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

mrjonesez said:

it uses the same watts no matter what. so for anyone listening, you can quit thinking your saving money on these things. it just burns off the excess energy in heat!! now after i said all of that i will retract that statement if anyone knows if these ballasts let you remove your 1000watt bulb and let you install a 400 in its place. then i would actually think about buying one of those overpriced ballasts.
If the bulb is rated for 1000 watts then it is going to pull that 1000 watts no matter what.

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I just purchased a lumatek multi watt that does just that. Has 4 settings, 600w, 750w, 1000w, & super lumens . Turn knob to 600w and place a 600w bulb then turn to 1000w and swap to a 1000w bulb .. That simple... Or with the 1000w bulb turn knob to super lumens and it pumps close to 1200 w . Best ballast ever bro!!!

till it burns out in 36 months.

ive got mag ballasts that have been running 12/12 365 days a year, for 9 years and counting.
show me a lumatek that can do that.

ps-

im not really monitoring this thread anymore.
click the link in my sig if you actually need advice.

i have a ? about wiring a thermostat/humidist to control a outlet for my exhaust fan. Also I wanna know if it's safe to run all this on a single 30 amp curcuit breaker. I would like to run a 600 watt hps, 3.5amp water pump run 24/7, 7watt air pump, small fan, and a 1.9amp exuast fan with thermostat controled receptical. The curcuit is also shared with a refridgirator, window a/c, small tv, and 2 60 watt lights.

I hope dude u r kidding ...cuz all that will lead to fire n burning ur place down ..glad u askd but common sense should of told u that man ...use 3/4 of the 30 apms ...use extensions cords if have too..but u ccant get away with thar

I just bought one of these for my attic because it's way too hot up there with my lights and shit.

http://www.amazon.com/Attic-CX1600-Ventilators-4-5-Amp-14-Inch/dp/B001V5J1XA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1305243547&sr=8-4

Can this be wired directly to a 120 v grounded power cord? Or does it have to be hardwired?

Thanks in advance.

Wish I would have saw this thread sooner, new to the forums and made my own thread asking questions about electrical needs for 2 1000watt lights + fans, exhaust, etc (and maybe 1 more light)

here was my post...

Here's the scenario, I'm planning on setting up a spare room for a medical grow, with 2 1000 watt lumentek digital ballasts, along with a 6" votex 449cfm, and a few other fans and a couple air pumps for DWC buckets. With that said, I only have a 20amp circut running to the desired grow room, as well as my master bedroom and main bathroom (all share the same 20amp circut).

so I guess the quesiton is what do I do? Have an electrician come out and run 2 more 20amp lines with outlets in the desired closet which will house the ballasts and exhuast etc (while the main flowering area will be in the bedroom). or should I have a 30amp 240v line run, and get a controller and just convert the ballasts over with 240v cords? This is a more expensive route because of the need to get a controller.

Is there any cheap way out of this? I know none of this is cheap, shit I've already spent 2 grand and I'm still waiting for my clones to root, LOL.

I was going to tell the electrician that I'm going to have a home office with a server room in the closet, so I could get him to run 2 more 20amp lines with outlets for each (obviously). It would be a little harder to convince him if i was having him run a 240v line to some control box (unless I get a control box that plugs into a 240v outlet that I have him install).

Even though the grow will be legal, I don't want anyone knowing about it so discresion is a must when it comes to my solution.


Thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

SiR

IAm5toned soloved my problem! I followed his link and he was spot on with the answers

I ended up getting 3 dedicated 20 amp circuits ran to my area, so I should have plenty of power for now!

Might as well drop this in here as well (I also made a thread about it).

I live in the U.S. and I'm looking to convert the wall heater in my bedroom into a 220v outlet to hook up light(s) to. How complex of a job is that and could I safely do it myself? If I were to hire an electrician, what do you think they would charge for such a (small) job? Finally, what kind of outlet would I be looking to install? I'd like it to be reversible so I can put it all back before I sell it.

TJefferson said:

Might as well drop this in here as well (I also made a thread about it).

I live in the U.S. and I'm looking to convert the wall heater in my bedroom into a 220v outlet to hook up light(s) to. How complex of a job is that and could I safely do it myself? If I were to hire an electrician, what do you think they would charge for such a (small) job? Finally, what kind of outlet would I be looking to install? I'd like it to be reversible so I can put it all back before I sell it.

