Experienced Electrician! Here to Answer Any and All Growroom Electrical Questions

Question

I have a 600w lumatek w ushio gro light that is on a timer and when timer comes on the light will not come on unless I connect a compact fluorescent light to a different yet close outlet. Then the light ignites.

any help appreciated.

Might of been asked before, but I done and bought some wire to detach my socket and extend it for easier use, but the wire I bought has a lot more copper hairs in it and the bay lite has very little it's about the size of a pen point and the wire I bought is about the size of a pencil that hasn't been sharpened. Will it set my house on fire?

whats your opinion on rf interference from digital ballasts?

Smart Start said:

Might of been asked before, but I done and bought some wire to detach my socket and extend it for easier use, but the wire I bought has a lot more copper hairs in it and the bay lite has very little it's about the size of a pen point and the wire I bought is about the size of a pencil that hasn't been sharpened. Will it set my house on fire?

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no. its always better to use a larger size wire, unless you cant fit it where your trying to go with it

MediMary said:

whats your opinion on rf interference from digital ballasts?

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there isnt 'supposed' to be any....
but if yours is putting it out.. go to home depot, get some cheap sheet metal from the HVAC aisle, and make a shroud to shield the ballast emmisions. remember RF is line of site, so you really only have to shroud the affected area.

HELP!! hi there bricktown, do you think i could tap into the Main cable before it gets to my electric meter under the floor, by cutting through the ducting carefully, then by stripping the outer cable, then stripping one wire at a time with insulated tools gloves and matting, taking a feed off the exposed wire one by one to an already set up fuse box (switched off position) in another room running cable under floor, then using that fuse box to run my 10kw set up, and would my key type electric meter still show any interference, ( i went through a high power cable for a sewage pumping station once with an excavator, and watched the power guys connect it back up still live to keep the housing area with power as it was peak dinner time),my meter is the key type the power company can set my meter from the key when they put it in the machine at the shop (taking debt back,etc), anyway do you think this would work without me being caught when the guy comes to read the meter for the rest of the house.

[norcal];4212762 said:

Thanks for the advice on my project. I was able to figure out how to wire my house myself, but when it comes to panel and subpanel feeds its hard to find info. Definatley will go with the 2.5" conduit to make life easier. So i'm reading wat you wrote about the NEMA 3r at the pole. What is that exactly? I installed my 200 amp panel with the meter socket at my customer supplied pole which is energized. It has quite a few breaker spots left. If I ran a separate feed for a grow would that mean an additional conduit and copper wire. I'd like to split for a grow at the garage and not run two conduits. Am I missin something good here?

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a conduit does not have to have just one circuit in it..... you could pull, say, a 4 wire #6 circuit at the same time, in the same pipe,from the main panel on the pole into the house.... use the seperate #6 wire to feed a seperate smaller 60 amp panel, dedicated for your grow op... you can even mount the smaller panel right next to the main panel so all you have to do is feed the wire through one connector and right back into another connector in the smaller panel.

in a nutshell, feeding 2 panels from one conduit, and using the main panel as a junction box vor the smaller wiring and panel.

that way you will still have all the space in your main panel, and have dedicated lines at either 120 or 240v for your grow.

make sense?

granted the added expense of the additional wire run sucks... but doing it like i suggest allows you to have just one pipe... and having that additional feed coming in from the pole is a major, major advantage, especially if your building from the ground up.
if it was me, i would have an entire 100 amp panel dedicated just for my grow, if i had the chance to start from scratch. not that id ever plan on using that much power for growing, not even half that is a huge op... but its nice to get that kind of stuff in now, vs. later... when the lawn has been planted for a cpl of years and the cost of materials has doubled. when my family built the place we live on now ages ago, my dad (who also grew lol) had the foresight to have a dedicated panel just for grows. i cussed him like i thought he deserved, because in order to have that seperate line, i had to dig a 275' ditch by hand to feed it. it took me weeks. now, a few presidents later, i thank my lucky stars he made me do it. having that extra panel has been a godsend in more ways then one!

WeeGogs said:

HELP!! hi there bricktown, do you think i could tap into the Main cable before it gets to my electric meter under the floor, by cutting through the ducting carefully, then by stripping the outer cable, then stripping one wire at a time with insulated tools gloves and matting, taking a feed off the exposed wire one by one to an already set up fuse box (switched off position) in another room running cable under floor, then using that fuse box to run my 10kw set up, and would my key type electric meter still show any interference, ( i went through a high power cable for a sewage pumping station once with an excavator, and watched the power guys connect it back up still live to keep the housing area with power as it was peak dinner time),my meter is the key type the power company can set my meter from the key when they put it in the machine at the shop (taking debt back,etc), anyway do you think this would work without me being caught when the guy comes to read the meter for the rest of the house.

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Stealing electricity for your grow seems to me like a really easy way to get caught growing...

yeah he will get caught. its just a matter of time, accounting software, and a sweep and balance team from the power company.

IAm5toned said:

yeah he will get caught. its just a matter of time, accounting software, and a sweep and balance team from the power company.

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I always pondered an inductive 'sucking' scheme.

Had read an article about just gathering stray straight from the air But that could barley power a single LED. But loved the concept.

But I'm fine with paying for my electricity. And not for nothing, growing is a LOT cheaper then buying, so why risk it. And depending on th state growing can be a felony while simple possession is a misdemeanor.

