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

I have my grow space in my attic. Originally there was an outlet In the attic with
Single 12 gauge wire coming into it. I pulled the wire, ran it into a double switch, which
Allowed me to send one wire back to the original attic outlet and one wire to my
Grow room.

The original attic attic outlet isn't supplying anything, but needs to be operable just in case.

The grow room room wire is ran into a 20 amp gfi I installed in grow room.

This is all running off the grow room gfi,
(1) 6 inch inline fan
(1) 600 watt nextgen ballast and light
(2) 4 inch boost fans
(3) Small res water pumps
(2) Small fans
(1) 2' 4 bulb t5 light

Everything in the flowering room is running good, but I just added the
Veg room and I'm worried it is going to be too much power the way I have it ran.

Any suggestions?

i have a 30a 220- gfi protected circuit available in my house to run to the grow room. i wanted to run 6 1000 watt lights on 220v off of this circuit. after i get the #10 wire into the room, how do i go about wiring multiple 220v outlets? do you just connect black to black etc from outlet to outlet? thanks.

Your going to have to do some math, you'll need to read the name plate on your next gen ballast to see what it is using I know you said it was a 600 watt but my understanding is that one appeal of the electronic ballasts is that they use less electricity so you need to read the label and add that to the total wattage of your fluorescant tubes then depending on how the rest of your equiptment is labeled watts/amps you'll need to figure out what each piece is pulling or using add all totals and see if you have more equiptment than power.
You may need to convert watts to amps for example a 600 watt fixture would draw 5 amps. using OHM'S LAW.
OHM'S LAW is a formula used to determine different things you need to know two values to get the third in this case we know the voltage say 120 volts and we know the watttage 600 so we have to use OHM'S LAW to determine the amperage the device is using in this case we have to do the math 660 watts divided by 120 volts equals 5 amps.
But as I said I'm not familiar with your equiptment and by code the equiptment should have a name plate giving you the info add up the amp ratings on all known pieces of equiptment and use OHM'S LAW for the rest you might want to do a google search for Ohm's Law you might find calculator on line to help but if you can't here's the standard formulas.
Ohm's Law calculator.
http://www.the12volt.com/ohm/page2.asp

This should help add all your totals and see if your good to go.

legalgrower1 said:

i have a 30a 220- gfi protected circuit available in my house to run to the grow room. i wanted to run 6 1000 watt lights on 220v off of this circuit. after i get the #10 wire into the room, how do i go about wiring multiple 220v outlets? do you just connect black to black etc from outlet to outlet? thanks.

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One thing that comes to mind is you could take that 30 amp 240 volt line and put it into a small sub panel then come off the sub Panel with 2 seperate 240 v. 20 amp. circuits otherwise you'll have to run all 10 guage wire unless your used to working with it it can be hard for a novice to wrap around device terminals.
As far as wiring the devices you have two hot wires and a ground just make sure you get the correct receptacles for your ballasts look at the plug configuration you might even want to take it with you when buying the receptacles.

I was sitting here reading the posts and I figured I'd go to my electrical box to see what I got. I opened the box and saw most of the breakers were labeled 20A. I noticed below the box there was 220V?, i think 220, attached connected to the electrical box as well. The conduit states 75A and if this is the case I am in great shape, if not can someone please explain to me what this is for. I would be awesome to run all my equipment off this one breaker. Please help me out and let me know whats up with this cable. I know a maintenance man for some local hotels lived here before us, so he might of upgraded his box. I'm very excited if this is the case. Someone please let me know, it would be greatly appreciated... mad rep.

75 amp????

slantxl said:

75 amp????

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That's an odd place to see that it looks like you might have a seperate line tapped off the main panel going outside to someplace else maybe an out building or possibly a hot tub or something, but that is a strange way to connect it up that is a twist lock cord end or ends one male and one female but I can't say that it is rated for outdoor use.
It looks like something you'd see in a commercial or industrial setting not a residential setting.
It also shows signs of weathering and doesn't look weather proof, you might have found something that needs to be corrected it could be unsafe as water could get in and cause a short or worse.
The whole thing looks like somebody rigged up the whole thing, my guess is that the last homeowner did it himself.
Where the wire leaves the house it goes into a conduuit fitting that looks like something you'd see in an industrial setting but the set screw connector with the two screws is strictly for indoor wiring an outdoor connector wouldn't have exposed set screws and would be a compression type I can't tell what type of wire that is it could be an extension cord type wire or possibly in the "romex" category or non metallic sheathed cable which is for indoor use only but again I can't tell since it has been painted you can't tell from the pictures.
It might have gone to something that is no longer there or in use your going to have to figure out what it is going to given the size of the breaker it could be for some large piece of equiptment anything from an out building to a swimming pool or pool heater without some further investigation on your part I wouldn't be turning it on anytime soon.
Let me know what you find I love a good mystery, I'm not being a wise ass but this is the kind of thing that breaks up a bored electricians day.
seriously write back it could be dangerous and I'd like to help keep you and yours safe if I can.