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Is the heater now 220V ? If so, its more a matter of the getting the right plug for the light(s).
If its 110V, then why go to 220V? It doesn't save any money, just reduces the size of the wire needed for the same watts being pulled/used.

BigBudBalls said:

Is the heater now 220V ? If so, its more a matter of the getting the right plug for the light(s).
If its 110V, then why go to 220V? It doesn't save any money, just reduces the size of the wire needed for the same watts being pulled/used.

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Yes, it's a 1000w heater on a 220v/20amp circuit (double pole breaker).

Instead of messing with that, I wonder if it would be better to just have an 220v outlet professionally installed. The room is directly above the panel (which is in the garage below). If you put it in the outside wall it's literally about 6 feet from the panel vertically. I have an 'empty' 20 amp breaker that was used for a compressor but has been converted back. Kind of a strange deal there..but anyway (I suspect the people before me grew, but that's another story).

I'd love to have the 220v outlet in the room so I could hook up a 600/1000 hps, two 600/1000 hps to it, or a 600/1000 hps and a portable A/C. But it's confusing as hell trying to find the right outlet which can accommodate the correct plug..

Hi, Just a quick question I am needing some advice on wiring a humidistat and a thermostat wired in line to control a vent fan. Know it can be done but am drawing a blank. Any info helpful, thanks in advance

i have a 20 amp circuit that has my stove and one outlet on it. i want to run an extension cord from that outlet to my grow space for a 600 watt hps. is this ok? my extension cord is 25ft long, 16 gauge, 13 amp -125v, 1635 maximum watts, insulated for 300 v. all that info is on the cover. what ya think?

matatan said:

i have a 20 amp circuit that has my stove and one outlet on it. i want to run an extension cord from that outlet to my grow space for a 600 watt hps. is this ok? my extension cord is 25ft long, 16 gauge, 13 amp -125v, 1635 maximum watts, insulated for 300 v. all that info is on the cover. what ya think?

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Are you sure it isn't a 220v outlet? Most stoves (and any I ever seen) are the different plug for 220v.
Or maybe you are saying the 20amp circuit has the 220v for stove and a single outlet like a normal 110v. I'd wait for solid confirmation, but if so that cord sounds good enough to me.

Danielsgb said:

Are you sure it isn't a 220v outlet? Most stoves (and any I ever seen) are the different plug for 220v.
Or maybe you are saying the 20amp circuit has the 220v for stove and a single outlet like a normal 110v. I'd wait for solid confirmation, but if so that cord sounds good enough to me.

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yes, i just pulled the stove and it is a 220v. and yes that same breaker has a normal outlet in the dining room, which is the same outlet i wish to run the extension cord from to my ballast.

matatan said:

yes, i just pulled the stove and it is a 220v. and yes that same breaker has a normal outlet in the dining room, which is the same outlet i wish to run the extension cord from to my ballast.

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OK, so from IAm5toned's chart.here is the watts from a circuit.

• 20 amp breaker @ 120v = 1920w(16 amps actual) max = #12 awg Cu wire, min

• 20 amp breaker @ 240v = 3840w(16 amps actual) max = #12 awg Cu wire, min

But I'm not sure how that works when a 20amp runs both that 220v and 1 110v. But since the ballast is 660w (always +10% for coil of ballast) it's not like you are getting near the limits of one circuit. I would try the lamp and stove and see if it flips the breaker.
You can ask him on this thread.
Electrical Advice for the grower

I have a 50 amp breaker that is connected to my MLC-8xt I have 6000 watts running @ 240 I also noticed the electrician has wired 4 gfi plugs coming out of the 50amp breaker box. Every time I add anthing to any one of the plugs it trips the beaker? I am plugging in 2 12" wall fans less than 2 amp each.I 12" vortex, fuzzy logic and Gen-1eng. Now even if I unplug all devices and only pug in 2 wall fans it will still cause the breaker to reset. Why is this happening?

how does this thing look
i mean is it spot on

I split an old pc power cable, and it has a green wire, blue, and a dark burgundy.
Does anyone know which wire is which? I want to use it to plug in an inline duct fan.