Experienced Electrician! Here to Answer Any and All Growroom Electrical Questions
- Thread starter bricktown73
- Start date
PrincePurple
Active Member
Hey do u know if In a apartment building their is a energy meter that shows each apartments usage or is it a meter that just the whole buildings usage I dunt think they would be able to monitor each units usage because I would think their all wired together ?
Shed some light please an thanks
Shed some light please an thanks
wyteboi
Well-Known Member
the main "fuse" is yours , not the electric company's. you can do whatever you want with it. now if your talking about the meter thats spinning outside .... yes thats the power co's.
if its a fuse then just pull it out and the box will be dead EXCEPT the wires comin into the box from the meter ..... they will still be hot , unless you take the meter out. If its a breaker then just trip it an the same as above applies.
main thing to worry about is moving shit around while everything in your house is on. go through an turn off/unplug everything first , then your a lot less susceptible to death. a lil shock never hurt nobody an it will teach you to be careful next time.
just be extra careful an you will be fine. after flippin the main breaker off then nothing in the house will be hot , just the wires going into the breaker will be hot.
if you need more help , just ask..... your in the right place
soil
wyteboi
Well-Known Member
nothing , as long as you fix the prob an dont let it continue to come on an off.
soil
wyteboi
Well-Known Member
that forum is full of power company guys that all say your gonna die ? who is that guy to say its not safe for an electrician either ? most guys at the power co are WAAAAY less informed the a real electrician.
i am not 100% on what your trying to do here , but if you want to pull out the outside meter to work on your inside wiring then call them an tell them an it might not charge a dime........
IF you dont want the power co anywhere around this , then turn off the main breaker inside the house then go cut their tag off an pull the meter right on out.
the only thing you got to worry about is the meter falling apart (one in a million chance) other then that there is no power on in the house so its just like dealing with any other line ... there is 2- 110v lines an one neutral. (same as inside) ...... after your done put the meter back in an stick their tag back on the best you can , an eventually if/when the power co sees the cut tag , they might charge you a tampering fee or even a deposit. (like they did me)
just pay it an go on.
i dont condone in stealing so just dont come out an say it an i will help you till the end !
soil
wyteboi
Well-Known Member
wyteboi
Well-Known Member
No they are usually not run together unless its an old home someone just threw together to make a duplex. You should have your own meter to record YOUR power.
soil
chopchop83
Member
Hey Wyteboi thanks for the reply. Im in an apartment so everything like the meter and the main fuse (the fuse before the meter and my fuse box) is inside my apartment. 1st Pic attached, pipe on left of gas meter is my power coming in. Im assuming in that box on top of pipe is the main fuse. Dont know what other two boxes below meter are, one on right has a switch of some sort. Then above that is my meter. Above the meter in the pic is my fuse box/consumer unit. It has 6 x 16A breakers.
Ive grown before in this apartment but had some power problems. Im going to do it properly this time. Once Im at at the apartment I will make a electrical map of what is on each fuse, then I plan to run a cable from my fusebox/consumer (or from after meter and before unit fusebox/consumer unit) to my room, which will power a relay board. I only have a washing machine and fridge/freezer that is sucking much power. No clothers dryer. Heating is buildings responsiblity, and my water heater is gas. Oven and hob is gas.
This job I guess is like installing a subpanel? Power will be paid for. I thought I had to switch off the power before my fuse box/consumer unit to do this job (doesnt look like a have a main breaker, only 6 x16amp. And the only way to cut the power is to pull the main fuse (box at top on that pipe on left of photo). No one comes to look at the meter as I control access. I would like to do this so that if I need to I could remove everything and no tabs on meters are broken and everything looks normal.
My question would be, based on setting up 2 rooms each running 6x600watt (one room on, one off, except a few days of overlap when a room has a few days of 18 hour light, I dont veg for long) each room has its own in and out extractors, also inline fans connect rooms to transfer Co2 produced from sleeping plants into room with lights on, and seeing the pics above how would you tackle it?
do you get a bill from the electric company? if so, then you have your own meter. if electric is included in rent, do you have your own breaker box or is the entire building covered by 1 or 2 breaker boxes? if so, you are right in ASSUMING that the apartments are all wired together.
to clarify, are you in N.America or Europe? it matters.Different electric systems, different codes and different ways of doing things.My question would be, based on setting up 2 rooms each running 6x600watt (one room on, one off, except a few days of overlap when a room has a few days of 18 hour light, I dont veg for long) each room has its own in and out extractors, also inline fans connect rooms to transfer Co2 produced from sleeping plants into room with lights on, and seeing the pics above how would you tackle it?
chopchop83
Member
Europe, the netherlands
wyteboi
Well-Known Member
well all your guys stuff is different then n. america , so nothing looks familiar , but we can probably get through this. no big deal. amps are amps an volts are volts
so will your ballasts be runnin at 220 volts ?
a couple more questions bout your breaker box, meter ect. : (see pic)
from what i can tell , .....so far
you will need to replace one of them 16a breakers with a bigger one for a "sub panel" the size will depend on the voltage of the ballasts ect... . 3600 watts is about 16 amps at 220 , but about 30 amps at 120v . so theres a big difference.
also what are you gonna use to run everything ? (separate plugs, timers , ect or a "master timer" , control box .....?)
sorry for my lack of knowledge on europian lectric devices
soil
chopchop83
Member
Its 230V in the Netherlands.
