Electrical Ques. If I can help someone I will...

GypsyBush

GypsyBush

Well-Known Member
lorenzo08 said:
I was waiting for you to chime in. lol

gypsy, I just want to make sure whatever you decide to do is safe. can't be to gun hoe with electricity. do it the right way and you can continue to live and grow. some of what you were saying just scared me.
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Oh I hear you... one of my hobbies is to work on aircraft... I understand serious...

So now... can I safely build an extension cord and supply my needs while saving the wallet and the house?

It's like, what if I wanted to put the dryer on the other end of the room... would I need a sub panel???:confused:

Now, instead of a dryer, I will be plugging in 3 x 5 amps (120v)... would that make it necessary to have a sub panel?

Please help me understand this.... oh and by the way.. I am about 400 miles from the nearest road... in a small eskimo village in western Alaska... so we kinda tend to do our own... lol... expensive call to the electrician... :o

OK. so what is the veredict?

Can I build and use it safely or do I need the whole giggamaflopper...?
 
BigBudBalls

BigBudBalls

Well-Known Member
GypsyBush said:
Well to run a 50 amp line/cord/etc from the dryer outlet is kind cost prohibitive and WAY overkill. (#6 wire)

What I'd do, is change the breaker(s) to say 15 amp versions (now your wire to that outlet is over sized, still conforms to code)

Then wire from the outlet to your room with 12guage.

650W (ballast has overhead) = 8.2 amps

You *could* split the 220 after the lights to power the 120 stuff (fans and such) but I personally wouldn't.

Other option is to toss in a box, at the dryer outlet, with breakers or fuses to down size the wire to the room. But that adds in a bunch of unneeded cost.
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lorenzo08

Well-Known Member
BigBudBalls said:
Well to run a 50 amp line/cord/etc from the dryer outlet is kind cost prohibitive and WAY overkill. (#6 wire)

What I'd do, is change the breaker(s) to say 15 amp versions (now your wire to that outlet is over sized, still conforms to code)

Then wire from the outlet to your room with 12guage.

650W (ballast has overhead) = 8.2 amps

You *could* split the 220 after the lights to power the 120 stuff (fans and such) but I personally wouldn't.

Other option is to toss in a box, at the dryer outlet, with breakers or fuses to down size the wire to the room. But that adds in a bunch of unneeded cost.
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I would get a panel that fits 2 breakers and is rated for at least 50 amps. split off 2 20 amp circuits from that and mount outlets to the box and put the whole thing in place of the dryer outlet. that's what I would do. being in the middle of nowhere like you are, it's not so easy to get in the car and go to lowes for parts. if you do how bigbud was saying, replace the 50 amp breaker with a 20 amp, 12 gage wire from the dryer outlet into the room, then a few outlets. your ground is either green or unshielded wire, nuetral for both outlets will be the white wire, then the black and red wires are 20 amp circuits each, you can run 2 sets of 12 gage from those (the black wires on the 12 gage)
 
TriggerFinger

TriggerFinger

Active Member
I have done some simple wiring in my house, recessed lights and a new outlet for my grow room, ect.

This is not related to growing though and I tried searching online for the right diagram but couldn't find it. This is the only forum that I can actually get answers from so I figured why not ask a fellow grower

I have a light at the foot of my basement stairs thats controlled by a switch at the top of the stairs. The power comes from the other basement lights ( if that makes any sense) and the switch is at the very end of the run. I now want to add a light above the stairs that is also controlled by the switch. The only possible way to get power up there is from the switch (going from the light is the only diagram I could find) Is there a way to do this, I tried alot of differant combinations but all I could get it to do was when the switch was off the lights would flash like a strobe.

If this dosn't make enough sense I can draw a diagram and post it in this thread.

Thanks for your help
 
Mammoth22

Mammoth22

Well-Known Member
okay i have a Q. Say i have a light that is a pull string(dont think it matters), can i take off that light fixture and put a single outlet there instead and hook up a power strip to that?
 
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lorenzo08

Well-Known Member
Mammoth22 said:
okay i have a Q. Say i have a light that is a pull string(dont think it matters), can i take off that light fixture and put a single outlet there instead and hook up a power strip to that?
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yes, just remember to turn off the breaker before you take it apart.


TriggerFinger said:
I have done some simple wiring in my house, recessed lights and a new outlet for my grow room, ect.

This is not related to growing though and I tried searching online for the right diagram but couldn't find it. This is the only forum that I can actually get answers from so I figured why not ask a fellow grower

I have a light at the foot of my basement stairs thats controlled by a switch at the top of the stairs. The power comes from the other basement lights ( if that makes any sense) and the switch is at the very end of the run. I now want to add a light above the stairs that is also controlled by the switch. The only possible way to get power up there is from the switch (going from the light is the only diagram I could find) Is there a way to do this, I tried alot of differant combinations but all I could get it to do was when the switch was off the lights would flash like a strobe.

