question about light timers flipboxes 240v or 120v etc.

hey everyone,

i have a question i was recently doing some online shopping and i was looking at setting up 3x1000watt lights in a main room, and a smaller 400watt or 600watt for clones and mothers in a separate tent. i was looking at all the timers and flipboxes and whatnot you can purchase and the options are just dizzying i dont even know what a trigger cord is. what i would like to accomplish is have a box that i can plug all the ballasts into that i can set the 3x1000watts on the same timer and have a separate timer for the other light. i would assume this box would plug into a 240v outlet and split the power into 120v outlets for each of the ballasts? or do the ballasts also run on 240v? anywho maby somebody could show me what to buy and what sort of outlet do i need to have installed for said box. links to american or north american websites for purchase would be helpful. even a video tutorial for setup would be awesome.

A trigger cord plugs into a timer to turn on and off a bank of lights. Some controllers have dual trigger cords, one for each side. This is what you need.

Most 240 volt controllers take a larger 240 volt feed like 30 or 50 amps and split it into 240 volt for ballasts. A 30 amp controller would run all your lights.

I think with a titan you have to go with a larger 6 - 8 light controller to get dual trigger cords. It is a 50 amp controller however you can run it on a 30 amp feed just fine. The amperage would suffice for the loads you intend to run. If you intend to expand it is handy to have the added capacity though.

http://www.titancontrols.net/shop/p...light-240v-controller-with-dual-trigger-cords

Plug each trigger cord into a timer, now each side of the controller can be used for one room.

That controller won't have a cord for the feed, it is intended to be wired directly to a 240v 50 amp breaker using #6-2 wire. One could make a plug for a dryer outlet and reduce it to a 30 amp controller.

https://www.hydroponics.net/learn/grow-light-controller.php

That will give you a little idea how a lighting controller works and how to build one cheap.

first i'd like to say thanks for swinging by and pointing me in the right direction i bookmarked that box on amazon. i was on the titan controls website earlier befor i made this topic but i was confused as to which one there were so many options on that website. from what i understand when on 240v you require less amps to run the same wattage. so 240v/1000watt=4.2 amps. that box needs 50amps input/40amp output i hope i can run 12.6amps on the one side. i think i have this figured out i'll need that box and 4 240v digital ballasts. thanks for the help man.

A 50 amp circuit will handle 40 amps before the brealer should trip. 80%. So you would have 40 total amps available on the controller, to be used however you want, could be 30 amps on one side and 10 on the other. You will also need 2 reliable timers for the trigger cords.