3000w Flips My Breaker, What are my options? HELP!

Ok, Im setting up a legal grow in my garage (built a 7x20 area inside the garage), i have my washer/dryer in there, the power box is right outside the door, there is one outlet wired from the box (i think, its a yellow electrical wire that was ran to a outlet and hooked up on the top of the garage for the garage door opener to plug into) , (this outlet was used for the garage door opener) I unplugged the garage door opener and moved this outlet into the grow room, I then pigtailed another plug off of this outlet so I can have more open plugs, I plug in one light, it ran for awhile, I plugged in the second light to the second plug, it ran for about 2 minutes before my breaker tripped (the whole house went off, tv's , lights, etc..) There is a breaker box in the garage also (this is the breaker box that trips when the 2nd light starts running) and then there is the main breaker box outside (pics below) I see there is room for another Circuit breaker or amp thing on the main box outside, should I get a 100amp (or higher or ?) circuit and run a dedicated line just for my lights? I'm not very electrical smart, so I dont want to mess with anything until I find out some more info here.. any ideas would be great.. (or a plan to run my 3 lights, it dont have to be perfect, it just has to be safe I have a couple buddies that know about electrical stuff, but I kind of want to know what I need them to do before I give them a call, maybe you guys can help me here....

I need to run
(3) 1000w Ballast
(1) 15,000 BTU Portable AC/Dehumidfier
(3) Regular household fans

I think the Washer has a dedicated line with its own 20amp, I could tap into that possibly? not sure how to do this stuff guys...

What is the 15A on top... Also, the "recep under panel" can prolly be wired to the room you need the light... If it were me, I'd say you need a bigger service box and some new wiring - good luck.

My best advice would be to call an electrician if you don't know much

There is alot to be covered when considering how and where to feed a circuit from. Like the amperage that is left on said circuit and tapping a 120v circuit off of a 240v circuit can throw imbalance on the circuit and the device it feeds, damaging equipment and/or people in the process. So do some homework and figure what is available, because this ^%$*& is not worth anyone getting hurt for any reason whatsoever.

Be Safe M8.

Peace

Asmallvoice

ASMALLVOICE said:

There is alot to be covered when considering how and where to feed a circuit from. Like the amperage that is left on said circuit and tapping a 120v circuit off of a 240v circuit can throw imbalance on the circuit and the device it feeds, damaging equipment and/or people in the process. So do some homework and figure what is available, because this ^%$*& is not worth anyone getting hurt for any reason whatsoever.

Be Safe M8.

Peace

Asmallvoice

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Thanks for your input M8,

any other input peoples??

Look. You do not know what you have, what you need and how to do it safely and properly. And you still won't call for an electrician???

Houses are destroyed every year due to improperly wired growing ops. Do you waqnt your house to be one of them???

Actually, no, the service box is not fine for what you want to do... You obviously need more breakers to do things right and safe... I'm also gonna guess you got a secondary box, hence the Kitchen, porch, garage one the one dual 60 amp breaker.

Also you never said whether or not the 3000 watts worth of lighting and the big ass 15,000 btu is all in the same room - I'm guessing it is.

Fact is, you probably need some new wiring from the box to be safe - "pigtailing" is not safe... I wired my place to put one 10,000 btu and two 5000 btu ACs on breakers dedicated for each AC unit. But heck, what do I know. Wish you well on trying to get by with doing the minimum - hopefully your family and neighbors will stay safe from you trying to save a couple of bucks :/

Run your shit off the dryer line. Got mondo amps there and your ballasts will pull less amps using 220.

couple hundred bucks will solve that problem.

Im a jack of all trades, 'cept electrical. Only a fool would mess with it without someone in the know standing right there watching. Not trying to offend, just being real hoping you dont burn your house down.

you have been given great advice. it is evident you do not have the proper training or skills or even the basic knowledge needed to do what you need. your box is too small, even if you steal the dryer power like i do for twelve hrs at night i dont see you being safe with the remainder of the equipment needed to run that size grow. a 1000w will need something like 10-11 amps on a 120v circuit(normal household outlet) and mid 5a on a 240v circuit.so you will need 3 15a 120v circuits or a 30a 240v to run your lights and a few small fans. the ac will need another circuit, and dont forget about the dehumidifier.

There's more to it than just the box and breakers. The breakers are rated at a certain amperage so that you don't melt the wires in the house by running too much power. Adding a larger breaker won't change the wiring in your house, it will just make it easier to burn it down. I think superstoner1 has given you the best advise in this thread.

Thank you all for your advice! You guys really made me understand now, I do have 220v because my dryer is running on the 220 , there is a brand new wire and 220 outlet for dryer installed recently, someone said I could tap into that and get some mondo amps, I'll have an electrician come out and rig this up

Any advice on what I should tell the electrician? Should I have him run it off my dryer line and get some mondo amps? all my ballast are switchable to 120 or 220 so no problems there, That I need 3 lights and Ac to run in this same room? Will he be asking a crap load of questions?
I'm ready to get it done professionally, you guys scared me to death I feel like I'm going to goto sleep in a bed of fire lol

superstoner1 said:

you have been given great advice. it is evident you do not have the proper training or skills or even the basic knowledge needed to do what you need. your box is too small, even if you steal the dryer power like i do for twelve hrs at night i dont see you being safe with the remainder of the equipment needed to run that size grow. a 1000w will need something like 10-11 amps on a 120v circuit(normal household outlet) and mid 5a on a 240v circuit.so you will need 3 15a 120v circuits or a 30a 240v to run your lights and a few small fans. the ac will need another circuit, and dont forget about the dehumidifier.