From your pic I think the main line is the part you do.
I also dont know what the ? is, guess I'll find out when I open it
The part you think is the main switch, I think it could be too, but it looks like it is before the meter (meter is the top part of that picture, I blurred out the wheel as I dont want to put serial numbers out on the internet) which is strange no?. It may have something to do with an old electric heater that was in bathroom. I think that yellow pipe leads there, which would make sense.
Sitting above the meter at the top of that pic (on the other photo) is my fusebox.
Im not arriving in the country for another month and I also dont have access to my power board plans till then. What I'll do once I arrive I can take better photos and open things up then I'll update this thread. Thanks for your help!!
From your pic I think the main line is the part you do.
I also dont know what the ? is, guess I'll find out when I open it
The part you think is the main switch, I think it could be too, but it looks like it is before the meter (meter is the top part of that picture, I blurred out the wheel as I dont want to put serial numbers out on the internet) which is strange no?. It may have something to do with an old electric heater that was in bathroom. I think that yellow pipe leads there, which would make sense.
Sitting above the meter at the top of that pic (on the other photo) is my fusebox.
Im not arriving in the country for another month and I also dont have access to my power board plans till then. What I'll do once I arrive I can take better photos and open things up then I'll update this thread. Thanks for your help!!
wyteboi
Well-Known Member
BigBudGrower
Member
Hey everyone Ive got a bad problem I need help with. I have an Agro Star 1000w Magnetic Ballast, and a MH conversion bulb, and HPS conversion bulb that i got from HTGSUPPLY.COM. THe ballast just plugs into a regular socket. Well, I went to switch from Veg to Flower, I switched out the MH conversion bulb that was working perfectly, and put in the HPS bulb. When I plugged in the ballast, a Loud buzzing noise was coming from the ballast; Definantly not the normal humming noise a magnetic ballast. Well the light flickered on for a few seconds, but then went dead except for a little blue glowing from the inner tube. I unplugged the ballast, and put the MH conversion bulb back in. The MH conversion bulb turned on but was only working at like 70% light output than it used too. It eventually went dead in about an hour. Well, I called HTG and them what was happening. They said it was probably a bad ignitor and capacitor. They offered to send me the parts and I could fix it, or I could send it in, and they would fix it. Well, I didn't want to wait a couple of weeks. When I got the parts in, I changed out the capacitor, and decided to test it to see if it was just the capacitor. I put in the MH conversion bulb, and plugged in the balllast. THe lamp started right up and was working 100% like it used to in the beginning. Well I though it was fixed. I plugged in the HPS bulb and plugged in the ballast. Nothing except the slight blue glow from the inside. Well this bulb was brand new, I only tested it whenever I got it in the mail a year ago. I figured it had to be the ignitor that was bad also. I changed out the ignitor, and plugged in the ballast. Still nothing from the hps bulb, but now no blue glow form the inner tube. I decided to try the MH bulb again and it flickered on, but now only that inner tube was buring and it looked like one of those electrical balls with just one little lightning bolt going through the inner tube of the mh bulb. This is where im stumped. I dont know what is wrong with it. If anyone knows what it could be please let me know. THAnks
BigBudGrower
Member
I forgot one main detail. The mh bulb isnt working anymore, and yhe inner tube is now blackened on the ends.
eDude
Well-Known Member
One issues I might be seeing is that you have a 1000w ballast that I assume is a HPS and you have conversion bulbs of both.. That might be a problem.. If it's a HPS ballast then an HPS conversion bulb is not going to work. It's meant to covert a MH ballast to a HPS. You might need a regular HPS bulb and not a conversion HPS bulb.
Ok, only HPS are the only ballast that have Cap's and igniters.. but you should be aware of something called warm or hot starts.. you can't just turn off a ballast then turn it back on.. it will do what you described. You need to let it cool down for about 15 min then turn it on. Also, MH bulbs need to warm up so when you first turn them on they will be much dimmer then what they will be once they warm up and that might take 10 min or so too.
Check out the HPS bulb if it's a conversion then that's your problem, not your ballast.
Also, I don't know, why the hell would they sent you parts to fix your ballast yourself. They should have sent you a new ballast and taken that one back if that was the case.
If your cap is bad and its the metal kind it will look bloated and might leak oil. If it's plastic it will look distorted and or bloated and may have dark gray crap that leaked out then cooled to a solid. If you don't see some distortion or leaking it you still might have a good cap.
Igniters you just have to switch out with a know'n good one.
Good luck, check that out and I'll laugh if they sent you the wrong bulb.. Not at you but at them.. that would be really dumb of them and they would have wasted a lot of your time.
L
BigBudGrower
Member
Thanks man. Sorry i shouldve clarified. The mh bulb is a conversion bulb and the hps is a regular hps bulb(well if they had the right bulb in the right box). The capacitor did look a little deformed, kind like somebody smooshed it a bit. I know what your talking about with the cool down, but i did try waiting awhile between testing it to see if it wouldturn on. It just seems nothing is working on it anymore. Neither bulb will even try to "ignite" anymore
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