I've wired my lights (light sockets, 120v power wire) for my CFL lights and I've seen how to wire braker boxes and I would never attemped to wire a braker box
Serious power issue!!
- Thread starter Bagelthief
- Start date
NLXSK1
Well-Known Member
I really do not recommend trying to run new power lines inside an apartment you are renting. You are using WAAAYY to much power for a 1 bedroom apartment. Is this place separately metered or do you pay the electrical bill?
You have space for more lines but having the ability to do something does not mean that you should do it...
If you choose to do this a professional installation will require you to run the lines inside the walls which usually means cutting, patching and painting drywall to get the lines fished into the walls. Otherwise you have the equivalent of a large extension cord hanging from your electrical panel.
CustomHydro
Well-Known Member
I've wired my lights (light sockets, 120v power wire) for my CFL lights and I've seen how to wire braker boxes and I would never attemped to wire a braker box
If you are acting like wiring a CFL socket is a big deal then no, u shouldn't.
I agree
wireing CFLs is what I'd do flors I dk and if I was gonna to rewire my braker box I would tare every thing apart and rewire it properly and replace all the wires with new wire, better safe then sorry
CustomHydro
Well-Known Member
What do u mean he is using WAYYYY to much power for a 1 bedroom apt?
I didn't know that you are supposed to base how much power u can use by how many bedrooms you have.???
I always based it on how much the breaker box can and wiring can handle... Maybe i was misinformed?
Please elaborate a little for us...
well to help keep the heat down trying to use the power for a certin amount of bed rooms would use so if you live in a 1 bedroom place but your useing the power amount as a 4 bedroom place they might suspect your growing
CustomHydro
Well-Known Member
This is a common misconception, along with infared being able to see thru walls....
Trust me, if the electric company sees you are running more power than u should be they will commend you not rat you out. As long as you are not drawing more than the transformer will allow and u pay ur bill on time you have nothing to worry about.
No one will ever even see ur account, their are millions of people using a lot of power for other reasons besides growing dope. It's all a computerized process. There are no red flags that pop up and say "grower alert". If you are already under survailance for growing, they may get a warrrant to look at your electric bill and that will help them get a warrant for your house, but if you don't have any heat on you, power consumption should be your last concern.
captain792000
New Member
what he did was simply add a breaker...something a lot of do it yourselfers do... instead of going to home depot or lowes and buying a how to book... I simply explained it to him step by step... and basically your somewhat right about the large extension cord hanging out of the box, its a method electricians call, temporary lighting... its not a code violation or anything... the only exception is its not allowed more than 90 days...but im not telling....lol..
captain792000
New Member
FUUUCK!!! that was a bitch, but i learned SOO MUCH. i am no longer afraid of opening a breaker box. those things used to be the scariest things in the house to me. the breaker that i initially told you was running nothing was apparently connected to the washer and dryer out back! so that was a no go. however, i used Captain's EXCELLENT tutorial to "break" my "breaker cherry" (no pun intended) and instead i used the 20 amp breaker that was dedicated to the dishwasher to power my new "dedicated grow outlet"!! i damn near almost killed myself, when i crossed the white and black lines accidentally. a huge spark of electricity ignited withing a few inches of my hand. at that point the wife started crying histerically, and started yelling about how much she hated me growing weed, and that she didnt want me to die and stuff, and that im all she has. pretty ruff on her to see me make that really carless mistake. after that i started paying more attention and after a few hitches its all done and wired now. i feel so good when i do a good project and learn so much at the same time! now i KNOW i wont have any current issues anymore! thanks again SomeGuy and especially Captain!!
im glad to hear it all worked out for you man...dont worry that arch wouldnt have killed ya, but it does scare the hell out of you right? lol... I would suggest maybe running the ac on the A or B circuit thoough and maybe the fan... best of luck to you bro.. im off to work late...lol...
Bagelthief
Well-Known Member
I've wired my lights (light sockets, 120v power wire) for my CFL lights and I've seen how to wire braker boxes and I would never attemped to wire a braker box
hmm. odd how you first tell us that you've only "wired" a few CFL's, that your not sure if you could wire floros, that you would never even ATTEMPT to wire a breaker. yet, if you "had" to, you would rewire it "properly" and replace "everything" as if you are some professional...
i pay the electric. im not worried about the increase in power consumption because im doing this legally (at least under state law) because i have my medical card. i know its a giant extension cord, better then overloading prexisting wires...and nothing is "hanging". see attached pic.