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Thanks Super Stoner..

I checked out my dryer, the wires run to a DOUBLE 30amp that are marked "dryer" (see pics)
Now what If i do this..

Get another DOUBLE 30amp, hook it up in the box , and run THICK gauged wire to my grow room, and hook up (2) 240v outlets in there JUST FOR THE (3) 1000w lights

Would that work okay? (NOTE: an electrician will be doing this work! NOT ME)

You guys have awesome advice , keep it coming, I feel like Im learning something!

Fatty..I have been an electrician for 20 years now...your best bet for your needs is to install a 50a double pole breaker in your main panel(there is space above the 15amp single in your picture) and run 6 gauge wire to a new sub panel in your room...12 space 24 circuit sub panel would run you 22-25 bucks at home depot..get a sheet of plywood and mount the new sub so you can also add all your outlets, timers, if running 240 to your lights you can mount a time clock with some contactors, mount some shelving for your ballast etc...just more convenient and easy to maintain when all in one spot on the wall (let me know i can send you some pics of what i'm talking about of my setup and others i've done)You SHOULD have an electrician do this for you at least the sub panel part its really nothing to mess around with..Fire BAD...and as far as being cautious about an electrician coming to your house trust me hes probably seen it before just find a little ma and pa contractor and when hes done throw him a 50 in his hand you will make a valuable friend who could probably give a shit less what your doing...let me know if you have any questions always happy to help one out..
Also anyone else here that has any questions feel free to ask away..

Sparky602 said:

Fatty..I have been an electrician for 20 years now...your best bet for your needs is to install a 50a double pole breaker in your main panel(there is space above the 15amp single in your picture) and run 6 gauge wire to a new sub panel in your room...12 space 24 circuit sub panel would run you 22-25 bucks at home depot..get a sheet of plywood and mount the new sub so you can also add all your outlets, timers, if running 240 to your lights you can mount a time clock with some contactors, mount some shelving for your ballast etc...just more convenient and easy to maintain when all in one spot on the wall (let me know i can send you some pics of what i'm talking about of my setup and others i've done)You SHOULD have an electrician do this for you at least the sub panel part its really nothing to mess around with..Fire BAD...and as far as being cautious about an electrician coming to your house trust me hes probably seen it before just find a little ma and pa contractor and when hes done throw him a 50 in his hand you will make a valuable friend who could probably give a shit less what your doing...let me know if you have any questions always happy to help one out..
Also anyone else here that has any questions feel free to ask away..

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Thank you so much, now I got a shopping list (all the ballast are already shelved)

So I need
(1) 50a Double pole breaker
6 gauge wire
new sub panel for in the room

Im going to get all the supplies and then call my electrician.. I should be okay after this new hardware is installed yea??

you will be good to go with endless possibilities...

Yes you will need a subpanel. Preferrably wired 220 volt. Also, as noted. You cant just change out the breaker because the wiring in your walls are not rated for a higher amperage. You have to have an electrician come out. I am not one but I know from experience. Also, there are ways to find 420 friendly electricians.

edit: ya have them calculate the amps you need and you should be good. They can then test the breakers with a meter and make sure everything is running fine.

cost was $300 dollars in material for me. The wire is not cheap. It depends how long your run is to the main box though. Also, make sure to take good care of your electrician.

Dank Raptor said:

Yes you will need a subpanel. Preferrably wired 220 volt. Also, as noted. You cant just change out the breaker because the wiring in your walls are not rated for a higher amperage. You have to have an electrician come out. I am not one but I know from experience. Also, there are ways to find 420 friendly electricians.

edit: ya have them calculate the amps you need and you should be good. They can then test the breakers with a meter and make sure everything is running fine.

cost was $300 dollars in material for me. The wire is not cheap. It depends how long your run is to the main box though. Also, make sure to take good care of your electrician.

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"You can't just change out the breaker because the wiring in your walls are not rated for a higher amperage."

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Thanks for your advice! Thats why I am having him install the new double 50-amp breaker and run 6 gauge wire from that breaker all the way to the new sub panel he will be installing in the grow room, that is new wire right?? or am i missing something again..?

cost was $300 dollars in material for me. The wire is not cheap. It depends how long your run is to the main box though. Also, make sure to take good care of your electrician.

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The main box is right outside of my grow room (about 4 feet) but I am going to have it run in up the wall, along the roof, and down into the grow room, and not just wires I want him to get the metal pipe (conduit) so it looks good, money is not an object I just need to get this shit done, my Purple Berry and Blue Diesels are resting at a friends Veg room for time being, they need to get into my room asap

Kervork said:

Run your shit off the dryer line. Got mondo amps there and your ballasts will pull less amps using 220.

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That's exactly what I thought.

go here: http://www.dxhydro.com/index1.htm

tell him what you want to power and he will e-mail you back the next day. Pimp ass systems for CHEAP!! This guy rocks!! Your 30 amp dryer circuit can handle 5,000 watts