If this dosn't make enough sense I can draw a diagram and post it in this thread.

Thanks for your help
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could you post a diagram for us please, so we can understand better.
 
winkdogg420

winkdogg420

Well-Known Member
kushmonster said:
No, because the power supply is a stepdown coverting AC to DC, which is low voltage, you cant run those lamps off of low voltage, LED lights run off low voltage if you want to go that route, Is it a PC grow??
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you dont need to convert anything plug the lamps in where the computer power supply was plugged in. make a tatoo gun out of the computer power supply just ground the green wire for an on-off switch!
 
M

Maudib

Active Member
I have a question. I'm new to these forums, so bear with me. I purchased a 400w HPS setup on eBay recently, and set it up in a 4x4 tent. When put it all together and turned the light on, it worked for about 30-45 minutes, and the light went out. It stayed off for a couple of minutes, and came back on. It has a pretty cheap (it says "Economy 400w" right on the side of it) ballast, that looks like it was part of a overhead lamp.

Any thoughts? Is it the light bulb? Or is it the ballast? And are there any replaceable parts in the ballast, or do I have to buy another one?
 
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lorenzo08

Well-Known Member
Maudib said:
I have a question. I'm new to these forums, so bear with me. I purchased a 400w HPS setup on eBay recently, and set it up in a 4x4 tent. When put it all together and turned the light on, it worked for about 30-45 minutes, and the light went out. It stayed off for a couple of minutes, and came back on. It has a pretty cheap (it says "Economy 400w" right on the side of it) ballast, that looks like it was part of a overhead lamp.

Any thoughts? Is it the light bulb? Or is it the ballast? And are there any replaceable parts in the ballast, or do I have to buy another one?
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is it a digital or magnetic ballast?
 
L

lorenzo08

Well-Known Member
Maudib said:
My guess is it's magnetic, seeing as it was a pretty cheap setup.
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I don't have enough experience working with the lights to know for sure what the problem is, but my first guess is it's a really cheap digital ballast and it's going bad. it would work fine until it gets hot, then starts acting up. there's not much in a magnetic ballast to cause a problem like this. bulbs are the cheapest part to replace, so I would start with that, see if a new bulb fixes the problem. if not, probably the ballast.

htgsupply.com 400 watt hps ballast kit for $55
 
X

XxstelxX

Active Member
lorenzo08 said:
I don't have enough experience working with the lights to know for sure what the problem is, but my first guess is it's a really cheap digital ballast and it's going bad. it would work fine until it gets hot, then starts acting up. there's not much in a magnetic ballast to cause a problem like this. bulbs are the cheapest part to replace, so I would start with that, see if a new bulb fixes the problem. if not, probably the ballast.

htgsupply.com 400 watt hps ballast kit for $55
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I have tons exp with hps and mh lights used to drive a bucket trcuk replacin all the time. If its blinkin out like that its prolly bad bulb wrong wattage bulb like higher wattage then ballast is rated for can cause this too. i have also rebuilt a light replacing ballast and 3 light bulbs before blink condidtion went away its prolly the bulb if it is the correct wattage and typ of bulb double check before buying a new one. If u purchase another and it does this bring it back and tell them the bulb is shutting off MH are famous for this especially cheepiies. i know its hps but i was justin throwin that out there for others and i would buy sylvania in my exp they are the better of bulb manufacturers. good luck man.
 
winkdogg420

winkdogg420

Well-Known Member
bulb is the cheapest case scenario just return the bad one in the good box probably a cold soldier joint you might even be able to see the bad joint hold the bulb to another light maybe you will see a cracked tube or broken wire(inside bulb)




Maudib said:
I have a question. I'm new to these forums, so bear with me. I purchased a 400w HPS setup on eBay recently, and set it up in a 4x4 tent. When put it all together and turned the light on, it worked for about 30-45 minutes, and the light went out. It stayed off for a couple of minutes, and came back on. It has a pretty cheap (it says "Economy 400w" right on the side of it) ballast, that looks like it was part of a overhead lamp.

Any thoughts? Is it the light bulb? Or is it the ballast? And are there any replaceable parts in the ballast, or do I have to buy another one?
Click to expand...
 
dusty26

dusty26

Well-Known Member
ok well I have an extension cord with only 3 plug ins at the end... and I have 4 things to plug in ? what on earth do i do ?


lol dude... im playing... great thread... :)
 
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