Safety First

Hi All,

On my first grow, my questions are safety!

I have a 400 watt ballast - a powerstar contractor (one way) and a 400w hps, would it be safe to plug the contractor into an extension lead and then into the wall socket? then plug my fan , carbon filter and tank pump into the extension as well?

i only have one wall socket in the room with 2 plugs next to each other - is this enough for everything? is it worth getting a circuit breaker or do i not need to as im using a contractor? im shit with electrics and i dont want to crash and burn!

Any help or info on this would be massivley appreciated

peace
KS
 

scubatc

Well-Known Member
I personally have my light timer plugged into and outlet with my lights on it (1000w switchable ballast) and then on the other plug I have a surge protector with my water pump, air pump, fan, and AC unit plugged into it. That is what I reccomend.
 

scubatc

Well-Known Member
Not sure if its just my light timer or and actual issue but when I had my light timer plugged into my surge protector my lights never turned off. Plugged it straight into the outlet and it worked perfect.
 
Most commonly a two-socket plug would be rated for about 15 amps, most of your equipment should say on it somewhere how many amps it draws. Not sure what the surge protector would do to affect it but as long as everything you have plugged in doesn't exceed 15 amps you should be fine... theoretically.
 

Total Head

Well-Known Member
what i did is get the highest rated surge protector i could find (even paid extra for sideways outlets). it happens to also have a 12 foot cord which is a big help.

i plug my timer into the surge protector. the timer has 2 outlets. so i got another surge protector with a shorter cord, i hung the outlets inside the closet and plugged the cord into one side of the timer. this is what i plug my fans into.

on the other side of the timer i have the ballast plugged straight in.

you definitely want to get into the practice of regularly feeling the cords/outlets for excess heat. if it ever feels hot, unplug that shit. it's normal to feel a little warm, especially after a 12 hour cycle, but it should NEVER be hot.
 

scubatc

Well-Known Member
yeah I just had the surger protector for more outlets. My light timer was like 10 bucks from walmart so it was probably the timer not the surge protector.
 
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