air conditioner flipping breaker

[sunandsky]

as a base analogy for someone without even the most rudimentary grasp on electricity the analogy is a valid one.
water pressure is supplied voltage
water flow is current or amperage
diameter of the pipe represents resistance

1. The Voltage is what ‘pushes’ the electricity around the circuit.
2. The Amperage is the ‘volume’ of electricity travelling around the circuit.
3. The Resistance is what ‘restricts’ the flow of electricity around the circuit.
4. The Ground is the electricity overflow, so we can control the path of leaking electricity.

are these not valid?
sure plumbing and electricity are different but for a rudimentary grasp on it, I say the analogy is helpful.

inductance, capacitance, etc are superfluous to know in a basic indoor grow.

besides.. sooo yea.. i'm sure the extra 375 to 425 KWH a month will be fine..
the MOST obvious sign that the OP should abandon this is the sheer fact that electricity is INCLUDED in the rent... so that means the landlord gets the bill.. and meanwhile every other tenant is a fifth of his energy bill, sure, that won't get noticed.
cuz you know.. landlords aren't cheap-ass penny-pinching motherfuckers, are they?

i'm sure a 250 dollar energy bill will be fine

Hey thanks man. That analogy is great. You're post is very helpful. Fuck the egos that are starting to fling around here! You make some good points. the 1.2.3.4. you posted makes a lot of sense to someone with no knowledge. I think my solution will just be to trade out this a/c for a smaller one. My carbon filter comes next week and so I'll just start exhausting out my window. I'm not going to screw around with an electrician or get the landlord involved. That would be a prime way to find myself homeless in this bible thumping town. You mention medical marijuana around here and people show up at your door with pitch forks. The whole "there is no such thing as medical marijuana" idea is all too common here. there is an overwhelming amount of narcs in this town too. people call the cops over everything. we have a strong citizens on patrol system here, and though I'm legal, it wouldn't matter, the landlord would likely find some bullshit excuse to kick me out and Due to the slowness that is health canada, my 21 days grace period after moving, will probably run out before they send my amended papers.

I've been running the a/c for 20 mins at time maybe twice a day, I'm pretty fucking sure it won't cause a fire doing this. I don't turn it on when I'm not here. My 400watt hps setup doesn't use very much running 12 hours a day. I pay 7.93/kwh for hydro. idk what else i was gonna say, i went and took a shit and stuff. lol and forget where i was

 

[TacoMac]

I've been running the a/c for 20 mins at time maybe twice a day, I'm pretty fucking sure it won't cause a fire doing this. I don't turn it on when I'm not here. My 400watt hps setup doesn't use very much running 12 hours a day. I pay 7.93/kwh for hydro. idk what else i was gonna say, i went and took a shit and stuff. lol and forget where i was

And that's the problem.

As I've said before, the AC unit will draw on average 10 amps. It will often spike to 12 amps on startup, sometimes as high as 13 amps.

The typical 400 watt HPS will draw 3.3 to 4 amps constant use and can spike up to 4.5 on startup on a magnetic ballast. (Electronic Ballast do not spike hardly at all.)

So if they're both on the same 15 amp circuit, you really have very little chance of it not overloading and flipping the breaker as you are at 13.3 amps usage MINIMUM on constant running. If the AC cycles off, then back on and spikes up to 13 amps, that puts the draw at 16.3 amps minimum and BOOM. There goes the breaker.

That is why window AC units always suggest you run it on its own, dedicated circuit.

 

[sunandsky]

And that's the problem.

As I've said before, the AC unit will draw on average 10 amps. It will often spike to 12 amps on startup, sometimes as high as 13 amps.

The typical 400 watt HPS will draw 3.3 to 4 amps constant use and can spike up to 4.5 on startup on a magnetic ballast. (Electronic Ballast do not spike hardly at all.)

So if they're both on the same 15 amp circuit, you really have very little chance of it not overloading and flipping the breaker as you are at 13.3 amps usage MINIMUM on constant running. If the AC cycles off, then back on and spikes up to 13 amps, that puts the draw at 16.3 amps minimum and BOOM. There goes the breaker.

That is why window AC units always suggest you run it on its own, dedicated circuit.

i guess i'll try and get a heavy duty extension cord for my lights/dehumidifier. the a/c unit has never once flipped the breaker on startup. it only does it if it runs for like 30 mins or more.

 

[TacoMac]

Then the breaker is overheating because it's right at capacity.

What's more, I didn't know about the dehumidifier. You do realize that a dehumidifier is nothing but a small AC compressor, don't you? That thing draws a shitload of power. You might be able to just move it and get away with it.

