A Bored Electrician to Answer Your Questions

IAm5toned said:

yep, thats what the ansi code is for.
i googled the ansi on the MC lamp and it tells me its a non retrofit pulse start lamp. the retrofit lamp you already have, will run in a hps ballast... but thats not the case with the new lamp. it needs a special ignitor.

here is the spec sheet for a generic CMH ANSI M142/M102 ballast, on it are the specs for the ignitor and starter combo throw them on that 150w HPS ballast core and you now have a CMH ballast for cheap! tho the price for the same ballast is 45$ plus S&H. off the top of my head i have no idea what the ignitor/cap combo would cost. when ordering a cap, what you need to know is the microfarad rating, which looks like this: 17 Mfd ± 3% that is a 17 microfarad capacitor, with a correction factor of plus/minus 3%. you dont need to worry about the correction factor, just the microfarad rating.
when ordering an ignitor, there are 2 things you need to know, first, the part number... thats the important one, looks like this: 356-AS-71-HC its kinda like a VIN, as each digit means something or the other, lol. the other thing is the ballast to lamp distance. thats important in that if you exceed the ballast to lamp distance of the ignitor, the lamp will slow start or not start at all. most ignitors ballast to lamp distance is 5 feet, though they make some pretty big ones for remote ballasts. i have personally seen remote ballasts 300' from the lamp.

sorry guys, i would have got to these questions sooner, but ive been extra busy traveling for work....

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I gave the company I ordered the bulb from Lighting Supply Co a call the next day. I put the HPS bulb back in with it's new Cool Tube Reflector.
They had to ask someone about converting it and call me back. Of course they said I couldn't and I didn't want to say "My friend IAm5toned can tell me." I asked about the ansi code and she was surprised I knew ansi. I didn't want to mention I didn't know what it meant, but knew it was important. I asked if I could return it since the 250W coming was right, but this wasn't gonna work. She said they would credit my card back and just keep it. I had a feeling a different cap/ignitor combo could work.
I get the cap microfarad rating. On the ignitor the part # should be easy to find on it. On the distance I guess it's about 4'-6', but designed for more if I move it around in the garage. I'll get some prices soon.
I have some other stuff to work on and the 150W HPS is working great. I think I'll tackle it after the harvest of Two Queens Stuffed in a Fridge when I do some minor tweaking. I appreciate the help again. So I have a $26 bulb for free, so I figured even the $10 I paid for shipping and the new $45 ballast would be good for another set-up if I do another project in case the HPS couldn't be converted.
I added one more thing I think you'll laugh at. I hope the traveling has gone well.

hey i need help to wire up 240v dual pole 30 amp to my 60 amp sub panel how many wire do i need right now i have green , black ,white

same thing i did, try searching the thread this setup has been done before
but for 220V, try 2 blacks, and a green

ha ah the search function on this site is horse mess-

anyway, 5toned, quick one, in the begiining i didn't anticipate the 220v circuit i put in for the lower amps, and i have shit ton of 120v timers, but no 240v.
i wired my 240 to 120 outlets for now because i didn't have the money, will 120 timers work on 240V, they're rated for 15 amps and i'm pulling 12 @ 120%, or will this fry the little motor that runs the clock, can they be modded?

thanks man-murf

what kind of timers are they?
in most cases, they wont be able to be modded.... but if there relay outputs, instead of sourced outputs, then there might be a way.

a sourced output timer, gets its power, and the power it switches from whatever its plugged into.

a relay output timer, takes power to run the clock, but then another hot is needed, for whatever the timer is supposed to be switching. sometimes its common to jump out the hot from the timer to the relay common on a relay output timer... if this is the case, you might be able to switch one leg of the 240v, thou i would need model numbers to give you a definite answer on it.

sweet, will look into this tonight, i did find plug in 240 timers for about 20 bucks online, but funds are low and i could switch these that would be great, i'll let ya know

-murf

I have a good question for you....

I just moved into a new place a few months ago and just noticed the other day that when the central a/c kicks on outside at the house next door, my lights dim. WTF?

rockinlespaul said:

I have a good question for you....

I just moved into a new place a few months ago and just noticed the other day that when the central a/c kicks on outside at the house next door, my lights dim. WTF?

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you and your neighbor share the same step-down transformer, from the utility company. Your lights being dimmed when his a/c kicks on is because of the inrush current the motor of the a/c compressor creates when its starts from a dead stop.hint: if you report this to the power company, they may come out and set a larger transformer to fix it.....

IAm5toned said:

you and your neighbor share the same step-down transformer, from the utility company. Your lights being dimmed when his a/c kicks on is because of the inrush current the motor of the a/c compressor creates when its starts from a dead stop.hint: if you report this to the power company, they may come out and set a larger transformer to fix it.....

