I ran into a wall!

HGK420

HGK420

Well-Known Member
Ya my guy said I got 100 amps make it work or it gets expensive and official. I can work with 100 I spose. Those damn banks of t5's are a killer. I'm gonna swap to 600's there too and save another 5 amps or so. I'm lucky we got gas appliances. An electric stove and dryer wouldn't cut it.

What's the story then for my veg room. I wanna be able to run my ballast at 240. Are there like plug bars you can wire up for 240?
 
Murfy

Murfy

Well-Known Member
a dedicated circuit-

with a contactor switch controller at the end.



the components within this box cost twenty two dollars.
 
phizzion

phizzion

Well-Known Member
Bigger wires from meter to box, like previous stated. While your doing this, add a side 100 amp or 200 amp box in parallel to the existing box. you will be able to add all the circuits you'll need for the future. If you weren't overloading the wires from the meter to the existing box, you could just add the parallel box. There is no protection from overloading the wiring from your meter to your box, be careful.
 
cephalopod

cephalopod

Well-Known Member

[h=3]How to Build a Four Light Grow Light Controller for Less Than $80[/h][HR][/HR]Anyone that has more than two 1000 watt lights in their home has probably run into the problem of how to supply power and turn them on and off. A standard 120 volt circuit in your home has a 15 amp rating, that means one light. Note: I will be using the term "120 volt" and "240 volt" to describe the two different types of circuits we will be working with only because that's the term the ballast manufactures use. They are often referred to as "110 volt" or "220 volt", actually if you measured the voltage with an accurate meter a 120 volt circuit often will be less than that an can vary. A 1000 watt light draws about 9.2 amps at 120 volts (1100 watts / 120 volts = 9.17 amps). See this page for other ballast wattages. On a 240 volt circuit the amperage is 4.6 amps (1100 watts / 240 volts = 4.58 amps), so when running multiple light systems, it's easier to wire them for 240 because you can use smaller wire.
In a 120 volt circuit, the power cords have three wires; a black, a white and a green. The black is the "power" or 120 volts, the white is the "common" or "return" and the green is the ground. In a three wire 240 volt circuit, like we use for grow lights, there is also a black, white and green. The black and white are both 120 volts (180 degrees out of phase with each other) and the green is the common and ground. In a 240 circuit we are splitting the load between two wires.
The problem for most of you is that you just can't go out and buy a timer that you can "plug in" four lights. I have looked at many different lighting controllers for the hydroponics industry and found that most are $200 to $300 for what amounts to a $30 relay in a box with some outlets. I know many of you like to build this stuff on your own, so I setout to build one of these with safety and low price in mind and to get as much of it from Home Depot as I could. I know that some of you have built controllers based on the Intermatic T103 timers like this one, they will work for four lights but what do you do when you have eight or twelve lights and you want them to turn on at the same time? The answer is a relay.
A relay works like a light switch, it connects and disconnects two wires. The difference is that instead of flipping the switch with your finger, a relay has a coil that when power is applied, it makes the connection. The advantage of this is that the coil requires only minimal current. The one I am using draws 85 milliamps. That means I can control quite a few of these relays with one 15 amp timer. 15 amps / .085 (85 milliamps) = 176, or 176 four light controllers. I don't know if anyone has 704, 1000 watt lights, but if you did you could turn them all on with a $10 Home Depot timer! One problem though, you still need 176 different 30 amp circuits..... On with the project.
Warning: Electricity will kill you, it does not care if you cry "uncle", you could be barbecued in no time. If you don't understand how this works, don't do it.
[h=3]What you need[/h]Tools:

  • A drill
  • 3/16 drill bit
  • Screw Drivers
  • Wire Stripper, with Crimper
  • Pliers
Materials:
PartPrices (from 8/7/03)Image
6 x 6 x 4 Junction box$10.75
4 connectors, 20A 250V,
NEMA 6-20 style		$21.00
4 feet of 14/3 SJO wire, more if you want to have the ballasts far from the power source.$2.32
pack of at lease 3, 8-32 x 1 inch machine screws and nuts$0.78
at least 15 ring terminals, 16 - 14 gauge wire, 8 - 10 stud.$2.55
Dryer cord, 3 wire, 10 gauge$8.29
16/3 power cord, 18/3 will work too$2.98
5, "Romex Clamps" or Cord Restraints$0.99
30 Amp Power Relay$29.95
How it Works

When power is applied to the small black cord (the relay coil) the power from the dryer cord goes to the four yellow connectors. You will also need a dryer outlet.