 

[CriticalCheeze]

i guess i'll try and get a heavy duty extension cord for my lights/dehumidifier. the a/c unit has never once flipped the breaker on startup. it only does it if it runs for like 30 mins or more.

Then it is reaching limit/capacity like tacomac said. Not advisable to keep overheating a circuit. Do you run a cooltube or open fixture?

 

[greasemonkeymann]

i guess i'll try and get a heavy duty extension cord for my lights/dehumidifier. the a/c unit has never once flipped the breaker on startup. it only does it if it runs for like 30 mins or more.

i still think you are overlooking something important here.
if your landlord gets the energy bill, and it's glaringly higher than the rest of them, he'll wonder.
landlords are like that.
they don't like to spend money

 

[TacoMac]

i still think you are overlooking something important here.
if your landlord gets the energy bill, and it's glaringly higher than the rest of them, he'll wonder.
landlords are like that.
they don't like to spend money

That is most definitely true.

 

[greasemonkeymann]

i guess i'll try and get a heavy duty extension cord for my lights/dehumidifier. the a/c unit has never once flipped the breaker on startup. it only does it if it runs for like 30 mins or more.

not tryin to throw shade on you man
just speaking from experience
i grew "underground" for over 2 decades and you NEVER want anyone at all looking at your energy bill
never, ever.
least of all your landlord.
even at a modest .20 per KWH (in CA we'd choke a baby to get those rates btw)
at roughly 300 KWH (10kwh per day) your energy bill is gonna be double or triple the average tenant. (if your ac is running more, it likely will be higher energy than that)
and i would be surprised if your energy rates are that low, and i'd be surprised if you didn't have the rate scale at how many KWHs you are using.

In my experience, it's usually not needed to run an ac, or a dehum.
a good 100w inline vent fan, and some good aircooled hoods will usually work better
especially for a modest 400 w setup, those don't get too hot, even a MH would be alright without
assuming the OP isn't in like Iran, in the summer, with the heat index at like 145 or so..

 

[sunandsky]

i think i will be fine if i limit the use of that a.c/ see the attached pic. no worries, no shade cast

 

[brewbeer]

Electric heat in Canada. Wow. Yeah, you have great electricity rates. That is why your landlord hasn't changed out the electric heat that HE is paying for. And your grow probably generates enough heat to redue the amount of electric heat you use in the winter.

If you post pics of the rating plates on your grow gear, we can try to help you figure out what gear can share the same circuit, and what gear should be moved to a different circuit.

We all gotta help each other grow safe. For the good of our ultimate goal. Give use the rating plates for your gear and we'll help you figure it out.

 

[TacoMac]

i think i will be fine if i limit the use of that a.c/ see the attached pic. no worries, no shade cast

That could not be more wrong. I don't know who made that calculator, but they should be shot.

First off, that thing uses more than 500 watts. It may use 500 watts with the fan only running, but with the compressor running full tilt, it's closer to 1000 at least. I have a 12,000 btu unit in my office in the basement and it pulls 1800 watts, so there's no way your 9000 unit is only pulling 500 with the compressor running.

If we get generous and say it's running 900 watts on full load, here's your cost:

900 x 12 = 10,800 watts per day
10,800 / 1000 = 10.8 kwh per day
10.8 x 30 = 324 kwh per month.
324 x .08 = $25.92 per month.

What's more, your running a light that will run up half that again. And you're running a dehumidifier that will up that by half yet again.

With all that shit running, you're power bill is going to jet up to the tune of around $55.00 to $65.00 per month.

A blind man is going to notice that.

 

[sunandsky]

That could not be more wrong. I don't know who made that calculator, but they should be shot.

First off, that thing uses more than 500 watts. It may use 500 watts with the fan only running, but with the compressor running full tilt, it's closer to 1000 at least. I have a 12,000 btu unit in my office in the basement and it pulls 1800 watts, so there's no way your 9000 unit is only pulling 500 with the compressor running.

If we get generous and say it's running 900 watts on full load, here's your cost:

900 x 12 = 10,800 watts per day
10,800 / 1000 = 10.8 kwh per day
10.8 x 30 = 324 kwh per month.
324 x .08 = $25.92 per month.

What's more, your running a light that will run up half that again. And you're running a dehumidifier that will up that by half yet again.

With all that shit running, you're power bill is going to jet up to the tune of around $55.00 to $65.00 per month.

