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

Lurrabq said:

Check the panel and see if that breaker has tripped first. Reset it.
Next, with the cover off look to see if any of the wiring connections to the circuit breakers have black on them. Don't grab the wiring and wiggle it unless you have the proper gloves. Preferably you have killed the power where it enters the building.

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Looks like I may have a fried wire. I tested the breaker and it's OK. Replaced the GFCI and the problem remains.
The final time the circuit lost power, it was when I was running a shop-vac. It had been running fine for about five minutes before it stopped -- and there was a burning smell. I figured the smell was the shop-vac, but now I'm not so sure. What else could it be?

Chunky Stool said:

Looks like I may have a fried wire. I tested the breaker and it's OK. Replaced the GFCI and the problem remains.
The final time the circuit lost power, it was when I was running a shop-vac. It had been running fine for about five minutes before it stopped -- and there was a burning smell. I figured the smell was the shop-vac, but now I'm not so sure. What else could it be?

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Possibly a loose wire termination on the circuit breaker. You,ll smell an ozone sort of odour when it gets hot.

Some of those shop vacs pull 12 amps. That's loaded to code limit if it a 15 amp breaker.

Lurrabq said:

Possibly a loose wire termination on the circuit breaker. You,ll smell an ozone sort of odour when it gets hot.

Some of those shop vacs pull 12 amps. That's loaded to code limit if it a 15 amp breaker.

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I'll check it out. The breaker is 20 amps. Maybe the wire won't handle that much???

Chunky Stool said:

I'll check it out. The breaker is 20 amps. Maybe the wire won't handle that much???

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Assuming the breaker terminal screw is tight, an easy way to find out would be to use a non-contact voltage detector right before, and after on wire corresponding to that breaker with the panel cover off. This will easily identify a faulty breaker. without even needing to touch anything conductive. If you don't have a voltage detector, a good one to use would be a Klein Tools NCVT-2. I have personally had sparks flying from stupidly using my voltage detector before testing it in a known live circuit, so do not forget this key step.

So I'm building my grow room now and have a quick question ...

I have a 220 line running into my building that is not being used anymore ( used to be for a water well pump ). I'm thinking about dedicating this line for my lights. The lights can be ran at either 220 or 110, so how do I wire up the outlet?

Appreciate the help!!!

LegendaryFire said:

Assuming the breaker terminal screw is tight, an easy way to find out would be to use a non-contact voltage detector right before, and after on wire corresponding to that breaker with the panel cover off. This will easily identify a faulty breaker. without even needing to touch anything conductive. If you don't have a voltage detector, a good one to use would be a Klein Tools NCVT-2. I have personally had sparks flying from stupidly using my voltage detector before testing it in a known live circuit, so do not forget this key step.

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Thanks for the tip. I tested the hot wire coming out of the breaker and it has juice. I tested all of the breakers in the box just for fun & they all had power. Since I've already swapped out the GFCI outlet, I'm thinking the problem is a fried wire. What if they put a 20 amp breaker on 16 gauge wire? Would that do it?

Chunky Stool said:

Thanks for the tip. I tested the hot wire coming out of the breaker and it has juice. I tested all of the breakers in the box just for fun & they all had power. Since I've already swapped out the GFCI outlet, I'm thinking the problem is a fried wire. What if they put a 20 amp breaker on 16 gauge wire? Would that do it?

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12 gauge is what I'd personally use, if you used 16 gauge I would consider that as an electrical hazard as there would be far too much current for that size of wire. So to answer your question, yes that would definitely cause electrical issues.

LegendaryFire said:

12 gauge is what I'd personally use, if you used 16 gauge I would consider that as an electrical hazard as there would be far too much current for that size of wire. So to answer your question, yes that would definitely cause electrical issues.

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I have no idea, just threw that out as a possibility. My wife's outdoor lighting was plugged into that circuit and it tripped the GFCI a lot.
Neither black wire at the GFCI outlet have current, even though there's power coming out of the circuit at the box.
GFCI will not reset (no power).

how would yo guys setup your lights timer, for example, 60 amps of hid lights, what would you do to setup the timers, use a 100 amp relay? with 120v being the only option

noobzilla said:

So I'm building my grow room now and have a quick question ...

