A Bored Electrician to Answer Your Questions
- Thread starter IAm5toned
- Start date
IAm5toned
Well-Known Member
why we dont rip off the power company:
SO HOW DID THEY GET CAUGHT?
This place was a modern fortress. In addition to the secret entrance and the secret escape hatch, there were surveillance cameras everywhere. With such a sophisticated and well-hidden operation, surely you wonder how did these villains ever got caught?
I wondered the same thing. In October 2006 my friend Gary Richardson sent me an email that contained all the pictures listed above. The pictures had captions included, but there was no story that accompanied the pictures. I wondered where the Pot Farm was located and what the story was. I asked Gary if he knew anything, but he replied he didn't know the story behind it.
I loved the pictures! But without the story, my imagination was going wild. What could possibly have tripped up such a terrific operation? Where did they make their mistake?
Unable to be satisfied with just the pictures, I decided to give the Internet and Google a try. I had one very big clue: the first picture said "a house in Tennessee." So I typed in "marijuana bust tennessee". Within seconds, I had the story. Isn't Google incredible?
Now I was able to learn how they got caught. I will give you the answer in a moment, but first see if you can guess:
- A truck carrying marijuana got pulled over by State Police.
- Electrical disruptions in the area made officials suspicious.
- Husband cheated on wife and wife turned him in for revenge.
- Argument about how to split the money turned one man into a rat.
- Putting too much cash in one bank made a bank official suspicious.
- A Mexican farm worker hired to help harvest the crop tipped the authorities.
- A dealer got caught and pointed the finger up the chain to save his own neck.
- A nearby neighbor was curious to learn why no one seemed to live in the house.
- A huge infrared signature gave them away. The heat alone coming out from the ventilation system would appear on any thermal imaging device.
Are you ready for the answer? If you guessed "Electrical Power Disruptions", then go to the head of the class. Yes, suspicious fluctuations in the area's electricity led to their downfall. Personally, I wouldn't have guessed this in a thousand years!
The men started stealing electricity from the local power lines to supply their fortress. They spliced into wires and caused power disruptions to the local area. Supervisors at the local power company were losing power somewhere and decided to look into it.
Back when Fred Strunk and company were building their invisible fort, the local electric company was asked to install a much larger transformer than usually required by a residence. But once the growing operation began, Fred and his gang found to their dismay they still did not have enough electrical power to operate the grow lamps required to raise 1,000 marijuana plants at a time.
They were afraid to ask the electric company to install more power since this would be a very suspicious request without a "reason".
Afraid to risk exposure by making a second request, this left them with two choices: reduce the size of their operation or steal the needed electricity. They chose the latter path. The men spliced into the Tri-County Electric line and began to steal electricity.
The huge thirst for electricity proved to be their downfall. The electricity company detected that a large amount of electricity was disappearing. Since there was no simple answer to account for the problem, the company had to track the problem down.
Investigators eventually discovered the illegal splices and alerted the police.
(RICK ARCHER'S NOTE ONE: I wish I could be more specific with the details about how they got caught. As I previously mentioned, I have absolutely no direct connection to this story at all. Everything I report is something I gained from research on the Internet. I am very curious myself to learn more details. I must have read through a dozen different stories on the Internet and what I have shared with you is all I could find out.
For a while, I wondered why the articles were so were vague when discussing how the police tracked Fred down. After all, the same stories gave a thorough description of Fred's punishment. After giving it some thought, I decided that the lack of information was deliberate. Most of the articles I read were from Tennessee newspapers.
Since the newspaper articles about Fred's Pot Bust were written from interviews with Law Enforcement, I suppose the police didn't want to be too candid about how they got onto to his trail and take the chance that other potential bad guys might learn from Fred's mistake.)
(RICK ARCHER'S NOTE TWO: In April 2008, I received an email that answers some of the questions I raised above. I cannot vouch for the authenticity of the email, but my gut feeling is that this account is correct. I appreciate the help!)
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE DOWNFALL OF THE POT FARM
-----Original Message-----
From: Mike
Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2008 9:13 AM
To: dance@ssqq.com
Subject: Pot farm information
"I received your page in an email and have more information for you.
