Experienced Electrician! Here to Answer Any and All Growroom Electrical Questions

mrmadcow said:

20 amps of 220 (or 240) will give you about 4000 watts but for safety, stay under 3500 watts so 4 600watts lights will be fine.- a 600 draws more than 600 watts, a digital will draw 650 & an old mag type will draw a little over 700 watts.
220 in N.America is made up from 2 110v legs that are phased differently. the 4 prong outlets have 2 hot legs,1 neutral and a ground.
you can use 110 outlets and plugs but 220 outlets are not much more in price so why violate code and risk someone plugging your new TV into a 220 outlet by mistake to save $20? are your ballasts wired for 220 or can they be converted? instead of outlets, you could buy a hotwater heater type timer and hardwire everything to it.

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All my ballasts run on either 120 or 240 however I will have to purchase new chords that have the 4 prong 240 volt plug end or cut the 120v plugs off my current cords and fashion them with the different plugs myself. I have never seen a multi outlet power bar for 240V myself but I probably wasnt looking in the right places. Also as you mentioned I will need a special timer that can handle 240V, this is something that Ive never seen before either but Ill take a look. Running it through the 120 hardware is impractical I realize now given that a 120V timer would not handle the 240V. Why does my baseboard wire have only 2 wires and a ground when there are 4 connections with the plugs? might I have missed something and it is in fact 120V? At the fuse box each wire has its own breaker and the two breakers are barred together, each breaker says 20amp

Hey sir I wired up my pc fans two towards the top for exhaust and one bottom for intake.. I wired all three together. But even with the wire nuts and electrical tape, Inside the box, I could cover them over with Diamond Mylar, but it seems to me this would be hazards, should i switch it up and run them out the back of the box instead, or maybe just switch to AC fans?? More expensive But i want safety! If they are 4" fans what size millimeter will match that? not to familiar with the metric system. Thank you very, very much on any and all light you shed on this subject as I want the safest home made box. It's ready to go, but I'm a little sketchy about the fan wiring inside the box it seems like running them outside down the back would be better. Contemplating biting the bullet and ordering AC fans as there is a power strip mounted on back. any help with this matter would sure take a load off! Thanks very much for your expertise in this matter and willing to share them. God bless, And burn one for me lol Thanks, very much, sativa 1973.

sativa1973 said:

Hey sir I wired up my pc fans two towards the top for exhaust and one bottom for intake.. I wired all three together. But even with the wire nuts and electrical tape, Inside the box, I could cover them over with Diamond Mylar, but it seems to me this would be hazards, should i switch it up and run them out the back of the box instead, or maybe just switch to AC fans?? More expensive But i want safety! If they are 4" fans what size millimeter will match that? not to familiar with the metric system. Thank you very, very much on any and all light you shed on this subject as I want the safest home made box. It's ready to go, but I'm a little sketchy about the fan wiring inside the box it seems like running them outside down the back would be better. Contemplating biting the bullet and ordering AC fans as there is a power strip mounted on back. any help with this matter would sure take a load off! Thanks very much for your expertise in this matter and willing to share them. God bless, And burn one for me lol Thanks, very much, sativa 1973.

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im bout to burn one for ya right now............


alright , where was we.... yea if i was you i would run the wires on the outside of the box so you can easily get to them when needed.
i would go with AC fans just because of the air movement compared to pc fans. if your just usin floros or cfls they will work great, no need to spend the extra money. but if your like everybody else in the world your gonna want to upgrade eventually anyway , and you cant do too much upgradin with pc fans.
then if you dont want the smell in the air , you'll have to get a carbon filter and a pc fan wont work for that.

those wirenuts an electrical tape is plenty safe as long as it aint fully exposed. and of course as long as you dont overload the wire. It might look unsafe but inside almost every device is the same wirenuts , with the same "splices". So dont worry too much.







soil ...... good mornin all , and God bless you all !