Exactly...
right again. +rep for a good head on your shoulders.
yea, im really glad i started this thread. im sure it can help a lot of people. it would be nice to get it stickied. check out my journal bro, ill be updating in a few hours with more pics of my set up.
im glad to hear it all worked out for you man...dont worry that arch wouldnt have killed ya, but it does scare the hell out of you right? lol... I would suggest maybe running the ac on the A or B circuit thoough and maybe the fan... best of luck to you bro.. im off to work late...lol...
hey man, thanks to you it all worked out for me! damn, that arch was scary as fuck, electricity is some nasty shit, but im glad to hear it wouldn't have killed me. if i WOULD have gotten shocked though, the wife would have made me pull my plants right after i got up from the ground. lol. after she was done crying and shit, she was all angry at me...AND AT YOU!! hahahaha! "whos this Captain asshole who put it in your mind you could do this!! you could die...blah blah blah" lol. thanks again man!
Bagelthief
Well-Known Member
captain792000
New Member
Awesome... you even ran it into the box so you could put the cover on... now its definately not a huge extension cord hanging out of the box...lol...
great job man... might not look all that pretty... but hey it works...
Sjerpsy
Well-Known Member
yea it looks pretty good man!You got some good advice, I just sat back and watched...although....I DO think that its against Electrical CODE to do what you've done so not really "legal" but...your lucky your panel is so easily accessable! Mines in the damn closet behind all the shit I have in there....too small of a place, heh heh...
captain792000
New Member
nope... its totally legal for up to 90 days... its called temporary wiring... its in the NEC code book...its all good..
SomeGuy
Well-Known Member
Yup, you tha man! LOL Glad you were able to take the time to help him out properly. Getting into the B-box the first time is a little scary for most. Looks like he is all set and wont be snapping breakers anymore.
User24
Well-Known Member
i thought I would add that should you require more outlets and wish to run dedicated lines, you can buy those slimline dual breakers (15 or 20a) like the ones in your pictures on the bottom right, and replace existing non-slimline breakers, just move the existing circuits to 1 of the ports on the slimline and you have the 2nd port to use as you see fit.
you can still run into the problem of tripping your main breaker, which doesnt appear to be in that panel that you show, probably located centrally in the apartments, if you run more amps than that panel is fed with. (I would suspect you have at least a 50 amp breaker feeding you on 8 or 6awg lines (the red and black lines you see screwed into the sub panel on either side of the bottom 2 breakers)
EDIT: on second look, you only have at most some 10awg feeding that panel, which if it was installed to code, can carry 50 amps max. although i wouldnt put more than 30 amps on it at once personally, it will get very hot, and if you dont know that its secure and new wiring in good condition, it can cause a fire at 40-50 amps easily in an older building (15-20 yrs or older)
you can still run into the problem of tripping your main breaker, which doesnt appear to be in that panel that you show, probably located centrally in the apartments, if you run more amps than that panel is fed with. (I would suspect you have at least a 50 amp breaker feeding you on 8 or 6awg lines (the red and black lines you see screwed into the sub panel on either side of the bottom 2 breakers)
EDIT: on second look, you only have at most some 10awg feeding that panel, which if it was installed to code, can carry 50 amps max. although i wouldnt put more than 30 amps on it at once personally, it will get very hot, and if you dont know that its secure and new wiring in good condition, it can cause a fire at 40-50 amps easily in an older building (15-20 yrs or older)
NASTYRUDEDOGG
Well-Known Member
The general rule of thumb is 1 1000 watt light per bedroom, so if you have a 2 bedroom place you can safely run 2 1000 watt lights with all other equipment and not draw any suspicion to yourself. Happy growing.
CustomHydro
Well-Known Member
Hey buddy, good job on ur setup! Plus it's code too! +REP Right back at u...
The only thing u may want to consider are a few of these tacks to hang the wire instead of duct tape. The tape will eventually come off ....
The only thing u may want to consider are a few of these tacks to hang the wire instead of duct tape. The tape will eventually come off ....