My brothers and I hunt just outside of Hartsville, TN (near Trousdale) and one of my brothers lives there. The story from my brother, who knows many people up there, is that an electric company official went to the property to investigate the power spike. He went to the front gate. Yes, the geniuses had an "estate" gate that you would imagine would be at the front of a mansion. The official could not raise anyone from the elaborate intercom system and hopped the side fence. He went to the house; found that there was nothing inside. The idiots didn't even put up heavy curtains or such to hide the vacant nature of the home. When the official was looking in the window someone came out of the woods with a shotgun and told him to get off of the property. Now, they may not be the most intelligent people in the world, but if you are doing something illegal, wouldn't you try to make the official leave without pissing him off? Well, you guessed it; the official went to the police.
My brothers and I have talked about this for a few years, and, being the stereotypical 'Monday morning quarterbacks", would have some other LEGAL operation going to account for the power spike and have some other explanation: small factory, brewery, computer server bank that could be turned off and on
Also, a few more points: They found a dead neighbor a few months before the bust. It is thought that one of the escape hatches came out onto his property and the victim encountered one of the pot farmers. A few days after that they found two dead immigrants on outlying properties. It is thought that the pot farmers were tying up loose ends.
I hope this gives you more information."
From:
Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2009 10:26 PM
To: dance@ssqq.com
Subject: pot farm
I was doing some web surfing and came across your page on the Tennessee pot farm. I grew up here in Nashville. All i have to say is Tennessee is the second largest producer of Marijuana in the country, next to California. It is very much a part of Appalachian culture and is used by just about everyone. Everything comes through Nashville. So much is produced and trafficked through here. And everyone knows everyone. Its a given here, you never say names and you never talk about who you know, because everyone knows everyone. I mean there is a serious underground marijuana movement in Tennessee. The old farmers have taught the kids everything they know. Now all the kids are grown up and pulling the weight themselves. Anyways, in answer to your question, how did Freddie get caught? It was a snitch. He didn't want to pay what the wizard was asking, got pissed, and snitched. It was that simple. His whole operation went down because of some jerk. People out here are pros. Its never carelessness that gets them busted. Its always some greedy kid new to the game, thinks he can push his own prices. He told the electric company, who then investigated. I don't know what happened to the informant, but I'm sure he was probably a low life that got busted on some other charge. As for the dead immigrants. I think that was bull. They were professional gardeners, not murderers, I mean its weed, not crack. Anyways, you're probably scratching your head wondering why someone is replying to something you posted in 2007.
Investigators eventually discovered the illegal splices and alerted the police.
(RICK ARCHER'S NOTE ONE: I wish I could be more specific with the details about how they got caught. As I previously mentioned, I have absolutely no direct connection to this story at all. Everything I report is something I gained from research on the Internet. I am very curious myself to learn more details. I must have read through a dozen different stories on the Internet and what I have shared with you is all I could find out.
For a while, I wondered why the articles were so were vague when discussing how the police tracked Fred down. After all, the same stories gave a thorough description of Fred's punishment. After giving it some thought, I decided that the lack of information was deliberate. Most of the articles I read were from Tennessee newspapers.
Since the newspaper articles about Fred's Pot Bust were written from interviews with Law Enforcement, I suppose the police didn't want to be too candid about how they got onto to his trail and take the chance that other potential bad guys might learn from Fred's mistake.)
(RICK ARCHER'S NOTE TWO: In April 2008, I received an email that answers some of the questions I raised above. I cannot vouch for the authenticity of the email, but my gut feeling is that this account is correct. I appreciate the help!)
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE DOWNFALL OF THE POT FARM
-----Original Message-----
From: Mike
Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2008 9:13 AM
To: dance@ssqq.com
Subject: Pot farm information
"I received your page in an email and have more information for you.
