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

Craigson

Craigson

Well-Known Member
rkymtnman said:
never.

15A x 120V= 1800W MAX. you only want to run @ 80% of rated load so 1400 W MAX.

I would try to find a separate circuit and a heavy duty extension cord to get you by temporarily. Then have an electrician do it correctly by adding a circuit for you.

Can you run the HPS on 240V?
Click to expand...
Ahh yes I just looked up about swicthing to bigger breaker - wont do that lol

my latest conclusion is yes Ill get a good extension cord and run to another circuit.

I dont know about 220, like my stove is 220 but I couldnt tell you what my options are lol
plus then Ill have to buy all new ballasts I believe??

luckily my grow room is in the room beside my panel so should be pretty easy to run another circuit.

thanks for the quick reply
 
Craigson

Craigson

Well-Known Member
spek9 said:
NO!

If you have a 15A circuit, it's almost certainly using 14ga wire. If you replace the 15A breaker with 30A, the wire becomes the fuse, and will start a fire. A 30A circuit requires 10ga wire, so you'd need to replace the cabling (quite costly with 10ga), and the outlets themselves along with the breaker.

1800W on a 120V circuit is exactly 15A. One should never continuously run a circuit at more than 80% capacity. This is called the "80 percent rule". So, on a 15A circuit, it shouldn't be loaded beyond 12A continuously.

You need to run two separate 15A circuits, and split the load across them.
Click to expand...
Ya so shoukdnt the breaker have been tripping at 80%??
 
Dryxi

Dryxi

Well-Known Member
@ whoever.

What size wire do I need to keep 240v current, distance is ~370 ft from main panel, goal is 100 amps at subpanel (distance away).
Wire will be buried underground (only 75ft underground), prefer not to use metal conduit (extra expense).

I have heard multiple things, but curious what you all have to say. Mostly it comes down to how much voltage drop I can handle. I won't be using all 100amps (more like 50). The 240v outlets will be for minisplit, dehuey, and lights (2k watts of LED), all of which I am pretty sure can run on 220 vs 240, so some voltage drop should be alright.
 
Renfro

Renfro

Well-Known Member
@ 370 feet using 3/0 copper you would have a voltage drop of about 2.7%.

Thing is, the underground part and the other part may require different cable to keep code unless you intend to use conduit (highly recommended IMO.)
 
Chunky Stool

Chunky Stool

Well-Known Member
Why do my smart plugs leak a tiny bit of electricity when they should be off?

It is only noticeable with LED gear.

I've tried two different brands and they both do it.
 
diggs99

diggs99

Well-Known Member
Renfro said:
Well if current is passing then it's a solid state "switch" and not a relay inside the plug.
Click to expand...
muthafkr you must be 200 years old with all the knowledge and experience you have in that head of yours, wtf lol noway someone can learn so much about so much in less than 200 years atleast bro

im jealous
 
CountryFriedPotHead

CountryFriedPotHead

Well-Known Member
bricktown73 said:
Hi there fellow RIU'ers... Over and over again I continualy see new threads and posts about electrical work question and thought I would post a couple threads to help you guys the same way all of you who have done such a great job having helped me... So, Do you have a grow room question about how to wire something up, or what are the safest ways of doing things? The most important one I see alot is people running lights and fans off power chords... I have wired my own grow room and will post an example of my work.

Please, if you have any questions and are unsure of what to do or if what you are doing is safe, PLEASE! ask me first if you are even a tad bit unsure. I would hate to hear anyone have an electrical fire because they didn't quite know what they were doing when all they needed to do was to ask a couple of questions... I will do my best to point you in the right direction.

If you want to do some wiring your self, I will either let you know if your project is too complicated if your not handy with electrical, or, IF YOU ASK, I will walk you thru your project step by step.

So please, ASK AWAY!!!

You can post questions here but you may not get your question answerd on the thread, best way to go about it is PM me. You will forsure get a response back.

PS Even if you have basic around the home electrical questions, shoot em my way.
Click to expand...
I recently swapped a light switch to be a plug in receptacle, so i could draw power anonymously in my grow area. Only problem is.. when i plug my timer in my lights run at half strength, the cooling fans inside the light do not turn on andddd the damn light bulb slowly lights up and after about 3 seconds is emitting a full on beam of light. Haaa, im dumb founded, literally moved the entire grow out of frustration. This wasnt my only problem, just the cherry on top. Regardless, id like to know what i did wrong. Below I will list the steps i changed the switch in.
1) Flip Breaker for Designated Are
2) Begin unscrewing light switch cover before checking it with a volt meter bc fuck it YOLO
3) Unscrew switch from box
4) Remove neutral and hot wire
5) Remove ground
6) I put the wires into the new 20w receptacle, White wire on the side with the green ground screw, I think it was the neutral wire.
7) Tighten the wires in, push the remainder of the ground wire back in the box corner
8) Screw the receptacle to the box
9) Screw the plate over the receptacle
10) Attempt to draw power.

