Ballast Voltage & Amps: 240v - 480v

Don't say I haven't been giving you info dude. I told you how they do it several times and even gave you the article in Cannibus Culture.

Ok guess I'm shit talking. So here is your post stating maxing out a 100 amp service. And my location and house are both 250amps so I guess you realy do know everything. And I'm telling you if you read thru the 4 pages almost everything you need is in there. And I did say almost

Elite Nugz said:

How?? My lights are 9.5 amps @120v. So how would that even be possible?? 50 x 9.5 = 475amps@120v. OR 50 x 4.75 = 375.5amps@240v. You cant use more amps then what your panel is giving out.


How?? 120v leaves your ballast running at maximum amperage. It only takes 10 lights to max out a full 100amps service. And I dont consider 10 or even 20 lights being a large operation. 20 lights is about a medium sized op, when it comes to indoor growing.

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It talks about how they are either stealing electricity or using generators like I originally said. Then it goes on to describe how they use FLIPs. Come on man. Just admit I gave you good information. You act like I was spewing trash outta my mouth.

Plus you'll be real hard pressed to find commercial large scale growers willing to share information with you on a site like this. Those guys are super paranoid for the most part.

Elite Nugz said:

How?? My lights are 9.5 amps @120v. So how would that even be possible?? 50 x 9.5 = 475amps@120v. OR 50 x 4.75 = 375.5amps@240v. You cant use more amps then what your panel is giving out.


How?? 120v leaves your ballast running at maximum amperage. It only takes 10 lights to max out a full 100amps service. And I dont consider 10 or even 20 lights being a large operation. 20 lights is about a medium sized op, when it comes to indoor growing.

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Why did you go and edit your original post Elite? Cause you saw that you were wrong! Plus go and check your math again. 50 x 4.75 = what? You should have spotted that when you saw the number next to the 50 x 9.5 equation.

phillipchristian said:

50 lights wired at 240v could easily fit on a 200amp service if your did a FLIP. There is your answer.

I did a tap on my meter main. Here in Costa Rica you actually own your meter main panel and branch unit. So they let you put your own locks on it. If their is ever a problem they just come take your meter. They don't have the technology or software for their meters to be able to tell you power consumption habits or if you are stealing electricity. So basically we built our main and branch unit into a column and left a conduit pipe buried in the column next to the meter main. I ordered 3 200amp services to make sure that I would have enough power on the transformer to steal what I needed for my grow. The entrance to the property is 400 yeards from where the house is and the building we built for the grow. Since the property is listed as 7.5 acres the electrical company had no problem giving me 3 meters. I ordered an 800amp meter main and a 3-4 socket branch unit. After the electrical company installed power we just took the cover of the main unit where we already had the lugz in place on the busbar. All we did was drill a circular hole where we had left the conduit pipe behind the panel in the concrete column. Then we pulled out wires through and connected them to the busbar. I split the property, house, and some other things between the three meters and pulled 4/0 Aluminum URD cable to the grow building. Right now we have a total of 200amps on the board in the grow building. The utility company has no clue. I ended up doing it at my house as well. Gotta love Costa Rica.

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If you dont want to give any more advice.... then thats fine. But lets leave the trash talking behind.

You better go check limits agin. You want 90 lights set up and stay under fed limits. You better grow lettus then. Fed limit is 0000 plants. It's states that allow it. And there is so many limits on that.

Warlock1369 said:

You better go check limits agin. You want 90 lights set up and stay under fed limits. You better grow lettus then. Fed limit is 0000 plants. It's states that allow it. And there is so many limits on that.

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Dude... Im not here to argue. Its illegal in the feds eyes. They have made it clear that they will bust anyone over 99 plants. Stay under that, and follow state guidelines and your in the clear... somewhat.

Back on topic.....

That's some shit there. Don't know who told you that but there an idiot. Glad I'm in socal. I'll hear how well this dose.

Finally! Thank you. Fair enough.

So it sounds like you need to plan for a maximum load of 68 lights on at one time (23 Veg/45 Flower) and all of your other equipment. I don't know what you are using to cool a room like that so I wouldn't be able to guess on your energy consumption as far as Heating & A/C. Plus I don't know what other equipment you will have in your space so it's hard to guess exactly. But using the formula of 600w for every 1000w of lighting then it sounds like you are going to want somewhere close to 500 amps. Why not just get a commercial space that already has 3 phase power or one that has 2-3 single phase 250amp meters? Either way you would have more than enough. To do that type of installation you are going to need a good electrician. My suggestion would be to diagram the space out so you know exactly what your minimum footprint needs to be. Then you'll know how much space you need. After that you start looking for space that fits that criteria. Don't want to go too big cause then you have all that extra cooling to take care off. Gonna need high ceiling for plants like that. After you find a few space just bring your electrician with you and take a look at the existing power supply. He'll be able to answer any questions you have in regards to adequacy of power and he will know better if you can get additional power to that location from the utility company.