My brothers and I hunt just outside of Hartsville, TN (near Trousdale) and one of my brothers lives there. The story from my brother, who knows many people up there, is that an electric company official went to the property to investigate the power spike. He went to the front gate. Yes, the geniuses had an "estate" gate that you would imagine would be at the front of a mansion. The official could not raise anyone from the elaborate intercom system and hopped the side fence. He went to the house; found that there was nothing inside. The idiots didn't even put up heavy curtains or such to hide the vacant nature of the home. When the official was looking in the window someone came out of the woods with a shotgun and told him to get off of the property. Now, they may not be the most intelligent people in the world, but if you are doing something illegal, wouldn't you try to make the official leave without pissing him off? Well, you guessed it; the official went to the police.
My brothers and I have talked about this for a few years, and, being the stereotypical 'Monday morning quarterbacks", would have some other LEGAL operation going to account for the power spike and have some other explanation: small factory, brewery, computer server bank that could be turned off and on
Also, a few more points: They found a dead neighbor a few months before the bust. It is thought that one of the escape hatches came out onto his property and the victim encountered one of the pot farmers. A few days after that they found two dead immigrants on outlying properties. It is thought that the pot farmers were tying up loose ends.
I hope this gives you more information."
From:
Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2009 10:26 PM
To: dance@ssqq.com
Subject: pot farm
I was doing some web surfing and came across your page on the Tennessee pot farm. I grew up here in Nashville. All i have to say is Tennessee is the second largest producer of Marijuana in the country, next to California. It is very much a part of Appalachian culture and is used by just about everyone. Everything comes through Nashville. So much is produced and trafficked through here. And everyone knows everyone. Its a given here, you never say names and you never talk about who you know, because everyone knows everyone. I mean there is a serious underground marijuana movement in Tennessee. The old farmers have taught the kids everything they know. Now all the kids are grown up and pulling the weight themselves. Anyways, in answer to your question, how did Freddie get caught? It was a snitch. He didn't want to pay what the wizard was asking, got pissed, and snitched. It was that simple. His whole operation went down because of some jerk. People out here are pros. Its never carelessness that gets them busted. Its always some greedy kid new to the game, thinks he can push his own prices. He told the electric company, who then investigated. I don't know what happened to the informant, but I'm sure he was probably a low life that got busted on some other charge. As for the dead immigrants. I think that was bull. They were professional gardeners, not murderers, I mean its weed, not crack. Anyways, you're probably scratching your head wondering why someone is replying to something you posted in 2007.
DOES CRIME PAY?
The ancient axiom says "Crime doesn't pay". The Tennessee Pot Farm case gives an ironic slant to this saying.
If the men had simply "paid" for their electricity, no one would ever have said a thing. But they had a problem. Once they realized they didn't have enough current to run their operation to capacity, they had three choices:
But now Fred Strunk, 63, is not only facing 18 years of prison, he lost every cent he put into his operation. His house and all his holdings were confiscated by the government. The pot house is now up for sale! In addition, he is expected to reimburse Tri-City Electricity $61,000 for the energy he stole.
$61,000. That's quite a light bill.
The ancient axiom says "Crime doesn't pay". The Tennessee Pot Farm case gives an ironic slant to this saying.
If the men had simply "paid" for their electricity, no one would ever have said a thing. But they had a problem. Once they realized they didn't have enough current to run their operation to capacity, they had three choices:
- They could run their operation at half-capacity and settle for a slower return on their enormous investment.
- They could ask the electric company to give them more juice and risk revealing their setup.
- They could steal the extra power and hope no one would notice.
But now Fred Strunk, 63, is not only facing 18 years of prison, he lost every cent he put into his operation. His house and all his holdings were confiscated by the government. The pot house is now up for sale! In addition, he is expected to reimburse Tri-City Electricity $61,000 for the energy he stole.
$61,000. That's quite a light bill.
INSIDE THE CRIMINAL MIND
Did you enjoy the pictures of the high-tech operation? Take a quick guess who published the pictures. No, it wasn't me. The pictures were published by the authorities who busted Fred and Friends. Like trophy hunters, the crime fighters wanted the world to see the evidence of their good police work.
Obviously the police were proud of themselves and rightly so. I can't imagine that Fred is your every-day run of the mill criminal. In the game of "Cops and Robbers", it had to be a thrill to catch a smart guy like Fred.