Here is the relay. The power from the dryer cord is connected to the "LINE" side and the power to the grow lights goes on the "LOAD" side. The "COIL" is the trigger.

Here you can see the contacts. They will be pulled down by the electromagnet the coil charges.

This is a "double pole" relay. We will put one of our 120 volt wires on pole 1 and the other on pole 2. In a 240 volt circuit you must disconnect both 120 volt wires at the same time.

Here I have connected the 16/3 power cord to the coil to using the black and white wires. It does not matter what side you connect them to. When you plug it in you should hear a click and see the contacts close.

Just to give you an overview of how it works, here is the power coming in on the line side. Notice that the two outside wires on the dryer cord go to the two poles and the inner one is the ground. The black and white from the connector go to the load side of the two poles. In this situation, it does not matter what pole you connect the black or white to.
Assembly

First I put the relay in the center of the junction box and made some marks through the mounting holes of the relay. Then drilled two 3/16 inch holes.

I also drilled a hole in the side for the ground screw. Also above you can see the knock-outs missing. The one on the left is for the 16/3 power cord, this hole should measure 7/8 inch. The one on the left is for the dryer cord, it should measure 1-1/8 inch.

I prepared four sets of wires as shown above using the ring terminals. I made them one foot long but they can be longer if you have your ballasts far from the dryer plug. Since we are using 14/3 wire, you could make them long enough to go from one side of your house to the other. Be careful not to cut too deep into the insulation or you will cut the copper. Inside the yellow connector is a strip gauge for the wire (above left). If you cut too much of the black insulation off, the clamp will not hold.

When you crimp the ring terminals, test them. If you pull on them, they should not come apart!

Insert the wires into the connectors. The green must go to the green screw. Again, in this situation it does not matter where you put the black and white.

Assemble the rest of the connectors.

You should have with four sets of these.

After I mounted the relay, I connected the 16/3 power cord to the coil and the ground screw. If your using Romex clamps, put the clamp on first.

Then I connected the dryer cord to one side of the relay and grounded the center wire.

The hole on the left is 7/8 inch, the one on the right is 1-1/8 inch. The dryer cord comes with these funky clamps, you may have to bend it to get it through the hole.

Now it starts to get tight. I put the four 14/3 cords with the connectors through the box. The holes for these should be 7/8 inch. Notice the four black on one pole and the white on the other. Also they are all grounded. Now tighten all the screws and pack the wire against the inside of the box so nothing is rubbing the relay.

Use the cord restraints or Romex clamps to hold the wires in place. We have a special tool but pliers will work too.

Put the cover on and your done!


 
HGK420

HGK420

Well-Known Member
If you just plug in that 110 it's gonna trigger right? So just skip the timer for 24 hour?
 
HGK420

HGK420

Well-Known Member
Cephalopod you got respect comin first and formost too buddy thanks. Didn't realize that was a post by you thanks.
 
Lionden

Lionden

Well-Known Member
cephalopod said:
That's what I used to do. Then I went to vert cool tubes and now vert bare bulb and I don't think I'll ever look back. Things are running more efficiently than ever for me now. (sorry if we're getting off topic but I had to share)
Lionden I thought I saw you were running 18K, would that be on a flip or a single room?
Click to expand...
Its actually 5 different rooms 1 veg 4 flower and i run them all at the same time, i have a 200amp service just for it.
 
Murfy

Murfy

Well-Known Member
yes-

just plug in the trigger to an outlet and its on continuous. they make relays with many different trigger voltages, 12V, 24V, 48V, 120V, 240, etc.

i have setup a rainbird lawn sprinkler controller to run lights. it has eight channels, that can all be set to a time schedule. it runs 24V triggers. so i used the 24V trigger relays. it was a touch lcd controller or 60 bucks and will run 8 banks of lights. i am making my controller boxes now with the rectangle outlets cut right into the box, instead of the octopus legs. i then use a 5Amp push button circuit breaker, to protect each appliance, next to the corresponding outlet in the box.

anyway, now that you understand relays, you should know that twelve dollar switch will run anything. like your fans, add a 24V transformer, and a thermostat, and now it switches your fans. use a 120V trigger relay with a humidistatic switch to control de/humidifier. or AC. or pumps. or far red lights. or etc, etc.
 
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