Plus, If you did a FLIP in your dedicated flower room you would only need to worry about power consumption for 45 lights at one time. Would reduce your needs 40%. You'd only need to plan for around 350 amps which you could easily split between two 250 amp meters or one 3 phase power board.

Warlock1369 said:

That's some shit there. Don't know who told you that but there an idiot. Glad I'm in socal. I'll hear how well this dose.

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The feds said it themselves... its even in writing. If you've setup 60+ lights and are here in California... then I would assume that you should know the rules.

If your going to continue to challenge me... do so in a PM. This isnt the place for it.

phillipchristian said:

Finally! Thank you. Fair enough.

So it sounds like you need to plan for a maximum load of 68 lights on at one time (23 Veg/45 Flower) and all of your other equipment. I don't know what you are using to cool a room like that so I wouldn't be able to guess on your energy consumption as far as Heating & A/C. Plus I don't know what other equipment you will have in your space so it's hard to guess exactly. But using the formula of 600w for every 1000w of lighting then it sounds like you are going to want somewhere close to 500 amps. Why not just get a commercial space that already has 3 phase power or one that has 2-3 single phase 250amp meters? Either way you would have more than enough. To do that type of installation you are going to need a good electrician. My suggestion would be to diagram the space out so you know exactly what your minimum footprint needs to be. Then you'll know how much space you need. After that you start looking for space that fit that criteria. Don't want to go too big cause then you have all that extra cooling to take care off. Gonna need high ceiling for plants like that. After you find a few space just bring your electrician with you and take a look at the existing power supply. He'll be able to answer any questions you have in regards to adequacy of power and he will now better if you can get additional power to that location from the utility company.

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Dude just be safe. I'm not going to argue. But that is completely false. And for 99 plants you are going way overkill. 1 do 96 and that's only 24 clones and 24 in pre veg and 24 ing veg and 24 in flower. All that is in 8000w and a grow coming down every 4 weeks. Think of your area first. A 14x20 room is all that is needed. And 5 foot plants are easy in that setup. So you will be in your 200amp limit. Even if you Dubble my lights but your bill is going to kill you. I get 8-1000 dollar bill every mounth

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Warlock1369 said:

Dude just be safe. I'm not going to argue. But that is completely false. And for 99 plants you are going way overkill. 1 do 96 and that's only 24 clones and 24 in pre veg and 24 ing veg and 24 in flower. All that is in 8000w and a grow coming down every 4 weeks. Think of your area first. A 14x20 room is all that is needed. And 5 foot plants are easy in that setup. So you will be in your 200amp limit. Even if you Dubble my lights but your bill is going to kill you. I get 8-1000 dollar bill every mounth

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I really can't help you on that. It's way to complicated to explain in a thread. I am not trying to be a dick bro...but if you don't know the difference between 2 phase and 3 phase power you really need to hire an electrician to wire that place. You are talking about a lot of juice. Get one from outta state and blind fold his ass. I don't know but I do know you need one.

You don't have 2 phase power. 2 phase power does not exist in the U.S. as a residential or commercial option. I don't know where it does exist but not in the U.S. Single phase power, which is what you probably have is single voltage, 3 wire service. 3 phase power is 3 voltages and 4 wires. If you have single phase the inside of your breaker panel will say 120v/240v. If you have 3 phase then the inside of your breaker panel will say 120v/208v.

Your gonna need a whole lot more A/C to do 45 lights at once.

The best thing to do is have smaller grows. Just more of them. Have all your licence at each one. Just make sure none of the licence can lead to another location if raided. And be ready for a raid.

phillipchristian said:

You don't have 2 phase power. 2 phase power does not exist in the U.S. as a residential or commercial option. I don't know where it does exist but not in the U.S. Single phase power, which is what you probably have is single voltage, 3 wire service. 3 phase power is 3 voltages and 4 wires. If you have single phase the inside of your breaker panel will say 120v/240v. If you have 3 phase then the inside of your breaker panel will say 120v/208v.

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^^^^ Good info ^^^ Thank you. I didnt know that 2 phase didnt exist here.

phillipchristian said:

Your gonna need a whole lot more A/C to do 45 lights at once.

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