Thedillestpickle said:

All my ballasts run on either 120 or 240 however I will have to purchase new chords that have the 4 prong 240 volt plug end or cut the 120v plugs off my current cords and fashion them with the different plugs myself. I have never seen a multi outlet power bar for 240V myself but I probably wasnt looking in the right places. Also as you mentioned I will need a special timer that can handle 240V, this is something that Ive never seen before either but Ill take a look. Running it through the 120 hardware is impractical I realize now given that a 120V timer would not handle the 240V. Why does my baseboard wire have only 2 wires and a ground when there are 4 connections with the plugs? might I have missed something and it is in fact 120V? At the fuse box each wire has its own breaker and the two breakers are barred together, each breaker says 20amp

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Your baseboard heaters (if they are 220) are wired without a neutral ... so 2 hot legs and one ground. back in the day (and even today too) they didnt use grounds as often as they do now. having a ground and a neutral wont make the device work any better but its a lil safer. the ground kinda serves as the "backup" neutral.

i think the easiest way would be to follow cow's advice and run the single wire to a timer that you can plug all four ballasts into.

or you can run four outlets off the single wire like you said , but there would be a lot of riggin goin on. you can buy the four cords an outlets to match and it wont be so bad, but if you wanna go the cheap route , you will have to "rig" and correctly wire or risk burnin shit up.

i dont know exactly how the 120/240 ballasts work inside, so you would have to make sure you know which wire goes to what connection. im not so sure it will just work off 220 by just using the current neutral as the extra hot leg. you might have to get the 220 plug that goes to the ballast , then do your riggin from there.
If your not sure of how the wiring in the ballast works , then get the technical data on it so its correct.
and since you dont have a neutral , then you will have to use the ground , thats where the riggin comes in. i dont recommend riggin anything electrical unless you know what your doing but that being said , it will work , but you wont have your "backup" neutral and thats worse on your ballast in the long run.





soil

Thedillestpickle said:

This thread is great, glad its around and still be answered to. Really makes this feel like a community.
ohhh and how is this thread not a stickey?

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Thanks , there are a few good folks on here that work real hard to keep people from dieing when messin with electricity.

Special thanks to big balls , brick , cow and all the people that have worked on this thread.






soil (former wyteboi)

Thedillestpickle said:

...as you mentioned I will need a special timer that can handle 240V, this is something that Ive never seen before either but Ill take a look........ Why does my baseboard wire have only 2 wires and a ground when there are 4 connections with the plugs? might I have missed something and it is in fact 120V? At the fuse box each wire has its own breaker and the two breakers are barred together, each breaker says 20amp

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here is the type of timer I was talking about
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100685853/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

your heater has only 2 wires plus ground because that is all it needs.plugs have a 4th wire to add a neutral for appliances that also need 110. for example, your oven has a light int it that runs off of 110.
as for wiring your ballast, I am not sure what the correct way is to connect to 220. I have seen the 220 wire hooked to 1 leg of the circuit and the common/neutral wire from the ballast hooked to the other leg but I have also seen the 110 to 1 leg and the 220 wire to the other leg. either way(follow your wiring diagram) you wont be using the neutral leg.

wyteboi said:

Thanks , there are a few good folks on here that work real hard to keep people from dieing when messin with electricity.

Special thanks to big balls , brick , cow and all the people that have worked on this thread.






soil (former wyteboi)

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forgetting someone???


& Special thanks to
soil (former wyteboi)
or whatever you want
to call yourself . . .

mrmadcow said:

here is the type of timer I was talking about
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100685853/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

your heater has only 2 wires plus ground because that is all it needs.plugs have a 4th wire to add a neutral for appliances that also need 110. for example, your oven has a light int it that runs off of 110.
as for wiring your ballast, I am not sure what the correct way is to connect to 220. I have seen the 220 wire hooked to 1 leg of the circuit and the common/neutral wire from the ballast hooked to the other leg but I have also seen the 110 to 1 leg and the 220 wire to the other leg. either way(follow your wiring diagram) you wont be using the neutral leg.

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My ballast didnt come with any diagrams or anything, I dont even think there is a name written on it. Its a cheap magnetic one.