I have a 220 line running into my building that is not being used anymore ( used to be for a water well pump ). I'm thinking about dedicating this line for my lights. The lights can be ran at either 220 or 110, so how do I wire up the outlet?

Appreciate the help!!!

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Is it just 1 light? You will not need power for anything else? The wire you want to use how many wires are in it and the size of the wire?
If you will need power for a fan or anything else I would suggest wiring up a sub panel.
DO you know how to wire 110v? Do you know how to add a circuit breaker to the panel? If not then call an electrician because the work that needs to be done can kill you or burn the building down if done incorrectly.

SDK420 said:

how would yo guys setup your lights timer, for example, 60 amps of hid lights, what would you do to setup the timers, use a 100 amp relay? with 120v being the only option

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Why is 120v the only option? You can run 6-7 lights on a 70A breaker and http://www.titancontrols.net/shop/bybrand/TITAN/titan-controls-helios-15-8-light-240v-controller-with-timer_1

It will eventually be four diy cob light fixtures ( three daisy chained, and one individual ), but for now it is only one light. The building does have a subpanel in it with 3 20amp breakers and the double pole 30amp in it, I wired the building as well as installed the subpanel. I know that one 20 amp breaker is enough to run the entire room, but if I have the 220 and can use it ... why not? The cob panels are supposed to be even more efficient when running on 220v. In everything I've watched and read relating to the DIY COB panels they state that the driver is auto-sensing ... but does running at 220v require a different plug, or are they the same? And if the same, how do you wire up a 220v outlet with a three prong receptacle? Thanks for the help.

noobzilla said:

It will eventually be four diy cob light fixtures ( three daisy chained, and one individual ), but for now it is only one light. The building does have a subpanel in it with 3 20amp breakers and the double pole 30amp in it, I wired the building as well as installed the subpanel. I know that one 20 amp breaker is enough to run the entire room, but if I have the 220 and can use it ... why not? The cob panels are supposed to be even more efficient when running on 220v. In everything I've watched and read relating to the DIY COB panels they state that the driver is auto-sensing ... but does running at 220v require a different plug, or are they the same? And if the same, how do you wire up a 220v outlet with a three prong receptacle? Thanks for the help.

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Yes it is more efficient to use 240 than 120
Yes if the driver is rated say 100 ~ 305VAC 142 ~ 431VDC you have a few choices to power the driver. Normally a 240v plug will look like http://www.titancontrols.net/shop/bybrand/TITAN/titan-controls-helios-6-8-light-240v-controller-with-dual-trigger-cords
see the outlets are different than 120v to use 3 wire and outlet you have a hot wire a neutral and a ground in 240v you have 2 hot wires and a ground sometimes you have a neutral all you need is the hot wires and the ground to complete a 240v circuit.
I will use the http://www.jameco.com/Jameco/Products/ProdDS/2252501.PDF as reference look at page10 it shows you the wireing the left side if the driver is input ACL brown ACN blue they would connect to the 240v breaker and the frame connects to ground.
Pay attention to MAX. No. of PSUs on 16A CIRCUIT BREAKER and know what type of breaker you have. A normal house has a B style breaker.
The driver I linked to above can have 4 but https://www.trcelectronics.com/ecomm/pdf/hlg240h.pdf can have 2 so pay attention to your driver spec sheet.

A few questions about repurposing a stove outlet:

220v on a 40amp breaker.
20' run of 8-3 NM-B 600v.
I would like to splice an additional 30' on to the existing wire in the attic and run it outside through conduit to a shed and feed a new panel.

Since the existing wire is 3 wire with no ground, what are my options here? New ground rod at shed maybe? I read you can tie 8-4 wire ground to shielded neutral when splicing but this may only be for stoves and not a panel. I haven't purchased any materials yet so I'm flexible.

Also, what is an accepted method for bonding the new wire to the existing 8-3 inside a junction box in the attic?

Thanks!

nomoresnow said:

A few questions about repurposing a stove outlet:

220v on a 40amp breaker.
20' run of 8-3 NM-B 600v.
I would like to splice an additional 30' on to the existing wire in the attic and run it outside through conduit to a shed and feed a new panel.

Since the existing wire is 3 wire with no ground, what are my options here? New ground rod at shed maybe? I read you can tie 8-4 wire ground to shielded neutral when splicing but this may only be for stoves and not a panel. I haven't purchased any materials yet so I'm flexible.

