Electrical help

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patrickkawi37

Well-Known Member
i have a new project going and I have a 3 phase warehouse with what appears to be a 125 amp panel . why they would put a 125 amp breaker on a big ass shop is a question for another day.. but I'm trying to look past that. I have been getting different answers from different people about how much juice is here.

I'm trying to get an idea of how much power that actually means.. Before building a big ass box . I'm going to run everything I can on 240 I think it is so I can use less amps . Lights , mini splits , dehus . Everything else will standard . I can't get to the main breaker because it is located in the building behind me... Also , who the fuck does this?
I can't get out of the lease at this point so I'm trying to make do with what I have . Can anyone give me a rough idea of what I can do? I want to do... 16 lights , roughly 80 amps ..+ 40amps for AC 30 for dehus 20 for fans and extra bullshit. Is this doable ? The dude looking at it today was explaining how 3 phase has 3 legs and you can split amps onto each leg and make it doable.. I just want to be absolutely sure before I size the room out . Thanks guys
 
orbo

orbo

Well-Known Member
Also, unless your gear is tapped for 208/480 you might need a step down transformer. Do you know if you have a Wyse or a Delta config?
 
orbo

orbo

Well-Known Member
BTW - the dude is correct, you can break each leg off a 3 phase and pair it up with a noodle to get single phase. BUT, 3 phase is usually 208 or 480...therein lies the rub.
 
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patrickkawi37

Well-Known Member
orbo said:
Also, unless your gear is tapped for 208/480 you might need a step down transformer. Do you know if you have a Wyse or a Delta config?
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It is 208 . I am going to be buying new gear is there something specific I should be looking for? Someone said something about the ballasts and then the dude at the hydro store said most of them auto adjust to 208?
 
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patrickkawi37

Well-Known Member
orbo said:
BTW - the dude is correct, you can break each leg off a 3 phase and pair it up with a noodle to get single phase. BUT, 3 phase is usually 208 or 480...therein lies the rub.
Click to expand...
Thankyou sir . So if it is 125 amps of 3 phase 208 on 1 Awg wire.. How many lights do you think are doable on this ?
 
orbo

orbo

Well-Known Member
EXCELLENT. For your 120v stuff you have effectively 3 x 125A circuits. Each leg of the 3 phase times 125A (main breaker). For your lighting, you have effectively 1.5 x 125A. Each leg and a half times 125A (main breaker).

Just make absolutely sure that ANYTHING requiring 240V is also capable of 208V and you're good to go. All your 120V stuff will be fine.
 
orbo

orbo

Well-Known Member
patrickkawi37 said:
Thankyou sir . So if it is 125 amps of 3 phase 208 on 1 Awg wire.. How many lights do you think are doable on this ?
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#1 AWG is typically rated around ~100A unless you have 90° then youre good for ~150A. 90° is high dollar wire so you likely have the ~100A stuff (60° stuff)

So, 16 lights roughly 80A is none issue for the #1.
 
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patrickkawi37

Well-Known Member
orbo said:
EXCELLENT. For your 120v stuff you have effectively 3 x 125A circuits. Each leg of the 3 phase times 125A (main breaker). For your lighting, you have effectively 1.5 x 125A. Each leg and a half times 125A (main breaker).

Just make absolutely sure that ANYTHING requiring 240V is also capable of 208V and you're good to go. All your 120V stuff will be fine.
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That is beautiful news . So 120 amps of 240v and 50-60 amps of 120v should be fine?
 
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patrickkawi37

Well-Known Member
orbo said:
#1 AWG is typically rated around ~100A unless you have 90° then youre good for ~150A. 90° is high dollar wire so you likely have the ~100A stuff (60° stuff)

So, 16 lights roughly 80A is none issue for the #1.
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You are a hero . I'm going to gear it up. I was freaking out thinking I was stuck with this big ass shop with no power
 
orbo

orbo

Well-Known Member
patrickkawi37 said:
You are a hero . I'm going to gear it up. I was freaking out thinking I was stuck with this big ass shop with no power
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I would still double check the voltage between phases just to make sure you have what you think you have.
 
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patrickkawi37

Well-Known Member
orbo said:
I would still double check the voltage between phases just to make sure you have what you think you have.
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Ok I will have them do it today. Do you know ballasts that will run properly? I'm reading that some will work with 240 plugs but might not be at full output because it's only 208v?
 
orbo

orbo

Well-Known Member
patrickkawi37 said:
Ok I will have them do it today. Do you know ballasts that will run properly? I'm reading that some will work with 240 plugs but might not be at full output because it's only 208v?
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I was skeptical when you said "dude at the hydro store said"....because usually you have to get a multi-tap ballast to support 208V. You're in a commercial setting now, think commercial. You're probably not going to find anything in hydro store's as far as lighting goes that will use 208V. Any commercial growers out there can help @patrickkawi37 with 208V lighting?
 
orbo

orbo

Well-Known Member
orbo said:
I was skeptical when you said "dude at the hydro store said"....because usually you have to get a multi-tap ballast to support 208V. You're in a commercial setting now, think commercial. You're probably not going to find anything in hydro store's as far as lighting goes that will use 208V. Any commercial growers out there can help @patrickkawi37 with 208V lighting?
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You might be able to put it all on 120V and mix it evenly across the phases....maybe your people could do the calculations on that? If you did that, you could still shop like a residential guy (at the hydro stores...etc)...even though you're in a commercial environment. I don't mean for that to sound condescending even though it does.
 
orbo

orbo

Well-Known Member
BTW - Ordering thru Alibaba is a little bit of a pain in the ass - and be prepared for 2 billion Chinese to start emailing you for your order.
 
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patrickkawi37

Well-Known Member
orbo said:
You might be able to put it all on 120V and mix it evenly across the phases....maybe your people could do the calculations on that? If you did that, you could still shop like a residential guy (at the hydro stores...etc)...even though you're in a commercial environment. I don't mean for that to sound condescending even though it does.
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Im going to bring this up today. I think my best and cheapest bet is to run on 120v and have them break it up between legs. I can split the lights up onto two different lighting controllers and put one to each leg. Acs and dehus on the third leg . And for the air conditioners I will make sure to purchase 208v
 
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