Heres what Im thinking: The ballast has two cord plug in points for either 120 or 240, theres a cover panel that rotates to always hide one of these plug-ins so that you wont accidentally plug into the wrong one. What I will do is create a parrellel circuit with regular 120V female plug ends coming from the timer. The plug end that goes into the ballast for either 120 or 240 is the same shape and will fit into either plug, so I will use the same cord that I have now and simply plug into the female plug ends at the timer end. The only thing that can go wrong is if the prong dedicated as ground on the plug to the ballast is different for the 120V to the 240V circuit, which to me seems highly unlikely as they both use the same style of plug. I think I can assume that the same prong for both the 120 circuit and the 240 circuit are being used as ground as any other conifguration would be very counterintuitive. I hope that I explaned that alright

So I think I've got it figured out what I will do, I just have to be very carefull to never plug anything 120V into those 120V female plugs.

I have a SilverStar 6" air cooled reflector with a bulb socket with a negative and positive conector, but no ground. My 600w Lumitek ballast wires are negative positive and ground, do i connect ground the the fixture itself? how do i do this without burning the house down!?

Thanks for your time.

OnePercent said:

I have a SilverStar 6" air cooled reflector with a bulb socket with a negative and positive conector, but no ground. My 600w Lumitek ballast wires are negative positive and ground, do i connect ground the the fixture itself? how do i do this without burning the house down!?

Thanks for your time.

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yes ground to fixture, theres a green screw inside the connection box where you hook the wires up (i also use silverstars)

in my garage i have 1 outlet on the cieling, im wondering is it safe to set up my veg tent running some fluros and a fan it would be from an extension cord to a power box(with multiple outlets)

so extension cord>multiple power source>lights(1.2ft 2 bulb 1.2ft 4 bulb) and a fan, maybe a humidifier small simple set up just want to free up space in the house and just want to make sure its safe

heathaa said:

people say incandescent bulbs are bad. last year i grew a sativa strain over 4 feet tall on one 75 watt incandescent bulb. turned out to be a male. but i have learned if you keep the bulb 2 to 3 inches off the plant it will grow. i have also learned with some strains to alternate between light and sun so the plant doesnt become top heavy. ive always started outside in natural sun untill veggie state and then i begin putting them on the 75 watt for over night. i have two plants one is 4 inches tall grown on sunlight and i have one 9 inches tall grown on sunlight for first 2 weeks of growth then i put it on 24 cycle of incandescent. they do work!!

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first things first.. no1 said they didnt work.. they just put off more heat then they do useable light for ur plants. and just to let u know... growing male plants.. with lesss light is easy. ive seen beautiful male plants growing in woods were there was barely any light getting at them.. and then a female near it .. that was like tiny barely budding.. and stunted growth..

its easier for a plant to grow.. then it is for it to flower.. try to use ur incandescent bulbs.. go for it . ull waste ur time and money.. growing some garbage.. wen u could switch to CFLand get some good smoke. haha .. yes they do work .. shit.. i could hold a flash light over a plant and it would live.. but will it BUD? nah.. not at all.

LIVE2GRO said:

first things first.. no1 said they didnt work.. they just put off more heat then they do useable light for ur plants. and just to let u know... growing male plants.. with lesss light is easy. ive seen beautiful male plants growing in woods were there was barely any light getting at them.. and then a female near it .. that was like tiny barely budding.. and stunted growth..

its easier for a plant to grow.. then it is for it to flower.. try to use ur incandescent bulbs.. go for it . ull waste ur time and money.. growing some garbage.. wen u could switch to CFLand get some good smoke. haha .. yes they do work .. shit.. i could hold a flash light over a plant and it would live.. but will it BUD? nah.. not at all.

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this is a lil harsh and is not in the right thread. And also its a very unknowledgable post. if a light will "grow" a plant , then it will "bud" one too. enough said. no need to debate this here.





soil

Thedillestpickle said:

My ballast didnt come with any diagrams or anything, I dont even think there is a name written on it. Its a cheap magnetic one.