Also, what is an accepted method for bonding the new wire to the existing 8-3 inside a junction box in the attic?

Thanks!

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3 wires no ground is no problem. Start work from shed end and finish at junction box. Attach new wires to exterior sub panel. Install grounding rod. Connect grounding rod the new grounding block in sub panel (you might have to buy this separately). In your case do not install the green grounding screw in new sub panel that ties neutral to case ground. These must be isolated from each other in sub panel. Send wires from new sub panel to junction box. Splice new 8awg wires with wire nuts inside a junction box.

F32 said:

3 wires no ground is no problem. Start work from shed end and finish at junction box. Attach new wires to exterior sub panel. Install grounding rod. Connect grounding rod the new grounding block in sub panel (you might have to buy this separately). In your case do not install the green grounding screw in new sub panel that ties neutral to case ground. These must be isolated from each other in sub panel. Send wires from new sub panel to junction box. Splice new 8awg wires with wire nuts inside a junction box.

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This sounds pretty straightforward, thanks so much.

Hello. I have a question. I have an old bulldog push-matic panel in my basement. Next to it is another small panel with a 40a breaker for a range. Following the super thick orange wire coming off of this 40a breaker, is a 4 prong range plug box. I have a basic hot-stick tester,when the breaker is off no power to the 4 prong. When the breaker is on there is power. The thick orange wire looks newer. Gas stove upstairs so this is just sitting.
Now, i have 8 1000w lights sitting in the same basement doing nothing. I want to run the ballasts(magnetic) off of this 40a breaker. How do i go about doing this?

1. Run 8 different 220v sockets off of the one 40a breaker?
2. Run a light controller off of this 40a breaker?
3. Suggestions?

I have no issue messing with the electrical panel as i can shut it off before wiring anything.
I do not have a huge bank account to rewire the whole house with a new gfci panel...

Any help is totally appreciated and highly respected.

Thanks in advance.
SS

Smellinsweet said:

Hello. I have a question. I have an old bulldog push-matic panel in my basement. Next to it is another small panel with a 40a breaker for a range. Following the super thick orange wire coming off of this 40a breaker, is a 4 prong range plug box. I have a basic hot-stick tester,when the breaker is off no power to the 4 prong. When the breaker is on there is power. The thick orange wire looks newer. Gas stove upstairs so this is just sitting.
Now, i have 8 1000w lights sitting in the same basement doing nothing. I want to run the ballasts(magnetic) off of this 40a breaker. How do i go about doing this?

1. Run 8 different 220v sockets off of the one 40a breaker?
2. Run a light controller off of this 40a breaker?
3. Suggestions?

I have no issue messing with the electrical panel as i can shut it off before wiring anything.
I do not have a huge bank account to rewire the whole house with a new gfci panel...

Any help is totally appreciated and highly respected.

Thanks in advance.
SS

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It is best to upgrade the wire to 6/4 and a 50A breaker then you can run the 8 ballasts with a lighting controller. http://www.titancontrols.net/shop/bybrand/TITAN/titan-controls-helios-7-8-light-240v-controller-with-timer_1
Or build one yourself but still have to upgrade the wire and breaker just pull the 40A out and put a 50A in its place

Thanks for all the help. I had an electrician I know over to look at everything earlier. Looks like I need a few upgrades to do this the right way...

hello i have a electrical question about wiring an exhaust fan to a thermostat and a cycle timer,
ultimately i am looking to have my one fan, exhaust air during the day hooked to the thermostat, but when lights go out and the temperature drops to the point that the thermostat stops coming on i would like the fan to come on say 5 minutes every half hour. this question has been asked before, and the consensus seems to be adding a transformer, and relay to separate the circuits. My question(s) is/are, could i not just hook up the thermostat, and timer in parallel to the fan?, would a backfeed of power into the thermostat and/or timer really be an issue? alternatively i have considered hooking the thermostat and cycle timer to the fan and just have the thermostat and timer each hooked up to a timer that would have the thermostat circuit live for 12 hours of the day, and the cycle timer the other 12 hours, but then i am dealing with a backfeed of power into whichever timer is off while the other is on, would this be an issue?

i hope that is as clear as it is in my head, i am a mechanic by trade but not an electrician, a/c still eludes me a bit and would like a second opinion