Truth be told, back when Fred was building his underground fortress, I would have put money that Fred would get away with it. Given what little I know about catching bad guys, I cannot imagine how an operation this well planned would ever be caught!
Therefore I suppose another reason to publicize this remarkable drug bust was to discourage other would-be pot farmers from trying as well.
One reason to publish the story is to make a point to all the bad guys out there. If someone as smart as Fred can be caught, what chance does anyone else have? Better not try it!
Did you enjoy the pictures of the high-tech operation? Take a quick guess who published the pictures. No, it wasn't me. The pictures were published by the authorities who busted Fred and Friends. Like trophy hunters, the crime fighters wanted the world to see the evidence of their good police work.
Obviously the police were proud of themselves and rightly so. I can't imagine that Fred is your every-day run of the mill criminal. In the game of "Cops and Robbers", it had to be a thrill to catch a smart guy like Fred.
Truth be told, back when Fred was building his underground fortress, I would have put money that Fred would get away with it. Given what little I know about catching bad guys, I cannot imagine how an operation this well planned would ever be caught!
Therefore I suppose another reason to publicize this remarkable drug bust was to discourage other would-be pot farmers from trying as well.
One reason to publish the story is to make a point to all the bad guys out there. If someone as smart as Fred can be caught, what chance does anyone else have? Better not try it!
budence1979
Active Member
i know this is a simple question, but...how do i wire an inline fan to say an extension cord??
IAm5toned
Well-Known Member
does the inline fan have its own cord? i guess not if your asking lol...
do you have a pic of the fan?
budence1979
Active Member
IAm5toned
Well-Known Member
ok... on the fan there is a harness connector.
it should have three wires
one black or red
one white
one green
the black/red wire is the 'hot'
the white wire is the 'neutral'
the green wire is the 'ground'
your going to have to sacrifice your extension cord to do this...
cut the female end off the extension cord... keep it for spare parts
cut the harness connector off the fan wires
remove 6-8" off the outer jacket of the extension cord
you should have a black wire, a white wire, and a green wire in the cord now.
the balck wire on the cord connects to the black wire on the fan
the white wire on the fan connects to the white wire on the cord
the green wire on the fan connects to the green wire on the cord.
use good wirenuts to make the connection. i reccomend ideal tan 'twisters' wirenuts, and then use tape to tape them up tightly.
take care to make sure the connections are good and tight, the fan will vibrate and that will cause the wires to loosen up if there not tight enough under the wirenut.
make sure there is no loose wire 'flopping around' or able to move when your done, again, because of the vibration.
you can use plastic zip ties to tie the wire down inside the fan housing so it is not loose.....
it should have three wires
one black or red
one white
one green
the black/red wire is the 'hot'
the white wire is the 'neutral'
the green wire is the 'ground'
your going to have to sacrifice your extension cord to do this...
cut the female end off the extension cord... keep it for spare parts
cut the harness connector off the fan wires
remove 6-8" off the outer jacket of the extension cord
you should have a black wire, a white wire, and a green wire in the cord now.
the balck wire on the cord connects to the black wire on the fan
the white wire on the fan connects to the white wire on the cord
the green wire on the fan connects to the green wire on the cord.
use good wirenuts to make the connection. i reccomend ideal tan 'twisters' wirenuts, and then use tape to tape them up tightly.
take care to make sure the connections are good and tight, the fan will vibrate and that will cause the wires to loosen up if there not tight enough under the wirenut.
make sure there is no loose wire 'flopping around' or able to move when your done, again, because of the vibration.
you can use plastic zip ties to tie the wire down inside the fan housing so it is not loose.....
Noble Gas
Well-Known Member
Iam5toned, I have a question that would be greatly appreciated if you could answer it.
A few days ago I fired up my 1000w hps with a digital ballast. Then today the cable guy came knocking on the door saying that there has been service interruptions for my nieghbors due to usually high RF readings and he narrowed it down to my house.
