need an electrican

We have broken something beyond our expertise to fix and are going to have to hire someone. Is there a way to find someone sympathic to the cause?

pay someone enough and they probly wont see anything lol

Cowart69 said:

We have broken something beyond our expertise to fix and are going to have to hire someone. Is there a way to find someone sympathic to the cause?

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what happened? most home repairs are not out of hand, if you know where to find some helpful info....

We seem to have blown a circuit.....and it is probably because we are running too much voltage into our grow room.

I have no electrical experience at all so I know I cannot fix it. Got some help getting this far.

I was thinking about going to the place where I buy my supplies and get a "recommendation" thinking they might have some electricians that deal in this kind of business.....once again we really aren't doing anything illegal as we have a license.....I just dont want to have to explain any more then I have to. Lots of busts in my neck of the woods lately.

Just check your fuse box, if possible show a pic of your fuse box this will make it easier. The fuse box is there for a reason, look at it.

Are you in Orange County Southern CA? I have a friend who is a patient in Laguna Niguel who is an electrician.

you probly need to add another stablock breaker if your blowing them...

what kind of wattage are you running?

Andrew

I am not sure how much wattage I am running but it looks like we are going to have to have a electrician come out anyway.

We completely turned off our power to the grow room and we are still having power spikes where the power almost goes off and then comes back on so we must be having additional problems....its funny because we were not having problems until there were some bad wind storms in the area but we really didn't have it bad but some did not that far away.

That could be a power company problem. They use different phases for the power they send to you and it sound like the might have a problem. Especailly if anyone else around you is experiencing the same problem. This happened at a restuarant I worked at. Only reasn I know anything about it. If you are MMJ you should be able to talk to the power company, explain what is happening. They may have an idea what the cause is. May just be something they have to fix and if it is it shouldn't cost you anything. VV

Had a 420 ok electrician come out yesterday.....the circuit breaker that goes to the back lights of my house (which means it also affects the grow closet) was going bad. It was only on a "15" and he replaced it with a "30"

We are seeing how it goes now....but we haven't had any flickering lights since yesterday.

Glad to here its nothing major. VV

I would be careful with the "420 ok" electricians work. The "15" is the breaker size controlling how much current is allowed to flow through the circuit. Normally, 15 amp breakers are used on 14 guage wire. The 14 guage wire can handle 15 amps of current flow without the wire getting warmer. Replacing the 15a with a 30a could be a very dangerous situation. If 30a is allowed to flow through 14 gauge wire, the wire will heat up inside of your walls(or floor joists or attic...) and possibly start a fire. This is especially important if you are already dealing with a warm grow room or exhaust area. Then a small increase in temperature might be enough to cause concern. I have seen many fires caused by "taking the easy way out". If all he did was swap a breaker, I would find out what size wire is present and insist on the proper installation.

i,ve done my electrical training as part of my engineering qualifications - if he,s replaced a 15A fuse with a 30A one this will not "Cure" the problem it mearly allows more current thru into your house - not sdeal or good practice but still it wont cause any overheating too badly of your wall cables as they are rated at lot higher. you say you,ve unplugged everything in grow room? try and do it like this go round all the rooms in the floor your grow rooms on count all the appliances and equipment you have plugged into sockets or outlets - it may be a case of you have too many thing plugged in around your house

i.e a ring main circuit (your sockets) is rated at 13A so you can plug things safely that are up to 13A however you breaker will be rated higher than 15-20A - bear in mind a tv -dvd player -clothes iron and hoover and washer dryer , fridge and freezer all run at same time in most ppl,s house and thats under the 15A of the breaker you may just be pushing it near the limit

hope it helps -althiugh a bit long winded

biggie said:

but still it wont cause any overheating too badly of your wall cables as they are rated at lot higher.

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How can you say what size cable(wire?) is in his walls if you have not been there? A continous 25a load through 14 gauge wire would cause temperature rise! A 30 a breaker would allow this situation to occur. The NEC(National Electrical Code) is written with fire safety in mind. They do not allow this for good reason. IT IS UNSAFE!!! Your "training" is poor at best biggie. Do not give people advice that can result in fires!

Yep - the wire should match the breaker. I wouldn't go higher than 15 amp using 14 gauge. I used 12 gauge to add two new 20 amp circuits.

also keep in mind you shouldn't draw more than 80% of the rated amperage. So with 15 amp circuits you shouldn't pull more than 12 amps. But an electrician (420-friendly or not) should be aware of this.

point i was trying to make is that the house will not burn down as he sits at his pc- i mean what should i ppost saying theres a good chance his house will burn to ground with him in it? HOWEVER he should investigate the problem ASAP as it is not correct - if you notice i did say upping a breaker is not good practice - i,m well aware of standard cable rating both in uk and us so please do not critic my standard of work.

however i realise looking at post its quite long winded but hey i,d just done a 14hr night shift my apolgys about that

email468 said:

Yep - the wire should match the breaker. I wouldn't go higher than 15 amp using 14 gauge. I used 12 gauge to add two new 20 amp circuits.

also keep in mind you shouldn't draw more than 80% of the rated amperage. So with 15 amp circuits you shouldn't pull more than 12 amps. But an electrician (420-friendly or not) should be aware of this.

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You are dead on with the 80% de-rating factor. Your wire size(12 guage) is perfect for your 20a outlet addition. For a 30a breaker, the installation would require #10 or larger wire to properly handle the current. I have never seen residential wiring ran in #10 unless its a dryer or a range receptical.