Building New Growroom

sounds to me like one all ready was here.

This isn't my box, but is this what you mean?

-Mitus

Mitus said:

This isn't my box, but is this what you mean?

-Mitus

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Yessir.

The red and black go to the 240v. That double 20A is the kind needed for 240.

This person did what I was saying you shouldn't do. He wired 2- 240v outlets right into the breaker.

That's exactly the idea. And that box is real close to what you got.

And just tell the guy you are running HID ligts for the aquariums.... people do that. And it's not crazy to put HID's on 240.

The guy who built that box knows what he's doing so I wouldnt doubt that its ok to do. Still, I'll be putting in two dual 20's to power my four 240v outlets. With rest of the room, im not 100% sure what I'm putting in there yet... does it have to add up to 60? Like if I put the two dual 20's in there will I only have room for 20A or will I already be 20A over?

jigfresh said:

And just tell the guy you are running HID ligts for the aquariums.... people do that. And it's not crazy to put HID's on 240.

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I like it... good idea...

I am a sparky in the UK, have not read all your thread (more of a picture man hahaha) but if there is any question send me a private message and i will sort it. From what it look like if you are running 4 1000 watt lights that adds up to 4000 watts then you devide that by the supply voltage ( UK supply is 230volts). So that give you 4000/230=17.7amps when running them. Unfortunatley the problem lies in the fact that hps use huge ammounts of voltage to start up via a capacitor, unless you have got digital ballasts.

Anyways i am chatting shit, if you need a hand give us a shout.

Mitus said:

The guy who built that box knows what he's doing so I wouldnt doubt that its ok to do. Still, I'll be putting in two dual 20's to power my four 240v outlets. With rest of the room, im not 100% sure what I'm putting in there yet... does it have to add up to 60? Like if I put the two dual 20's in there will I only have room for 20A or will I already be 20A over?

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You are confused. The sub panel you bought has 4 breaker slots. If you want to be running anything on 240v you will need a double pole breaker. This is the same as the 60A double pole breaker you bought. The 20A or 30A double breaker you get for the subpanel will end up taking 2 of the 4 slots in the sub.

You can use the other two slots in a few ways. You can put in another double pole breaker... but you don't need to do that. I would put in a single pole 20A breaker in each for 2 - 120v circuits.

You could also put in the 'dual' 20A breakers you bought. These only take one slot... but give you 2 circuits. They are both 120v. They cannot be used to make a 240v circuit.

Does this make sense?

Also... you don't need multiple 240v breakers for multipule 240v outlets. Just like the guy in the picture did you can put multipule outlets for one circuit. Just don't overload it.

Another thing... it sounds like you are going to be wiring the power to the lights... if so... you don't need an outlet for each light. You can wire the lights together using only 1 or 2 outlets for all.

I have 1 digital 1000w and the other 3 are magnetic ballasts. I already did my amp calculations for everything. Even if I run everything at 120v the amps only add up to just short of 60. I'll save about 16 amps if i use 240v on my four ballasts.

bloatedcraig said:

From what it look like if you are running 4 1000 watt lights that adds up to 4000 watts then you devide that by the supply voltage ( UK supply is 230volts). So that give you 4000/230=17.7amps when running them.

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Fucking awesome bloatedcraig. I hope you get that bloating taken care of.

So looks like you will be good with a single 20A double pole breaker for all 4 lights. I 30A would definitely do.

Now... make sure you get the right gague wire for the 240 outlets. The gague needed will be determined by the Amperage rating of the breaker you use. Fuck I sound like I know what the hell I'm talking about.

Anyways... bloatedcraig is a sparky (electrician), so if we get in too deep we can throw a life ring.

I hope you are having fun.

I was not going to wire them. I was just going to buy the different cord attachment so I could plug them into 240 volt, then flip the switch on the ballasts that changes 120/240.

Ok, so could I run all four 240v outlets off of the one 20A double breaker?

then for the remaining 2 slots, i'll do like you said and put in two of the dual 20's for my 120v outlets...

I just have to say that I think "sparky" is the coolest name for an electrician that I've ever heard... ever...

jigfresh said:

Fucking awesome bloatedcraig. I hope you get that bloating taken care of.