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Man I appreciate that answer brother. I wasn't sure if it was normal or not.

alright timers-

1: intermatic heavy duty, no number on the case any where, but it looks to be tn311c, heavy duty grounded timer

2:hydrofarm tm01015, 125vac, 15 amp

im sorry to say, but those timers wont work with 240v.... i had high hopes for the intermatic, but after looking up the model numbers, i know better......
there's a way to make the motors run off of 240, but the relays themselves wont be able to break and switch without causing arcing, and that will burn up the relay points, and leave your lights on, forever (or untill you discover it)

if you want, you can tell me a little bit more about your setup here, or in PM, and i might be able to find a low cost solution... like using the timers to fire a 240v rated relay with a 120v coil....

I have a 400 mh, and depending on the week, its sometimes overkill for the little ones. Will a smaller MH bulb work in a ballast for a 400?

depends on if its a probe start or pulse start ballast.... a probe start has a capacitor, a pulse start has an ignitor, and a capacitor.
a probe start 250w mh lamp will run in a 400w mh probe start ballast.

thanks for the leg work, man i sure appreciate it-

as for alternates, i'm fuckin broke, so manual it is

Nice to see another qualified electrician, I am a new journeyman inside wireman with about 10,000 hours of mostly comercial/ school work. I have an apartment with a 60 amp panel and people trip when they see I harvest 2-3lbs per month with 3-1000watt HPS and 3- 280 watt T5 HO fixtures. anyways basically ran all ballast in 240v, brought in 2 dedicated circuits for pumps, fans. I was having this buzzing with my meter outside in which I smacked it and the meter stopped for 2 months, then they replaced my meter with one of the new digital ones so no more free power . anyways for my next trick im going to hook up a 2 ton water chiller im going to buy to the landlords washer and dryer panel. I already made an agreement to pay that electric bill since he thinks im running a fishing rod business out of my house and I need more power. I use liquid cooled lights and this summer is going to be too hot without the chiller. I pay about 5-600/mo for electricity but it definetly is worth it and I wouldnt be able to do it without the knowledge of wiring up 240v. If I could only get 3 phase/480v to my house I would be in business.

do you know how to run a balanced load?

itll cut your costs by at least 10%......

get your wattage to match as closely as possible, across both phases.
the idea is to have as much phase to phase cancellation as possible, and reduce the neutral load.
less amperage on the neutral = less wattage loss @ the meter

Random little ? for ya. Why do some comp fans run both directions if you flip the leads, and some only run if the leads are correct? I get the DC and AC/DC from your explanation but I've never understood that one. Also thanks for explaining how the White and Ground works. I kinda knew some of it, but that cleared it up.
Daniels

Danielsgb said:

Random little ? for ya. Why do some comp fans run both directions if you flip the leads, and some only run if the leads are correct? I get the DC and AC/DC from your explanation but I've never understood that one. Also thanks for explaining how the White and Ground works. I kinda knew some of it, but that cleared it up.
Daniels

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well, it has to do with what type of motor is running the fan...
one kind of split phase induction motor, known as a permanent-split capacitor motor is reversible by simply swapping polarity on the input voltage.(reversing wires)
a universal motor, popular in tools and small appliances, is reversible by switch action, that is, you energize a different pole on the motor winding to switch directions.
wound motors, squirrel cage motors, and split phase motors are not reversible easily.
not saying it cant be done, but it usually requires some kind of rectifier or variable frequency drive to make it happen.

Im having a problem with my ballast. Its a magnetic 600w. Basically when plugged in it just hums/buzzes and the bulb doesnt light at all. I had this problem with it before on a previous grow and usually when you unplug it and plug it in again a few times it works (but it is taking more and more tries each time). I thought it was the bulb so bought a brand new one and im still having the same problem. It ran for 3 days no problem then only started getting this problem again. Ive tried different sockets, different reflector, new bulb but nothing fixed it. Is it just as simple as the ignitor is dodgy because once it gets going I dont have any problems with it? Any advice appriciated.

Whats going on man.So im having a few issues.First what does it smell like when there is an electrical problem.I was having an issue recently and my grow seemed to smell like chlorine to me.None of my outlets were bad,no fuses popping in the grow.But today when in my room i had my ac on,and that and my squirrel cage fan are in the same outlet,with the heat lamp for a bearded dragon.Just a small one but still.The fuse popped.The grow was off,but the fan on.Now I have an outlet in the light socket im my closet.I run my grow off that.Because of the smell ive gotten worried.The only thing that changed is i opened my ona gel,and added the cage fan.I thought it may be my ballast,but im not so sure now.I run a 400w mh,90w led,2 24w cfls.inline fans for my aircooled hood,and one from my tent with the ufo.and one more inline for the cab with the cfl.Do you think this is a safe load.I dont think the ac and closet are on the same fuse.because i always run my ac now in the summer.and until i added the plug for the cage fan i had no issues.well other than this weird smell.Could the smell of chlorine be electrical or what do you think it is?the ballast?can you describe what a bad ballast would smell like.Ive had no fire,smoke,or even a popped fuse in my closet.But because of the smell ive gotten freaked out.
I mean if it was an electrical issue and everything is on the same fuse.Wouldnt it have popped when everything was on,not when just the fan and ac are on?please get back to me asap,i appreciate it very much man ..