I was wondering if it has anything to do with the ballast and the RF it is emitting. I dont know if this is your specialty but any answers would be greatly appreciated. Is there anything we can do to cover up that signature if it is the ballast?
thanks NG
A few days ago I fired up my 1000w hps with a digital ballast. Then today the cable guy came knocking on the door saying that there has been service interruptions for my nieghbors due to usually high RF readings and he narrowed it down to my house.
I was wondering if it has anything to do with the ballast and the RF it is emitting. I dont know if this is your specialty but any answers would be greatly appreciated. Is there anything we can do to cover up that signature if it is the ballast?
thanks NG
IAm5toned
Well-Known Member
thats strange, ive never heard of RF interference causing problems with cable TV.. who knows tho.
fixing this is pretty easy man, you need to get a [FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica] RF shielded output cord... most lumatek ballasts come with them[/FONT]
Noble Gas
Well-Known Member
Iam5toned, thank you for your reply. I myself am not too sure if it is the ballast causing this high RF reading or if it really is something going on with the cable wires here.
As for shielding the output cable I dont beleive that is possible for my current light setup. The output cable is hard wired from the ballast to the bulb socket. Is there anything we could wrap the cord with? Thank you +Rep
As for shielding the output cable I dont beleive that is possible for my current light setup. The output cable is hard wired from the ballast to the bulb socket. Is there anything we could wrap the cord with? Thank you +Rep
IAm5toned
Well-Known Member
3M 1181 EMI Copper Foil Shielding Tape
it has to be wrapped very tight and uniform, like grip tape on a hockeystick
it will also need to be grounded out to the chassis of the ballast.. its best to solder it to the ballast frame, the tape adhesive isnt good enough to ground the tape, so you either have to solder it or use aligator clips. solder will wor best though. sometimes if your lucky the ballast will have a screw you can remove, punch a hole through the tape and stick the screw in the hole and tighten it down if you can
ps-
then make sure you tape the foiltape up with black lectrical tape when your done. this will keep the foil in place so the cord can still be flexible without messing up the shield. it also helps if you have a way to stretch the cord tight while your wrapping it with the foil tape.. it just makes it alot easier
it has to be wrapped very tight and uniform, like grip tape on a hockeystick
it will also need to be grounded out to the chassis of the ballast.. its best to solder it to the ballast frame, the tape adhesive isnt good enough to ground the tape, so you either have to solder it or use aligator clips. solder will wor best though. sometimes if your lucky the ballast will have a screw you can remove, punch a hole through the tape and stick the screw in the hole and tighten it down if you can
ps-
then make sure you tape the foiltape up with black lectrical tape when your done. this will keep the foil in place so the cord can still be flexible without messing up the shield. it also helps if you have a way to stretch the cord tight while your wrapping it with the foil tape.. it just makes it alot easier
IAm5toned
Well-Known Member
you need a 150w hps ballast. do some googling to find one that suits your needs.
id reccomend a digital lumatek
First let me say i appreciate how you are helping everyone here and youre doing a great job
Second, I have a question/statement on what i plan on doing.
i am going to be pulling about 10k watts with everything running, all lights will be on 220. I am planning on running a subpanel from the main breaker box and the subpanel will bbe inside the room or outside the room on the wall. I will be pulling atleast 40amps alone from lighting not including the fans and all other stuff. What size breaker should i pu t in the main breakerbox? something big like 100amp?
Also i have a sentinel light splitter, a box that i can plug up to 8 lights into and also plug a timer in to control the on/off of the lights. If i had all 8 1000w lights turn on at once, would i have an issue? the subpanel would have atelast a 50a breaker dedicated to the lights, I probably wont run 8 lights, but just saying.
Does this sound right? or does this sound like disaster?
Second, I have a question/statement on what i plan on doing.
i am going to be pulling about 10k watts with everything running, all lights will be on 220. I am planning on running a subpanel from the main breaker box and the subpanel will bbe inside the room or outside the room on the wall. I will be pulling atleast 40amps alone from lighting not including the fans and all other stuff. What size breaker should i pu t in the main breakerbox? something big like 100amp?
Also i have a sentinel light splitter, a box that i can plug up to 8 lights into and also plug a timer in to control the on/off of the lights. If i had all 8 1000w lights turn on at once, would i have an issue? the subpanel would have atelast a 50a breaker dedicated to the lights, I probably wont run 8 lights, but just saying.