I decided to stop by Home Depot on my way home and pick up a Vol Test XL. I could not get a reading off of the 250V Hart Lock. Because I did not get a reading does this mean that the line is dead? I did find out that I have 120 V running to the garage and another 110 V running to the spare bedroom behind the garage. I also found out a little more info on the hart lock...easier to investigate in day light. It is made by Arrow Hart Inc., Model Hart Lock 50A 125/250 V; CAT NOS: CS6364. (Refer to link at bottom) You also mentioned to me that I should not turn this on... would I have to flip the breaker to turn this on or is there another method to power it up. All the breakers in the electrical box have always been on. I don't want to mess with it to much cause I don't know if it is live or not. I was also able to get information off of the wire, the underside is not painted. The writing on the wire read; 12 3 TYPE SO 90 G P 123 70 MSHA. If this wire is live would I be able to, or have an electrician, run the conduit another 25 ft, set up a breaker box, and run all my equipment off of two 120 V breakers. For the run all I would have to do is extend the line up the exterior wall, core a hole through the attic crawl/space, run the line over a den, and it would be in the garage. The den was an add on so the attic/crawl space in the den is exposed in the garage. I would love to take advantage of this if I can, but I know how delicate of matter electricity is. I would not want to hook anything up that wasn't solid. Let me know what you think.

http://solutions.cooperwiringdevices.com/common/brands.cfm?pg=Detail&brandName=CWD Industrial&category=Locking Devices - Hart-Lock®: 50A: Connectors&id=17571

hey Slantxl what u have there is a twist lock plug u said they guy that lived there was in matinence and he prob brought that home from work there is nothing wrong with that. why u didnt get a reading is that twist locks can b a pain to get a good reading on u can always pull the cover off ur pannel to make sure its hooked up to the breaker. the cable is a so cord like a heavy duty extention cord its 12/3 so its only rated for 20 amps that 20 amps is only good for about 100 feet the u will run into voltage drop. you can go into ur garuge and do a voltage test there if u have 110v ur good u said u have 2 other cirits in ur garuge so u have total of 2 120v and a 220v u should b ok as long as ur just having a room in there u can leave that 220 for lites or change the breaker and make it 120v

Karloff said:

That's an odd place to see that it looks like you might have a seperate line tapped off the main panel going outside to someplace else maybe an out building or possibly a hot tub or something, but that is a strange way to connect it up that is a twist lock cord end or ends one male and one female but I can't say that it is rated for outdoor use.
It looks like something you'd see in a commercial or industrial setting not a residential setting.......
It might have gone to something that is no longer there or in use your going to have to figure out what it is going to given the size of the breaker it could be for some large piece of equiptment anything from an out building to a swimming pool or pool heater without some further investigation on your part I wouldn't be turning it on anytime soon..

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could it have been a halfassed way to feed the breaker box from a generator? I saw something simular at a commercial building once, the guy would turn off the main breaker and plug a generator into a cord that was backfed to the panel. it worked but if he ever forgot to turn off the main or turned on the main befor unplugging the generator,....sparks....boom!
personally,I would remove it and run a new romex to your room.

slantxl said:

I decided to stop by Home Depot on my way home and pick up a Vol Test XL. I could not get a reading off of the 250V Hart Lock. Because I did not get a reading does this mean that the line is dead? I did find out that I have 120 V running to the garage and another 110 V running to the spare bedroom behind the garage. I also found out a little more info on the hart lock...easier to investigate in day light. It is made by Arrow Hart Inc., Model Hart Lock 50A 125/250 V; CAT NOS: CS6364. (Refer to link at bottom) You also mentioned to me that I should not turn this on... would I have to flip the breaker to turn this on or is there another method to power it up. All the breakers in the electrical box have always been on. I don't want to mess with it to much cause I don't know if it is live or not. I was also able to get information off of the wire, the underside is not painted. The writing on the wire read; 12 3 TYPE SO 90 G P 123 70 MSHA. If this wire is live would I be able to, or have an electrician, run the conduit another 25 ft, set up a breaker box, and run all my equipment off of two 120 V breakers. For the run all I would have to do is extend the line up the exterior wall, core a hole through the attic crawl/space, run the line over a den, and it would be in the garage. The den was an add on so the attic/crawl space in the den is exposed in the garage. I would love to take advantage of this if I can, but I know how delicate of matter electricity is. I would not want to hook anything up that wasn't solid. Let me know what you think.

http://solutions.cooperwiringdevices.com/common/brands.cfm?pg=Detail&brandName=CWD Industrial&category=Locking Devices - Hart-Lock®: 50A: Connectors&id=17571

