm not no electrician but it sounds like the breaker you are running off can't handle the load. Depending on the size of your breaker box you might be able to run a separate line off a breaker with less of a load on it just for you lights. Say you have a 200amp breaker box you can buy an add on breaker that you could wire just for you lights. Do you know what is all hooked up to the breaker that powers your grow room? I am sure it is hooked up to more than just your grow room.