Controlling exhaust fan, two controllers?
- Thread starter .RootDown
- Start date
Merlin1147
Well-Known Member
I’ve been thinking of the same thing for Rh and temp. I’m thinking of using a SPST-NC relay. Single pole single throw normally closed relay. Probably with 12 volt input wired to a plug in transformer the output wired to a plug receptical. Plug the 15 minute timer into the relay output receptical. Then plug the transformer and one end of the pictured cord into the ink bird the other male end of the cord into the timer. Plug the fan in. This way when the thermostat calls for power it breaks power to the timer. I might use an additional timed delay relay for the temp. This way the power to the fan will be definitely off before switching sources.
herballuvmonkey
Well-Known Member
No brother thats not how electricity works. In a parallel system which that would be your voltage would stay the same but your amperage would increase and you would have to size the wire and breaker accordingly. In other words if you have one 120 pulling 3 amps and another 120 pulling 6 amps you would still have 120 volts on the line if they both came on but you would be pulling 9 amps across the wire easily put on a 15 amp breaker. also that is an input plug not an output so it wouldnt work.Think about it. You have two 120v hot wires leading to a single hot line feeding a 120V device so you'll be feeding 2x120V leads into one if both units go on at once. That gives you 240V at that end. I've done it and fried the switch on my variac rigging my furnace fan to run continuously. The variac still works but the switch is always on so have to unplug it to turn it off. Too lazy to replace the toggle switch.
OldMedUser
Well-Known Member
My bad.
I just tried a little experiment with a short piece of wire with each end plugged into the power side of a duplex plug and the center of the wire bared. No flipped breaker when I jacked it in and when I checked the voltage at the center cut it was just 120V. So a dual wired plug should work OK to power the fan from two controllers.
I tried it using the wire in the wide slots as well just in case the previous owner who put that plug in along the work bench had the connections backwards and got the same result.
Even an old dog can learn new tricks eh.
I just tried a little experiment with a short piece of wire with each end plugged into the power side of a duplex plug and the center of the wire bared. No flipped breaker when I jacked it in and when I checked the voltage at the center cut it was just 120V. So a dual wired plug should work OK to power the fan from two controllers.
I tried it using the wire in the wide slots as well just in case the previous owner who put that plug in along the work bench had the connections backwards and got the same result.
Even an old dog can learn new tricks eh.
Beachwalker
Well-Known Member
You're thinking about heat, but what about humidity? You might need to run your fans a lot more than you think, and as Hugo's said if you're as concerned as you say you are about smell you're not going to want to shut the carbon filter off ever
OldMedUser
Well-Known Member
That is basically the way I wired my dual duplex plugs for my grow room only I have the red going to one duplex plug and the black going to the other with the neutral attached to one and a short piece of wire from it to the other so the neutral is shared. Nice to see that it should be fine as I thought it was and after 15 years or so I've had no problems with it. Still wouldn't pass inspection as it's just hanging off the end of the wire up near the ceiling in there. lol
raratt
Well-Known Member
You only get 220V with two phases 120 degrees apart, in phase (110 outlet) they don't sum up.
raratt
Well-Known Member
That I have never seen, the only time I have seen a red wire other than a dryer or AC hookup is on a three way switch. Learn something new every day.
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.RootDown
Well-Known Member
I appreciate the advice- and the advice of others in this thread.
I've already decided I'm going to run the exhaust 24/7, vented through the roof. I really wanted to cycle the air, learning that with Co2 I could get away with the higher temps. However the temperature rise turned out to be more than I expected and summer is a very real thing that happens every year. So I will run the Co2 bottle and see how long it lasts... probably sell it depending on results.
(Side note: I wonder if the experiment should be done during veg or flower. Which stage would see the greater benefit?)
Monsanto, and others that have had awesome input on this thread- thank you! It was a learning experience.
XipXipXoom
Active Member
towards the bottom of that link it says
So a bit like a California 3 way... an inferior wiring method that catches on in certain places. In most places split kitchen recepts are very uncommon. However, there are/were some oddball places where the oddball AHJ's not only allowed that method, but required it, and in those places in could seem common. Definitely not though and wiring any edison circuit( shared neutral) should be avoided if only for ease of troubleshooting, let alone safety.
OldMedUser
Well-Known Member
I only boost the CO2 for the stretch when the plants put on a real big growth spurt. Seems to really get the buds and everything else bursting forth. Just using an alcohol lamp to make CO2 until I can get a tank. 15 -20 min gets me over 1500ppm then it takes about 2 hours before my controller is blinking that it's lower than 900. By then the temp is up over 80 so I'll run the exhaust for a while to cool down to 72 or so then repeat the cycle.
Tomorrow is day 3 of 12/12 and they are already looking perkier.
I'm sure it would increase growth at any stage so your could cut down veg time and increase yields with it's use but depending on how much you use and what it cost you in comparison to increases in yield is debatable
bottletoke
Well-Known Member
its mandatory for the whole country unless your home has been built prior to 1970 and hasnt had any "legal" renovations.
your 100% sure that your not running a kitchen split?
raratt
Well-Known Member
It is for convenience, typically hooked up to a light fixture in a hallway so that it can be turned on from either end of the hallway, or the top and bottom of a staircase. It is an accepted wiring configuration in the NEC and nothing inferior about it.
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XipXipXoom
Active Member
Your right its not switching the neutral like a Chicago 3 way but it still goes againt KISS philosophy. It might be a stairway landing situation like you mentioned where its warranted, but best to avoid when you can. Im ok with edison circuit dishwasher/disposal, but not with gfi small appliance circuits being split recepts it just adds too much unneccesary complexity IMO. I think best practice for kitchen recepts is to leapfrog the 2 2wire circuits so both halves of a recept are the same circuit but next recept down the wall is a differrent circuit. Saves box fill and complexity. But thats only my opinion and I'm no AHJ. Things change a lot county to county and country to country.
XipXipXoom
Active Member
In the US I would say most homes built within the last 20 years have 2 seperate 12/2 wire circuits due to GFI requirements in the kitchen and not being able to split GFI recepts. You could do DP GFI breakers, but those are/were much more expensive. I believe this is why Palm Beach County required split kitchen recepts/GFI breakers. It drives the cost of construction up, which in turn drives all property values up. I believe this is why the most affluent counties have the craziest zaniest code stipulations.
TIL that by 2014 NEC, dishwashers have to be GFI protected. So an Edison circuit dishwasher/disposal split plug is no longer practical eithr, at least in areas that have adopted 2014, which brings me to my next point...
https://www.nfpa.org/-/media/Images/NEC/Adoption-Maps/NECInEffect12118.ashx?la=en
In the US, our states are not even on the same book! But I believe you saying split kitchen recepts are required in your country, because I have seen that here in some local jurisdictions.
Sort of makes the NATIONAL Electrical Code a bit of a misnomer, doesn't it?
Also, 12/3 is almost twice the cost of 12/2 so your hardly saving any money. Need deep boxes which cost more, and have to tie joints which is more labor than is saved by pulling 1 12/3 instead of 2 12/2s.
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Merlin1147
Well-Known Member
Not sure if you ever solved this but I finally had to make a fix for me because of RH and temp. And odor issues. I used a Lovato control relay I got from McMaster. with 2 normally closed and 2 normally open poles and a 120 volt coil. So one power input is tied to both the normally open poles and the coil the other to the normally closed poles. I can send you a diagram if your interested. I used 4 poles because I didn’t want any chance of back feeding power into the inkbird. So this breaks both the hot and common. Also it is a lock out device so it breaks before making.