Any help will be appreciated!
 
fragileassassin

fragileassassin

Well-Known Member
Craigson said:
Ahh yes I just looked up about swicthing to bigger breaker - wont do that lol

my latest conclusion is yes Ill get a good extension cord and run to another circuit.

I dont know about 220, like my stove is 220 but I couldnt tell you what my options are lol
plus then Ill have to buy all new ballasts I believe??

luckily my grow room is in the room beside my panel so should be pretty easy to run another circuit.

thanks for the quick reply
Click to expand...
This was my solution to a very similar problem. All of the basement outlets were on 1 15a breaker, but I need up to 25-30a plus the ability to use my big ass shop vac that pulls several amps. I got around this temporarily by drilling a hole in the bottom of the garage wall and running 3 extension cords from the 2 15a circuits in the garage.
I scored the 50a controller box local for $50 which was a steal as it was brand new.
50 feet of 6/2 sim-pull wire, a 50a breaker, 2 boxes of clips, and 10ft of conduit and needed parts to run it up the garage wall ran me around $120.
I ran the wire myself and had an electrician friend check over it and do the panel work which would have cost $150-200 itself
This ended up MUCH cheaper than rewiring all of the basement outlets.

20200117_200444.jpg
 
Renfro

Renfro

Well-Known Member
CountryFriedPotHead said:
I recently swapped a light switch to be a plug in receptacle, so i could draw power anonymously in my grow area. Only problem is.. when i plug my timer in my lights run at half strength, the cooling fans inside the light do not turn on andddd the damn light bulb slowly lights up and after about 3 seconds is emitting a full on beam of light. Haaa, im dumb founded, literally moved the entire grow out of frustration. This wasnt my only problem, just the cherry on top. Regardless, id like to know what i did wrong. Below I will list the steps i changed the switch in.
1) Flip Breaker for Designated Are
2) Begin unscrewing light switch cover before checking it with a volt meter bc fuck it YOLO
3) Unscrew switch from box
4) Remove neutral and hot wire
5) Remove ground
6) I put the wires into the new 20w receptacle, White wire on the side with the green ground screw, I think it was the neutral wire.
7) Tighten the wires in, push the remainder of the ground wire back in the box corner
8) Screw the receptacle to the box
9) Screw the plate over the receptacle
10) Attempt to draw power.

Any help will be appreciated!
Click to expand...
Sounds like you tapped a switch leg. The white wire is probably not neutral but a switch leg.
 
Renfro

Renfro

Well-Known Member
diggs99 said:
muthafkr you must be 200 years old with all the knowledge and experience you have in that head of yours, wtf lol noway someone can learn so much about so much in less than 200 years atleast bro

im jealous
Click to expand...
Imagine how much I could learn if I actually tried? I spend most of my time fucking off...
 
CountryFriedPotHead

CountryFriedPotHead

Well-Known Member
Renfro said:
Sounds like you tapped a switch leg. The white wire is probably not neutral but a switch leg.
Click to expand...
Okay, thats nice to know, I appreciate the info, but clearly from my lack of knowledge im unaware of what a leg switch is. So if you could help me and explain instead of only pointing out something you know about what I said that'd be super awesome! 8)
 
Renfro

Renfro

Well-Known Member
CountryFriedPotHead said:
Okay, thats nice to know, I appreciate the info, but clearly from my lack of knowledge im unaware of what a leg switch is. So if you could help me and explain instead of only pointing out something you know about what I said that'd be super awesome! 8)
Click to expand...
A switch leg goes to lighting from the switch and carries power to the light, in that case the neutral leg is usually in the ceiling where the light is.
 
CountryFriedPotHead

CountryFriedPotHead

Well-Known Member
Renfro said:
A switch leg goes to lighting from the switch and carries power to the light, in that case the neutral leg is usually in the ceiling where the light is.
Click to expand...
Okay, so how can I resolve this problem? Pretty much its fu*ked and that was meant to be only a light switch? There was about a billion wires up there and if it helps it was in my attic. Is there only a switch leg and a hot wire and a ground? Is there a neutral wire up there I can plug into the spot i put the leg? Do you need a picture to help me?
 
fragileassassin

fragileassassin

Well-Known Member
CountryFriedPotHead said:
Okay, so how can I resolve this problem? Pretty much its fu*ked and that was meant to be only a light switch? There was about a billion wires up there and if it helps it was in my attic. Is there only a switch leg and a hot wire and a ground? Is there a neutral wire up there I can plug into the spot i put the leg? Do you need a picture to help me?
Click to expand...
Does this switch control 1 single light? and are there any other switches that control the same light. Theres a few different ways things could be set up. The power could be run to the light first and then to the switch or to the switch and then the light.
Pics of how the switch is wired could help.
Is there 2 black wires on it or a black and a white? If its black and white and that switch only controls 1 light, its likely the neutral is run directly to the light.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top