Heres what Im thinking: The ballast has two cord plug in points for either 120 or 240, theres a cover panel that rotates to always hide one of these plug-ins so that you wont accidentally plug into the wrong one. What I will do is create a parrellel circuit with regular 120V female plug ends coming from the timer. The plug end that goes into the ballast for either 120 or 240 is the same shape and will fit into either plug, so I will use the same cord that I have now and simply plug into the female plug ends at the timer end. The only thing that can go wrong is if the prong dedicated as ground on the plug to the ballast is different for the 120V to the 240V circuit, which to me seems highly unlikely as they both use the same style of plug. I think I can assume that the same prong for both the 120 circuit and the 240 circuit are being used as ground as any other conifguration would be very counterintuitive. I hope that I explaned that alright

So I think I've got it figured out what I will do, I just have to be very carefull to never plug anything 120V into those 120V female plugs.

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i am assuming your right about the wiring but assuming is not enough with electricity. its only a couple of screws.... just pull the ballast apart and make sure first ...... then if you was right , your way will work fine.






soil

Holy$mokes said:

in my garage i have 1 outlet on the cieling, im wondering is it safe to set up my veg tent running some fluros and a fan it would be from an extension cord to a power box(with multiple outlets)

so extension cord>multiple power source>lights(1.2ft 2 bulb 1.2ft 4 bulb) and a fan, maybe a humidifier small simple set up just want to free up space in the house and just want to make sure its safe

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well to correctly figure out if its gonna be safe we need to know exactly whats on the circuit in the ceiling. (just because nothing is plugged into it , dont mean its not wired with other devices. )

and exactly how many watts your gonna use. and the size of the breaker/wire going to that outlet.





soil

Just moved into a new house...and the breaker in the room i'll be using is only 15 amps. The house was literally just built so wondering why they didnt go with 20 amp breakers. Is it possible to change this assuming the wiring will support it?

no price difference between a 15 amp and 20 amp breaker but 12 gauge wire is alot more expensive than 14 gauge so its very likely the wiring is 14 gauge so you wont be able to use a 20 amp breaker. only reason I can think of to use a 15 amp breaker on a 12gauge wire is if the guy ran out of 20 amp breakers but had a 15 on his truck.
if you have 12 gauge wire on the entire circuit, you could upgrade

phishtank said:

Just moved into a new house...and the breaker in the room i'll be using is only 15 amps. The house was literally just built so wondering why they didnt go with 20 amp breakers. Is it possible to change this assuming the wiring will support it?

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Even in a new construction it's unlikely they used 12g wire. 14g romex on 15amp is just the building standard, it's not only cheaper it's a lot easier to work with and quicker to run.

Hi Bricktown, dont you hate it when you make a huge reply and then the browser crashes and you have to start again!

ha OK so ........its been a few months so I'll ask the question again, this time with more detail and photos.

I need to power up my rooms, and electrics scare the shit out of me, just need some advice on getting the power to the room, once its there I will have a power board to do the rest.
Details - Netherlands (230v)
Power to home 1 phase, 125 amps
Rooms - 2x6x400watts
Power supply needed for rooms- 33amps (13amps lights, 11 amps heater, 6 amps fans, 3 amp other)

Fuse box = 5x16amps

Circuits 1=kitchen lights, kitchen plus, extractor fan, fridge, microwave, balcony plug sockets, living room lights, living room plug sockets, grow room lights and plug sockets (nothing plugged in in growroom)
2-Oven
3-Boiler
4- hall / bathroom / bedroom lights and plugs
5- free On this pic below with the numbers (by the way I didnt remove/break any seals, I will be taking power AFTER the meter NOT before)

1- power in

2- main fuse?
View attachment 1988103
3- old fuse to heater in bathroom, cable no longer goes anywhere
4- meter
5-fusebox
6-transformer no longer used

I have a 10 meter 5x2.5mm2 cable which I am about to get from the fusebox cupboard to the room. I need advice on what I should do with the cable on the fusebox side. I think you said last time I should replace a circuit with a higher rated amp circuit? Should I pull main fuse and then work on fusebox. Can I power the room by connecting to the 5th empty circuit and another circuit?
Im going to out to buy a clamp multimeter to see exactly what is being drawn on each circuit. thanks in advance!!!kiss-ass

Bump
Sorry but your side of the pond uses a system totally different from what I know
Hope a sparky from your side sees this