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

BigBudBalls

Well-Known Member
Ill post some pix whn I get off work. Should be up in about 6

Yup. inside the peckerhead there might even be a diagram.

But overall it doesn't matter much. The green/yellow wire is the ground. Then hook the 2 AC wires up to the terminals in the peckerhead. If they are labeled line (L) and neutral (N) then try to hook them up right if ya can.

Swapping the Line and neutral will NOT reverse an AC motor.(swapping a positive and negitive will on a DC brushed motor)


(AC isn't polarized. The 'polarized plug' I find kinda funny since one of prong/lines is plain 0 volts, the other goes from positive to negitive 120 60 times a second, so where is the polarizing? Devices may use the neutral as a 0 volt ref, but for a straight motor, don't sweat it.)
 

mrmadcow

Well-Known Member
.. is this as simple as just removing the dryer plug and connecting the wires to the nema 14-50. i have no electrical experience and any help would be great!!
probably not quite that simple.the old dryer plug was probably 3 wire.2 hot 120 legs and a neutral.the new will be the same but adds a 4th wire to ground. you could run a 12 gauge or larger wire to a ground and make it work (safely)but it would not meet code (if that matters to you.)
w/out any electric experience,I would recommend finding someone who does.its a 15 min job so it shouldn't cost much provided you can find a ground nearby.
 

one11

Active Member
Heres the lowdown. I'm building a growshed about 250ft away from the closest powersource. The powersource happens to be a 125v 30 amp RV outlet.
I've got the 12gauge cord that has the black white and green wires in it, and the male end that plugs into the outlet. But I need help on how to use this to power my 600w hps and fan. Is this safe? Thanks ahead of time.
 

k@nyeW3st

Member
finally got my pics taken. There was no diagram... unless its that lil sticker that makes absolutely no sense to me. There is a screw sticking up right beside the sticker. I am kinda the type of person that needs explicit instructions to follow. LOL. I guess its the w33d in me. But if you can provide detailed instructions on how to wire then I would greatly appreciate it. I think one of the pics shows the electrical cable I plan to use.
 

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laughingduck

Well-Known Member
The dimple on the little gray box is a pre punched hole, take a screwdriver and a hammer and knock it out. Install a cord grip in the hole (this will hold your cord when you run it through the hole. Install a loop terminal on the green wire on the cord, needs to be sized for the gold colored screw in the box. pull the end you are going to connect to the fan in to the box. screw the green wire to the box. wire nut the white wires, wire nut the black wires. pull excess cord out of the box. install cover on box.....all finished, just need to plug it in.
 

k@nyeW3st

Member
Ok. I kinda understand. 1) what does a cord grip look like and where can I find one [lowes? Home depot?] Um.... same for loop terminals. I don't know what they look like either. Wire nuts are those plastic things that u insert wires into in order to maintain a connection right? I should cut the excess wire coming frm the box, attatch the utility cable with the nuts, and make sure that all the connections are secured within the box enclosure right? So there's no need to solder the wires together? Sorry if I'm confusing you. I have never really worked with electricity.
 

laughingduck

Well-Known Member
Ok. I kinda understand. 1) what does a cord grip look like and where can I find one [lowes? Home depot?] Um.... same for loop terminals. I don't know what they look like either. Wire nuts are those plastic things that u insert wires into in order to maintain a connection right? I should cut the excess wire coming frm the box, attatch the utility cable with the nuts, and make sure that all the connections are secured within the box enclosure right? So there's no need to solder the wires together? Sorry if I'm confusing you. I have never really worked with electricity.
You can get the grip and the terminal at lowes or HD or any hardware store. The terminal needs to fit the green wire and crip on. The cord grip needs to be the right size for the hole, and be able to grip the cord. The wire nuts you will use to connect the wires, so there is no need to solder.
 

k@nyeW3st

Member
You can get the grip and the terminal at lowes or HD or any hardware store. The terminal needs to fit the green wire and crip on. The cord grip needs to be the right size for the hole, and be able to grip the cord. The wire nuts you will use to connect the wires, so there is no need to solder.
Thanks man. Used this knowledge and she's up n runnin now. Heh. My babies will have some fresh circulation now. :spew:
 

mrmadcow

Well-Known Member
... I'm building a growshed about 250ft away from the closest powersource....I've got the 12gauge cord that has the black white and green wires in it, ... Is this safe? Thanks ahead of time.
it will work but you should go to a heavier gauge wire.the longer the run, the more voltage drops,the less light you will produce & the more strain on the fan and ballast.
the easy way to wire it is to buy an outlet and box and attach the wires to the proper terminals.black to the gold screw,white to the silver screw & green to the green screw.-altho if you need to ask,you might be better off getting someone to do it for you.
 

louch

Member
hello bricktown i would really appreciate it if you could answer one quick question. if i am using my dryer outlet in the basement which i believe is 220volt and 40 amps and i have a timer board wired with 8 sockets for 220volt and i have 1000 watt lights also wired on 220v does that mean i can put like 6 or 7 1000 watters on that timer? because im under the immpression that i am drawing approx 4.5 amp per light and its a 40 amp breaker (7 lights would be 31amps which i think is just a tiny bit over 80% cappacity) . am i right or am i going to burn my house down?? thank you so much in advance.
 

louch

Member
hello bricktown i would really appreciate it if you could answer one quick question. if i am using my dryer outlet in the basement which i believe is 220volt and 40 amps and i have a timer board wired with 8 sockets for 220volt and i have 1000 watt lights also wired on 220v does that mean i can put like 6 or 7 1000 watters on that timer? because im under the immpression that i am drawing approx 4.5 amp per light and its a 40 amp breaker (7 lights would be 31amps which i think is just a tiny bit over 80% cappacity) . am i right or am i going to burn my house down?? thank you so much in advance.
 

louch

Member
hello bricktown i would really appreciate it if you could answer one quick question. if i am using my dryer outlet in the basement which i believe is 220volt and 40 amps and i have a timer board wired with 8 sockets for 220volt and i have 1000 watt lights also wired on 220v does that mean i can put like 6 or 7 1000 watters on that timer? because im under the immpression that i am drawing approx 4.5 amp per light and its a 40 amp breaker (7 lights would be 31amps which i think is just a tiny bit over 80% cappacity) . am i right or am i going to burn my house down?? thank you so much in advance.
 

mex2425

Member
hi how do you fix a noisy ballast? can it be fixed?
Whats wrong with it?
It sounds like vibration real bad vibration
 
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