240v Ballast and a step-up tranformer.

SeattlePot

SeattlePot

Well-Known Member
I recently purchased a lumatek digital ballast (dual 600 watt). It is designed for a 240v outlet and that is what it is plugged into now. Recently I have decided to move the op to another location that does not have an accessible 240v outlet. Can I use a "step-up transformer" to run the ballast? Will it damage the ballast? Will it degrade the lumen output? What about efficiency, will I lose considerable efficiency running the ballast from a transformer? a 240 volt outlet is simply three lines, one ground, and two 110v lines. I seem to remember seeing a device that could be plugged into two seperate circuits too create a 240v outlet, does anyone know what im talking about or what it is called?

Also, my new grow room has several outlets, but they are all on the same circuit. How do I calculate amperage to find out if what I can safely run? I would like to use 4 600 watt ballasts. Well, actually 2 240v dual 600 watt ballasts. I have seen 3000 and 5000 watt step-up tranformers for sale. They run off of a single 120v outlet. It does seem like an awful lot of juice running through a single outlet. Is drawing 2400 watts from a single outlet possible? Is it safe?

Thanks for all the help rollituppers, I never would have made it this far without the technical expertise and experience of this boards members. Keep up the good work!
 
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capncash

Well-Known Member
no 2400 watts is not possible from 1 circuit. it is probably a 15 amp fuse. a 1000 W is 9.5 amps at 110v.

1300 watts is about max for 1 breaker.
 
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capncash

Well-Known Member
i dont think you can step up to 240. why not just run a 240 from the fuse box. it isnt any more efficient to run it on 240. 240 X half the amps is the same as 120 x twice the amps.

oh yeah and if the room is all on one circuit you couldnt put 2 110v together anyways bc there is only 1 110v wire going thru the room.
 
VictorVIcious

VictorVIcious

Well-Known Member
SeattlePot said:
I recently purchased a lumatek digital ballast (dual 600 watt). It is designed for a 240v outlet and that is what it is plugged into now. Recently I have decided to move the op to another location that does not have an accessible 240v outlet. Can I use a "step-up transformer" to run the ballast? Will it damage the ballast? Will it degrade the lumen output? What about efficiency, will I lose considerable efficiency running the ballast from a transformer? a 240 volt outlet is simply three lines, one ground, and two 110v lines. I seem to remember seeing a device that could be plugged into two seperate circuits too create a 240v outlet, does anyone know what im talking about or what it is called?
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I remember seeing something about it, I wouldn't use it, I would just run the lines I wanted. You are right a 220 circuit is just 2-hot 110 lines and a return, and a grounded wire. Usually black (hot wire), red (hot wire), white ( return wire ) and green (Grounded wire ). If I had very far to go, and if I wanted to be sure I could run a grow op, I would be inclined to run a 100 amp circuit to the new location and install a satelite breaker box. That way all of the wiring would be in that area, and could be removed if necessary. The 3-3-5 wire with ground is expensive, around $2.00 a foot, the new breaker box, knowing its done right,.......... priceless

Also, my new grow room has several outlets, but they are all on the same circuit. How do I calculate amperage to find out if what I can safely run? I would like to use 4 600 watt ballasts. Well, actually 2 240v dual 600 watt ballasts. I have seen 3000 and 5000 watt step-up tranformers for sale. They run off of a single 120v outlet. It does seem like an awful lot of juice running through a single outlet. Is drawing 2400 watts from a single outlet possible? Is it safe?
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I wouldn't/ didn't. I have a seperate circuit for everyone of my grow lights. And I am only running 440watt lights. 600 watt light should have 20 amp breakers and be run on 12 wire with 20 amp recepticles, not sure if that is the same for 220, 30 amp maybe be the lowest double throw breaker switch. I know they have them in 30 amp, 40 amp and 50 amp. Thats a dryer, an airconditioner and an electric range. Cost a little more. only spend the money once.

Thanks for all the help rollituppers, I never would have made it this far without the technical expertise and experience of this boards members. Keep up the good work!
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It really is as simple as abc, in this case include d as well. If I had to hire an electrician to do the work it would have cost a lot. VV:hump:
 
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capncash

Well-Known Member
Yeah but if he ran one 40 or 50 amp 220 breaker he could run all 4 of his lights on one 220v timer and only be pulling around 20 amps. Then he coud use his 110 for everything else.
 
panhead

panhead

Well-Known Member
First off you need to understand the basic capabilities of your electrical service,then you need to understand how high current high amperage devices such as ballasts work.

Much of the power being supplied to the light system is converted to heat & wasted so a 600 watt light can pull more than 600 watts from the service line to deliever 600 watts at the light.

Standard household electrical service in most home's consists of 15 amp lines in most rooms & 20 amp lines in rooms such as kitchens & laundry rooms where the power draw is normally higher.

A 15 amp line is capable of providing 1,800 watts.

A 20 amp line is capable of providing 2,400 watts.

Both of these figures are not taking into consideration the " duty cycle " of the line,duty cycles are generally 80% of the rating to allow for constant use & to protect against cooking a line.

Now that you know what your your lines are capable of providing you need to take into consideration the wasted energy that's being lost due to heat, & to get an idea of what you can pull from the line safely.

Assuming that your ballast's are 70% efficient.

15 Amp service = 1,800 watts X 70% ballast efficiency = 1,440 watts.

20 Amp service = 2,400 watts X 70% ballast efficiency = 1,680 watts.

Now you need to take into account the duty cycle for these lines .

15 Amp service = 1,800 watts X 70% ballast efficiency = 1,440 watts X 80% duty cycle = 1,152 watts continous draw.

20 Amp service = 2,400 watts X 70% ballast efficiency = 1,680 watts X 80% duty cycle = 1,334 watts continuous draw.

As for the multiple outlets in your intended grow room,in all likely hood they are all one a single line & a 15 amp breaker,as for the transformers your asking about i cant say for sure without seeing one & reading its spec sheet but its highly doubtfull that any transformer can supply more power going out than it has comming in,unless the device is also a regenerator of some sort its impossible to push more than you pull.
 
panhead

panhead

Well-Known Member
upinchronic1 said:
vv, are you saying you wouldnt recommend a step up transformer? Why? thanks.
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Im curious about this as well ?

Im not running HID lights from the ones im using,however i am running amplifiers that pull much more current & amperage than the most powerfull HID lights on the market, with no ill effects or loss of performance.
 
VictorVIcious

VictorVIcious

Well-Known Member
Whats the cost? I am not familiar with these devices. When I asked my electrician, the one that pulled the permit for me, his answer was that generally they cost more than what they are worth. Seems like there was a discussion some time ago along the same lines concerning the use of UPS to store electric and then run, costs more than you gain. Hey, I am teachable give me some spec's and costs. I can be wrong again, it won't hurt my feelings.

Are you running heat sinks as well?? VV
 
VictorVIcious

VictorVIcious

Well-Known Member
capncash said:
step up transformer is about $200
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100 amp breaker box with some switches is $80.00. Allowing $120, for the 3-3-5 wire and breaker switches. About tied at that point, now you only have to run wire in that room which can be a simple as stapeling to the wall. Al B has a post of a control panel for safety that he has used for years and his wiring is the 220, he lives in Australia. You might want to check that. VV:blsmoke:
 
panhead

panhead

Well-Known Member
capncash said:
step up transformer is about $200
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You can get them as low as $20 or ive seen them cost several thousand dollars,it all depends on what you need to run,a HID is nothing special,if we were talking about 3 phase or something i could see a high cost but with standard voltages they are extremely cheap.
 
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