Does this sound right? or does this sound like disaster?
IAm5toned
Well-Known Member
sounds like your going to need a 100 amp subpanel.
8400w for lighting (400=50w draw per ballast) is gonna be 2 30amp circuits (4 per circuit)
the reason being that 4 1000w fixtures rated for continuous duty equates to 21 amps @ 240.
i say this because you dont want to try and run wire big enough for 40 amps to run all the lights, its easier to split it into 2 circuits and use #10 to feed it. you could possibly get away with using #12cu but i wont recommend it here.
so thats 4 spaces; (2) 2 pole 30 amp breakers
your also gonna need 120v stuff for fans, timers and pumps and etc.
thats another 2 spaces (2 circuits to be safe)
for a total of 6 spaces. since they dont make a 6 space 60 or 70 amp loadcenter... your going to have to get a 100amp sub panel.
not that youll ever pull the full 100 amps, they just dont make smaller ones with so many spaces.
so a 100amp Main Lug Type Panel being fed by 4/3 SE cable off of a 100amp 2pole breaker
Do not bond the subpanel (do not install the green screw in the neutral bus)
if your subpanel is farther than 150-200' from the main panel you might want to upgrade the wire size to #1/3 SE, voltage drop is a serious concern when dealing with such a large non-linear load.
Wow thanks for the help, so you're saying i should run two 30a breakers? That would mean i would need two timers right? So then my sentinel light controller wouldnt work then would it? This is the light controller i have
http://www.ecogrow.com/index.cfm/product/2227/mid/96/nid/119/home.html
it says to run it off a 50a breaker? Im confused to as what i should do. If you say running two 30a breakers i will do that and then use the light controller for only 4 lights, and then i'll either get or make another light controller to controll the other 4 lights, and then i will have a timer for each of them and could start them 15 minutes apart to not overload the circuit with a 8000w surge, right? That would be the smarter way of going about it no? Or would it be possible to use that controller for all 8 lights?
IAm5toned
Well-Known Member
ah, now that i see what type of controller you have, yes you can use a 50amp breaker, with some #6 feeding the relay.
i was not under the impression your lighting controller had a built in distribution block, thats pretty nice, right price too!
your still going to need a 100 amp subpanel to run it though... i wouldnt go any smaller. if your willing to spend the cash to do it right so far why cut corners at this point?
a thing to consider is 10kw is alot of power to be pulling at a residence... this could cause problems for you in the long run, is your main panel big enough to handle the additonal load of all those lights with you living in the house and using kitchen appliances, water heaters, central heat and air, laundry, misc things light lamps and tvs while your grow is running?
heat will be an issue too with all those lights your prolly going to want a/c and humidity control as well...
i was not under the impression your lighting controller had a built in distribution block, thats pretty nice, right price too!
your still going to need a 100 amp subpanel to run it though... i wouldnt go any smaller. if your willing to spend the cash to do it right so far why cut corners at this point?
a thing to consider is 10kw is alot of power to be pulling at a residence... this could cause problems for you in the long run, is your main panel big enough to handle the additonal load of all those lights with you living in the house and using kitchen appliances, water heaters, central heat and air, laundry, misc things light lamps and tvs while your grow is running?
heat will be an issue too with all those lights your prolly going to want a/c and humidity control as well...
Thanks for the help man! yeah that controlelr is nice, i got it used for about $70-$80. Im hoping heat wont be an issue as the outside air temp is around 50-55 degrees max and i will be running co2 via a generator, my research has led me to believe high 80's are good for running large amounts of Co2.
So you think it would be pretty risky running that amount of electricity? it wouldn't be ran 24/7 only 12/12 and at night when other appliances arent being used to hopefully not use up too much electricity at once.
Also how can i tell if the main panel is good enough to handle that much electricity? is there anything to look for?
Thanks again man, you've been a huge HUGE help
IAm5toned
Well-Known Member
whats the biggest breaker in the main panel? (the main breaker)
yes, and running it 12/12 at night is a good idea!