Room fuse keepings tripping..wtf.... losing power

whats up RIU? starting my second grow...or trying to that is. My room keeps tripping its fuse and losing power. I am running 1 250w Ballast, 1 6 inch inline fan, 1 10,000 BTU portable a/c unit, 1 16 inch oscillating fan and sometimes charing my laptop. its a 15 amp fuse.. i think. i may not know what the hell im talking about but I hope someone understands what Im saying.. help me out?

try a different socket for your grow?

I have the light and 6 inch inline fan running from one socket and the a/c running on a socket on the other side of the room, both are running through a surge protector and the ac unit is connected to a surge protector, then a 20 foot orange outdoor extension cord, all grounded

Yea What the other guy said.
I am running 400 watt HID, 2 CFLS 28 watts, 100 watt inline fan, and an oscillating fan. on a 15 amp circuit.

Try a different outlet, on a different circuit if possible... use extension cords if needed.
and if you have the tools to read the volts and shit out of your socket you can test it and see of its getting less then 120v

or you can always get an 220v line put it your ballast will like that if it can be switched to 220v

stick a penny in there

400azip. to figure out your power demand you need to look at each electrical appliance for actual amp draw. If the appliance has watts then you must divide the watts by your line voltage to figure the load. ie a 110 watt appliance pulls 1 amp at 110volts (W=VxA) Plugging into different outlets means nothing if they are on the same circuit. Find out what the amperage of the circuit actually is. I think isn't going to cut it. If it is a 15A breaker then if you figure AxV=W then 15x110=1650 you can run 1650 watts. If you are in some ferin country and have a different line voltage than 110, then you figure accordingly. Keep in mind that whatever you have if you're maxed out, any voltage fluctuation below what you planned will result in a higher amp draw and pop your breaker. If you use a penny have the hot dogs and marshmallows ready!

assuming you are in the US,
the AC will draw about 10 amps& the light another2-3 amps so you are fully loading that circuit befor you add the fans. you will need to move the AC to another outlet on a fuse not used by much else. make sure your extension cord is rated for heavy duty use.
I hope Keefers26 was joking about the penny- its a sure way to start a fire.

400aZip said:

I have the light and 6 inch inline fan running from one socket and the a/c running on a socket on the other side of the room, ...

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First read the label on each appliances where the power cord connects. Each has a watt number or an amp number. Sum those numbers from all appliances. A 15 amp cirucit will support up to 1560 watts. If your sum exceeds that number, then you have created a potential house fire. Breaker is telling you to sum those numbers before powering all those devices.

You also might want to make sure that 15 amp is only to that room, in my old house one 15 amp would go to a room and then one outlet into the room right next to it. I was popping beakers every time I ran the microwave and washer at the same time.

It's def the AC, most units do pull around 10amps per 10,000btu but Ive seen them listed as double that even.
Run the AC to a different circuit and your golden.

You guys are really awesome. thanks for the replies. in all this, I learned a lot about the way houses are powered. lol my room should be good for 1650w. my ac pulls 1100, plus the 250w light and the 6 inch inline. everything else is out. the rooms outlets are the only outlets on the circuit. so I should not be exceeding my limit, though I am close.

mrmadcow said:

assuming you are in the US,
the AC will draw about 10 amps& the light another2-3 amps so you are fully loading that circuit befor you add the fans. you will need to move the AC to another outlet on a fuse not used by much else. make sure your extension cord is rated for heavy duty use.
I hope Keefers26 was joking about the penny- its a sure way to start a fire.

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In all honest, I think this is my problem. its a heavy duty cord but idk if it can handle all the power the a/c requires. also, I previously had it plugged into an outlet that was mostly covered by my bed.. restricting any air flow. I moved the location of that cord last night just trying to stop my breaker from tripping and today i went to unplug it and it was hot as hell. so Im thinking that it got super hot last night while being covered and the heat caused the circuit to trip. so, everything has been shut off for now until I get a dank extension cord. any input? your advice thus far has been priceless. thank you all

Yes you need a "Dank"(lol) cord. It sounds like you should get at least a 12 gauge cord. It will be about $50 for a 25'er. 14 gauge might get you by. Imho, you should try to duct some cool air into your space with fans. Using 9or 10 amps for cooling to run a 2 amp light doesn't make much sense to me. Just sayin'. The fact that your cord got hot would concern me greatly. Are you trying to run that ac on a lamp extension cord? Is the cord defective? When you get that dank cord you might get a fire extinguisher as well. Does your ac unit have a Low/High setting?

