sounds like you have waaaay to many things connected to that circuit man. i would definitly find another outlet for the computer and stereo if possible.

as far as upgrading to a larger fuze size, im afraid you'll find its not possible. manufacturers have built in safe guards in the way the fuses connect to your panel to prevent this from being possible, only thing you can do as far as changing the amperage of a fuse is downsize the overall size or change from the 'instantaneous trip' to a 'delayed trip' type of fuse. im also curious why the dryer quit working... im going to assume its a natural gas dryer? all of the electric dryers ive run across always require 220v, and if your electric dryer goes out as the same time as the 120v plugs in your house, theres more than one problem going on here.

do you own or rent? i ask this because to correct the problem, personally i would run a new cable for a dedicated outlet for the grow. and most landlords will shit a brick if they find out you made modifications without there approval.

do any of the lights in the rest of the house go out when the fuse blows?

if not a viable option may be wiring the ballast in place of the light fixture in the grow room, or wiring it in parallel with the light fixture.
you can do this easily with a metallic outlet box extension, a clamp type connector, a couple wire nuts and a short, heavy duty extension cord you can cut. (shop or construction grade. not the type mom uses to plug in her lamps and clocks around the house)
you can also get a peice of type SO or type SJ 12/2 or 14/2 cable and a female cord end at any home depot or hardware store if you want to spend the cash

simply shut the power off, remove the light fixture and un do the wiring, bolt the box extension to the outlet box in the wall using some good, steel 8/32 screws. then run your cord into one of the knockouts,
then put the fixture on the extension...
however DO NOT attempt this if the light fixture were talking about here happens to be a ceiling fan. i repeat- dont do it. the vibrations from the fan motor will cause the screws to loosen over time and send the whole thing crashing down, wiring, fan and all....

the only downside to this is the cord will be controlled by the switch on the wall.. keep this in mind if you plan on running a timer on it.

Hello,

Could you give me some advice ,I am looking @ 12v adapters on Ebay, surley once I hav got one I can just plug a PC fan straight into it without having 2do ne dodgy wiring?

Peace.

unfortunately, probably not. unless your able to find an adapter that fits the cord type of your pc fan, however thats an expensive part to buy when you can safely modify any plug in 12v adapter that has enough amperage/wattage to push the fan.

typically 12v plug in adapters have 2 conductors. when performing this type of mod i like to use the cheap generic universal adapters you can find at any electronics shop. i like them because the polarity is usually marked on the cable, and if i mess it up, its cheap! just get another one.

cut the cord connecter off the pc fan. theres typically 3 wires, a red, a black, and a yellow/green/odd color. all you need to worry about is the red and black. the other wire is an rpm monitor for the pc fan. it has no purpose here. the red wire is the 12v+ the black wire is the 12v -

on the cord adapter, the wire with the white strip is normally the hot (+) and the unmarked wire is typically the common (-), although i have run accross a few where the exact opposite is true, so check it with a meter if you have one.

just connect the marked (+) wire to the red and the unmarked (-) wire to the black. i like to use ideal small blue wire nuts for the connection, although ' beanie' or 'dolphin' or 'beans' type telecom compression connectors also work well

this sets off red flags to me. most homes built in the 50s used 14 gauge wire so it should only have a 15 amp fuse. even new houses only use 12 gauge wiring for normal outlets so it should have a 20 amp fuse. unless the circuit is run in 10 gauge wire,someone has already replaced the fuse w/ a bigger one to "solve" the problem of blown fuses.either consult an electrician or check what size wire is tied to that fuse.

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Where are we going & what am I doing in a handbasket?

it set off a red flag for me to, though its extremely difficult to diagnose a problem via a forum. could be that someone ran a plug circuit off of one leg of the dryer circuit. ive seen that in old houses. could be that fuse is feeding an old 60amp loadcenter hidden somewhere in the attic or crawl or under the stairs or behind the fridge... theres alot of possibilities there for gremlins. like i said before, nuiscance tripping is a real bitch to deal with

hello

thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions 1am5toned... especially in the electrics department... its greatly appreciated

i have 1 or 2 questions that i hope you could help me with regard to wiring up a cab grow that im considering attempting...

firstly lemme give u a basic idea of the equipment i intend to use...


flowering cab...

250w hps (cooltubed) with lumatek 250w digital ballast


link : http://www.hydroponic-shop.com/produ...c74a9efaec60b3

4 inch shower inline duct extractor for cooltube (either 1 or 2 depending on ducting layout / cab size)


link : http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Shower-Bathroo...d=p3286.c0.m14

4 or 5 inch extractor fan and carbon filter


link : http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/EXTRACTOR-FAN-...d=p3911.c0.m14

very cheap 300w pc power supply for powering a handful of pc fans & fan controller


link : http://www.ebuyer.com/product/20083


link : http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-050-AK&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=4]


link : http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...=57&subcat=189


clone & veg cabs....

1x 150-175w cfl in each cab


link : http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2-x-150w-ECO-C...d=p3286.c0.m14

and another cheap 300w psu / fans / controller


and my questions are.....

1 ... i have just 3 spare 240v sockets in the room where im wanting to grow... theres a double and a single socket at opposite sides of the small room... which isnt enough for what i need... and im not very happy about running a 4 or a 6 way extension to my flowering box... is it worth me investing in a 13 amp contactor relay for my flowering box ?


link : http://www.hydroponic-shop.com/produ...products_id=59

2 ... the 4 inch shower fans are fixed speed only... would i be ok wiring a normal 240v lighting dimmer switch or 2 into the fans power leads so i can control their speed ?... in regard to the carbon filter fan... ive read they are quite noisy and id also like to be able to control its speed too... i assume it would be ok dimmer switching this up too ?


link : http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1-GANG-2-WAY-4...d=p3286.c0.m14

3 ... my clone and veggie cabs only have 1 socket from which they can be powered from.... will i be ok running the 2 x 150w cfls & the cheap pc power pack thru a 4 way extension ?

4 ... would you reccomend that i incorperated any trip switches as an extra fail safe or am i being too paranoid ?


link : http://cgi.ebay.ie/Square-D-Type-QOE...d=p3286.c0.m14


some additional infoz....

my small home has 2x 32 amp circuits at the leccy box for all its sockets... the room i wanna grow in is my laundry room where i keep my washer and drier (they have a socket each but i think that they are spurred of the single socket)... the double socket for the flowering cab is spurred from my adjacent bedroom and my outside light (energy saving flouresent) is spurred from the rear of the flowering cab socket... i also know that my home was fully rewired back in the early 1990s... if thats any help

many thx in advance

p.s. and i dont have any spare slots in my fuse box to create a dedicated power source for my grow

I would look into using the FIM technique. This method provides the same results as topping, with much less stress on the plants. marijuana plants are also VERY resilient, a main branch snapped on one of my girls and used a piece of twine to give it some support and by the next day it had been healed.

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http://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growi...y-first-3.html- My first grow.

so i got 2 outlets i want on switches and on the same circuit, so im thinkin i have power come into a junction box i have a line from each outlet come into the junction than i hook the 3 nuteral(white) wires together with a wirenut and tape. than i put 2 lines come in from the 2 seperate switches, conect the black power to the 2 blacks from the switches than the whites from the switches get hooked to the blacks from the outlets and this should work right????

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supercalavagalisticexpialadankbitch... I do not grow marijuana anymore

sounds like you have a good grasp of circuitry. yes this will work, just be sure to not mix up the switchlegs (white coming from switch) with the neutrals (white coming fromer power source and devices) and everything should be fine

???????????? you ok?????

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supercalavagalisticexpialadankbitch... I do not grow marijuana anymore