WeeGogs said:

are you idiots crazy, i asked a simple question, dont want an answer that says i will get caught or not thats my problem not yours, my problem was the problem question i wrote, i want my house to consume normal power through the meter, and my growroom to benefit from the 10kw i need, or do you idiots think i should pay for 10kw of power 18 hours a day,i can certainly afford it, and still have to keep the normal house running on top of that, would they not ask where all the electricity is going. tell you what, i think this site is full of little boys that hear nothing, see nothing, and worst of all talk crap, if you cant answer a simple question then keep your big mouth shut,and your schoolboy comments to yourselves and leave the answering to the big boys, did your school teacher not tell you that to keep your self out of trouble. WIMPS.

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SURE wire it up they'll never notice. I'm also SURE IAm5toned and BigBudBalls are just now getting this electron thing down. YOU
Once again
Daniels

Danielsgb said:

SURE wire it up they'll never notice. I'm also SURE IAm5toned and BigBudBalls are just now getting this electron thing down. YOU
Once again
Daniels

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thats it wire it up, by the way, whats in the medical fridge, is it freddie mercury, and liberace by any chance.

so if thats the case, mr moneybags... then why are you buggering around with an illegal tap?
look man... im just trying to keep you from either going to jail, getting hurt, or hurting someone else, or any combination of the previous.
the simple fact that you have to ask tells me that you do not have the knowledge required to do what your wanting to.
if you did, you would know the answer to the question and wouldnt be wasting my time.
so good luck with your endeavor, i hope you dont lose a finger in the process.
and europe runs on 240v because iof there shitty transmission grid... a prime example of shoddy work, a poor copy of an american invention

dont know if this has been asked because im at work and i shouldnt be on here so i dont have time to read through all the pages...but does anyone know if its dangerous to use computer fans wired to cell phone chargers or wire to anything else? like is it a fire hazard at all?

WeeGogs said:

hahahaha, we have nuclear power stations pal, and not a fuckin never ending queue of people that want to draw off them, like your place hence the low power, we have the power stations, the high power output in homes, and the safety records signed sealed delivered. you try run my 2 grow rooms with your power and your electric meter would fry out. i dont want to escape the bill payment, i want to hide the electric power usage you fuckin big mouth little boy, fuck off and leave my posts/.

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you have nuke power with american reactors, and american supplied plutonium refined in france fueling them. i know more about your power transmission system than you, sir
tesla invented a/c... and the hid lights your running. an american
and if anyone should be butting out of this thread, its you.
i was here first. you came to me asking for help, when i told you what you didnt want to hear, you took it personal, and allowed your emotions to let it get to this point.
you sir, can suck my balls...

IAm5toned said:

you have nuke power with american reactors, and american supplied plutonium refined in france fueling them. i know more about your power transmission system than you, sir
tesla invented a/c... and the hid lights your running. an american
and if anyone should be butting out of this thread, its you.
i was here first. you came to me asking for help, when i told you what you didnt want to hear, you took it personal, and allowed your emotions to let it get to this point.
you sir, can suck my balls...

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well said! you showed the guy all the respect in the world, and they are still an arrss!! im sorry, but i hope he trys it, only once though (my 3 personalities, and guess which one is in control tonight!!)

We have wimpy power? Didn't you ever learn that it's amps that kill not volts?

110v carries double the amps of 220v, not half. You're bring up a pretty dumb point as it only takes 65milliamps to kill, but 220v is "safer" in most regards.

here's wimpy power for you-

in the years following ww2, europe had to reconstruct its power grids. since ductile metals (soft metal that is highly desirable for wire) ie, copper and aluminum were both in high demand and heavy shortage, a method of power transmission requiring slightly less amperage was desirable for transmission purposes, because smaller wire uses less metal. less amperage = smaller wire. by increasing the voltage, lengthening the duration of the frequency, european engineers devised a power grid that could be constructed quickly, cheaply, yet with a loss of efficiency due to the higher cost of transmitting over smaller, lighter wire.

the european grid was under engineered to begin with.... and it shows in there heavy fuels consumption.

IAm5toned said:

here's wimpy power for you-

in the years following ww2, europe had to reconstruct its power grids. since ductile metals (soft metal that is highly desirable for wire) ie, copper and aluminum were both in high demand and heavy shortage, a method of power transmission requiring slightly less amperage was desirable for transmission purposes, because smaller wire uses less metal. less amperage = smaller wire. by increasing the voltage, lengthening the duration of the frequency, european engineers devised a power grid that could be constructed quickly, cheaply, yet with a loss of efficiency due to the higher cost of transmitting over smaller, lighter wire.

the european grid was under engineered to begin with.... and it shows in there heavy fuels consumption.

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i never asked for YOUR help, i never asked to be critiscised when i made my original post, i asked a simple question from someone that knows about the electric key meter, i never asked your opinion on anything, for the simple fact is and you 2 nut jobs have just proved it, that americans know it all but they know fuck all. now they are in a slanging match about inventions for fuck sake, ok, ok you are the best, now i will ask the rest, can anybody with any intelligence about electrics that dont want to bring my post down for what it is answer a simple question, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, no more silly comments about going getting caught etc. answer this next question please.

let me just suggest to ease down on the namecalling as shit like that will get you banned from this forum