So looks like you will be good with a single 20A double pole breaker for all 4 lights. I 30A would definitely do.

Now... make sure you get the right gague wire for the 240 outlets. The gague needed will be determined by the Amperage rating of the breaker you use. Fuck I sound like I know what the hell I'm talking about.

Anyways... bloatedcraig is a sparky (electrician), so if we get in too deep we can throw a life ring.

I hope you are having fun.

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Gotcha... I'm having a blast... sadly I'm not physically doing most of the work... but I'm paying for the supplies, drawing out the plans and directing people

-Mitus

Mitus said:

I was not going to wire them. I was just going to buy the different cord attachment so I could plug them into 240 volt, then flip the switch on the ballasts that changes 120/240.

Ok, so could I run all four 240v outlets off of the one 20A double breaker?

then for the remaining 2 slots, i'll do like you said and put in two of the dual 20's for my 120v outlets...

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I get what you are doing now.

Yes.

Well...the only thing about puting in 2 dual 20s, is that your circuits would add up to 100A... running on a 60A breaker from the main.

Here's what I would do. Fill the other two slots with a single 15A and a dual 15A. That gives you 65a Total. Still gives you 4 circuits. 1 - 240, 3 - 120.

You will still be having to work real hard to trip a 15A breaker... so I don't think you need 20a's.

Mitus said:

I just have to say that I think "sparky" is the coolest name for an electrician that I've ever heard... ever...

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I agree.

Totally not as cool... but I love the british name for contractor - "builder". Straitforward.

20 amp trip is easy enough to run 4000watts.

These double breaker that you are talking about, you do know that a double pole issolator doesn't double what it can take. for example a 20 amp single pole issolator and a double pole 20 amp issolator both only take 20 amp, just because it is double pole doesn't mean it's 20 times two = 40 it only means that it dissconnects live and neutral at the same time, where as single pole just dissconnects live.

Sorry if i am reading your thread wrong and i am by no means patronising.

bloatedcraig said:

These double breaker that you are talking about, you do know that a double pole issolator doesn't double what it can take. for example a 20 amp single pole issolator and a double pole 20 amp issolator both only take 20 amp, just because it is double pole doesn't mean it's 20 times two = 40 it only means that it dissconnects live and neutral at the same time, where as single pole just dissconnects live.

Sorry if i am reading your thread wrong and i am by no means patronising.

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The double pole breakers double the Volts.

I'm not sure how you guys do it over there... but we have 3 service wires coming into the main panel. 2 are hot... both in opposite phases. So if you wire an circuit using only one phase you get a 120v circuit. You have to use both phases to get the 240v.

Our panels are laid out so that each breaker (in order) is on an opposite phase... so if you use a double it catches both phases.

I apoligize if this is old news to you. You probably know... but maybe it's different in UK.

Thanks for the help by the way.

Yes mate its ALOT different over here you get 230 and thats is your lot in domestic. In industrial and commercial you get the same as what you are talking 230 and 415. I think i better stop putting my opinon across as i obviously don't know your system over there.

bloatedcraig said:

Yes mate its ALOT different over here you get 230 and thats is your lot in domestic. In industrial and commercial you get the same as what you are talking 230 and 415. I think i better stop putting my opinon across as i obviously don't know your system over there.

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No No... stay and offer opinions at will my friend. I think you get it now.

I don't know why we do it like this... seems confusing. But gives you options I guess.

Don't leave me Sparky!

You guys are helping me solve so much over here...

We just finished running the pvc conduit outside and are about to open up the drywall behind the main panel so we can run the sun-line.

Mitus said:

Don't leave me Sparky!

You guys are helping me solve so much over here...

We just finished running the pvc conduit outside and are about to open up the drywall behind the main panel so we can run the sun-line.

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It's fun to punch holes in shit. Especially walls. Makes you feel like a caveman.

One thought... it might be hard as hell to run the wires with the conduit already installed... know what I mean. You might want to mark things up for where it goes... then run the wire through... then attach. At least any corners. THey can be a bitch to get 4 fat ass wires to make a sharp 90 degree turn.