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It's hard to see where the wire goes but it looks like it's going underground and that wire is not rated to be burried it looks larger than a 12-3 but it doesn't really matter I would turn it off and take a walk around testing things to see what isn't working if it's going underground it might be coming up anywhere.
The one thing I would do is to have an electrician come out and look at it and move on from there the electrician might be able to run a new circuit to power your equiptment if it were me I would run an extra circuit just in case you decide to go with some heavy lighting I don't know how many plants your planning to grow and don't know if your going to have two seperate areas one for grow and one for bloom but if you do it would make sense to have some extra juice some of the guys on here go a little overboard on lighting but if you go with High intensity discharge lighting (HPS or MH) they draw more and make the room very hot so you'll have to plan for cooling it off there's lots of threads on here to help you decide how to set up your room.
If your going to grow just a couple of plants one or two plants, CFL's run cool and don't pull alot of power but I don't want to influence you on your lighting choice.
That said you seem level headed and know your not experienced with wiring there's some really nice hydro setups out there that you can use in fact there are kits available that you can grow 6 plants in from start to finish that are very reasonable they even come with the nutrients and lights there is a thread that Roseman has just started on his latest closet grow using one of these kits.It's set up for the beginner it will tell you how to set up the system and where to get it, but don't try to post on that thread he wants to keep it clean so its easy to read for people new to growing he says from start to finish it takes 90 days give or take to harvest he has grown using this method many times and swears by it.
Also if you read it carefully ther is a coupon code for either a 10% or 20% discount from the hydro store, the kits go for around $200.00 and up depending on what options you choose you just supply the water and the seeds or clones.
I'm not trying to sell you on anything but the system draws very little power and you might not have to have an electrician run a new line so in the long run its not a bad option in fact I looked up Rosemans grow for you to save you time here's the link: https://www.rollitup.org/dwc-bubbleponics/234626-rosemans-diy-bubbleponics-tutorial.html
Again I'm not trying to sell you anything but offer you an option.
If you prefer to grow in soil there are plenty of threads that you con read or if you are an experienced grower please disregard this part but have that old line looked at either way.
It's getting late and I'm beat.
Good luck what ever you do but have that looked at soon.
Thanks.

Higher Education said:

Hey Brick and everyone, I was wondering how to tell if an outlet is 110v or 220v? I was also wondering how to tell the amp rating of an outlet....any input would be great, thanks.

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110 looks like = · and 220 looks like -.- and is also twice or three times bigger than 110.

I don't like to put other peoples work down but that whole setup is bad that he has if it's run underground it's an accident waiting to happen.
My experience has been if someone burries what is pretty much an extension cord it's going to rot out and I would bet that its not burried very deep either I'd be surprised if it were burried more than 6-8 inches.
Think about what would happen if this guys wife or kid picked up a shovel and hit the wire they could get hurt or worse I've seen too many bad homeowner wiring jobs watching This Old House and Home Time does not make anybody an electrician it takes an investment in schooling and then 5 years in the field before really know whats going on.
As far as the generator setup goes that is a dangerous setup and yes it could blow up.
They make something called a transfer switch for generator hookups I've installed a few they're pretty cool, I won't bore you with the details and it's getting late so I'm out of here.
Take it easy and have a good night.

Hi All,

great thread by the way.

i got a ballast the other day. its labelled in Spanish.

I am a bit nervous about connecting the whole thing up.

I have the initials F, N, and LR, LA.

Do i connect wires from the mains to F and N. And then cables from LR and LA to the lamp?

I have three wires (brown, blue, Yellow and green) i take it that I just use live and neutral?

I will really appreciate any help.

Can i put a new 220 circuit on the circuit breaker? and if the answer is yes how? your help would be greatly appreciated

Hey guys, ive been fictitiously growing for years and am about to start a large grow consisting of 3x 600 watt hps. I will be growing in my exterior garage and need some advice on how to outfit it for the 1800 watts of electricity that my grow will be using, not to mention the 3x 633 gph water pumps, fans, etc.

The main circuit breaker is 30 feet away.

Any help would be much appreciated.

This might sound silly but i have a 600w hps and i was thinking is the ballast pumping out 600watts aswell as the bulb so 1200 all togeva? and wats safe like if my socket says it takes 3000watts can i use stuff that adds up to 3000 or stay a bit bellow? hope u can help peace

No. The ballast is in place because simply put an HID bulb cannot take a direct current from a wall. So a 600watt Ballast pulls 600watts, and then sends that same 600watts onto the 600watt bulb.

mrscootrocka said:

Hey guys, ive been fictitiously growing for years and am about to start a large grow consisting of 3x 600 watt hps. I will be growing in my exterior garage and need some advice on how to outfit it for the 1800 watts of electricity that my grow will be using, not to mention the 3x 633 gph water pumps, fans, etc.

The main circuit breaker is 30 feet away.

Any help would be much appreciated.

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Does your garage have 20amp gfci circuits going to it? That would be able to handle the load up to about 2400watts, if not then a basic 20 amp (12-2) wire run to the grow area should be enough but wouldn't give to much room to expand. From there of course you can go on your own discretion, with basically more money equaling more watts possible. (240v line would lower amps but most things you'll be connecting won't have a 240v plug and would require an adapter. 12-3 or 10-2 would be the next steps IMO if 12-2 does not cut it)

right now there is only 1 110 outlet out there, what would be the steps to outfitting it with sufficient electricity. I would like to have ideally 3600 watts of electricity in the future so I might as well configure now. that would be 6 600 watters. GFCI seems to be the way to go but what about for 3600 watts.