Replace the 15amp breaker woth a 20amp breaker and/or move the a/c to a different outlet on a different breaker!!! I wouldn't go above 20amp breaker though!!! I had the same issue and this is how I fixed it. The breaker is < $10 at Lowe's/HD

HydroDawg421 said:

Replace the 15amp breaker woth a 20amp breaker and/or move the a/c to a different outlet on a different breaker!!! I wouldn't go above 20amp breaker though!!! I had the same issue and this is how I fixed it. The breaker is < $10 at Lowe's/HD

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Do not follow this terrible advise! Never replace a breaker with one that the wires in your house are not rated for. That is a sure way to start a fire. I've seen it happen.

Get a new breaker or fuse, upgrade to a 20 or even 30 amp.
Change out time is less then 5 min's.

I STRONGLY agree with Schmarmpit above. It's asking for a house-fire.
I had a similar problem, albeit with a fan heater (loft grow in winter) and a 600w set-up. Here's the problem and solution.
I am guessing the breaker trips at lights-on time, then trips again when you try and re-set it. This is because of the sudden current draw required by the ballast to ignite the lamp, which is far more than the normal running current. It's the reason we use contactors to stop this surge blowing timers.
Now, a 15A circuit will handle this current draw, and it will handle the A/C unit, just not at the same time.
So the solution is to have the a/c on a timer set to turn off while the lamp fires up, then turn back on again.
Assuming your lights and a/c are on timers, it's also advisable to check they stay in sync every couple of weeks. Mine drift about a minute a month.
My final piece of advice is to ensure extension cords are fully extended and not coiled up (coiled leads have a lower current carrying capacity). Shorten them if necessary.

Ill just say right now that while Im uneducated when it comes to this subject, I am not stupid and will not do anything that will greatly harm my house or the people in it, thus me making this post in the first place. I appreciate the firm advice against bad solutions greatly and thank you for emphasizing their danger.

Cues - it would actually run about 15 minutes and then trip. as they are both on separate surge protectors, I turn one on before the other, never at the same time.

I was using a 'medium duty' 25 ft extension cord, not a dingy indoor cord. I bought a 12 gauge contractors cord. My last grow was in a closet as well and I ducted cold air straight from the houses AC unit vent in the ceiling into the tent and temps stayed above 80 and I was using CFLs. I wasnt happy with the yield at all so I upgraded my light. I dont want temps above 80 though. a good friend of mine grew the best bud I have ever smoked and he told me his secret was cool temps... So assuming I know what I'm doing with my nutrients, I got the ac unit to keep the temps low. I got it for a steal as well and could probably turn around and sell it for twice what I bought it for. but I really want my 'purple' strains to be purple and a natural way of inducing that color change is to drop the temps.

again guys, i really appreciate your help in getting me going safely with my new investments

Schmarmpit said:

Do not follow this terrible advise! Never replace a breaker with one that the wires in your house are not rated for. That is a sure way to start a fire. I've seen it happen.

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Standard electrical wiring that is up to code will support a 20 amp breaker. I spoke with a master electrician prior to making the change. He stated do NOT go over 20 amps without pulling a heavier gauge wire to the outlet/s.

In my breaker panel I have 15 & 20 amp breakers. Why? I don't know but I assume cost as a 15 amp is a few $$ cheaper than a 20 amp. But the wiring throughout the house is all the same gauge. It appears all standard electrical outlets are on 15 amp & outlets for the refridgerator, washer/dryer, stove and microwave are on 20 amp. My hot water heater is on a 30 amp breaker and there is a heavier gauge wire pulled to the water heater.

For now, everything in the breaker box will stay the same. I havent had an issue yet and the new cord is not heating up like the other one did.

Also, i have tangerine dream and blueberry seeds that I'll start once this round is in flower. In my prior research, i read that those strains are very temperature-sensitive. I want to grow teh dank!! lol

If 400aZip is in fact wired with 14awg wire he could infact go to a 20 amp breaker, this will of course remove most of your 20% safety margin from the circuit but you should still have enough in the wire to be safe. I suspect the extension cord is causing an increased amp draw due to a voltage drop causing both heating and overcurrent(>then breaker rating). If your exsisting cord is coiled several times try uncoiling it and see if that helps, If not try a better/shorter cord, then you can upgrade the breaker as you wont cause the thermal component to trip do to heating from the cord.