A blind man is going to notice that.

haha, perhaps i wasn't clear enough. I estimated that my 400w hps with the inline fan going..rounded up was 500w (rounded up to make damn sure I was ok). that was my calculation there. When I say limit that a/c. I mean limit it to 3 or 4, 25 minute sessions per day. So maybe an hour and a half to two hours a day max. The a/c is 1100 watts.

What I've done now is rigged up my ducting to come out of the tent (which goes through the carbon filter) and then through the exhaust pipe of the a/c unit, and out the window. Inside the last portion of the a/c pipe/ducting I have placed a container of ona gel. I went outside last night with a bucket to stand on and I sniffed the air coming out. it was nice and warm and smelled like apple crisp ona gel haha. Haven't needed to use the a/c at all. Since all that delicious skunky air is being pumped through the ona, I can just open the windows in that room now and let cool air in when it gets too hot. I couldn't do this before because directly behind me is another apartment building and there are 7 units one either side of that little alleyway..which is not an alleyway, just an area where there was some bushes before. Someone was bound to smell that shit. I have some cheese,mango, and citral kush in there right now and that stuff is loud and proud. They have cleared the bushes now, and everyone can see everyone's back windows, fucking annoying.

Tracking tells me that my big 8 inch filter is here today, so The smell should be gone. Funny thing - talking to my next door neighbor yesterday, he told me he can smell marijuana through the walls. ha, i fuckin knew it. So that prompted me to rig up my little window exhaust there. He was a cool guy though. Otherside of me are asians. they're always super friendly. Think I'll be okay for the most part. Summertime though it gets so hot, I'll have to run the a/c in the laundry room i guess, and fan it through the apartment. I'm not about to replace breakers and shit. Landlord wouldn't go for that anyways, and would ask why. Pretty sure i'll be fine. There's a smaller a/c unit in the living area, every unit has one, so I'm pretty sure everything's going to be fine, ain't nobody gonna be burning down the school. I'll use that thing probably and sell the bigger a/c unit.

 

[TacoMac]

Reading this thread and seeing the way you're going about it is a case study in how people get busted.

 

[sunandsky]

lolol.thats funny. i'm also legal. so nothing would ever come of it. I have my medical documents, and i am growing 7 plants when i am allowed 15. So that's why I'm not sketching out about everything. Got a lot on my plate right now as well. The only problem is the address change but the woman at health canada told me i have a 21 day grace period after i move, and so I'm good until april 21. even if i got busted in may, and my papers hadn't come, which wouldn't surprise me considering how slow this all is.. it probably wouldn't be much more than a nuisance. Most of it will be harvested by the end of april, if not all, so its all good. I live in Canada man, not quite the police state america is. This kind of reminds me of one of those threads where someone has a few spider mites and a bunch of people start telling the poor guy to tear down all his half ripe, flowering plants and start from scratch. I am a medical patient, I'm not just claiming to be one, the place isn't going to catch fire, the army isn't going to show up. No offense, I know you guys are just trying to help but i feel like some people need to take a chill pill.

For a group of guys who basically told me I'm an idiot and then walked around acting real smart and knowledgeable throughout this thread it's sad what little amount of common sense was used throughout this whole ordeal. An argument over a simple analogy comparing electricity to plumbing broke out momentarily, someone suggested I pay an electrician to change out the breaker box, and some other alarmist fire shit. wtf? What's happening even, is this real life? The breaker is tripping, as a safety measure..just as it is designed. Telling me there is a problem. I'm not going change out the breaker, or pay someone to fix a place I am renting, and probably only living at for 6 months, when I could run a quality extension chord for what is only 450 watts needed to my grow tent, or the other endless amount of options, Which are easier, and cost efficient. If this offends someone well then grow some big boy pants because I was offended at a couple of remarks that seemingly insulted me, but I didn't pip and squeak about it. I realize some of my posts too could have made things seem worse, and the fact that the main breaker was flipping played a role in all of this as well. But I need to take a mental shit right here and so I've shat. I'll also apologize though, which is sort of the act of wiping my ass. So now I'll pull up my pants, wash my hands and spray some febreeze.

I feel bitchy this morning and reading through all this has made it worse, so I apologize if I've offended anyone, and I thank you all for the knowledge/help you've given me, but I feel like I needed to say that. It makes a point for those of us out there who still do things in a down to earth way. The problem is solved now, I've learned a little bit about breaker boxes and electricity, both through this thread and the resulting google searches there after, So it's been a success.cheers

 

[natureboygrower]

lolol.thats funny. i'm also legal. so nothing would ever come of it. I have my medical documents, and i am growing 7 plants when i am allowed 15. So that's why I'm not sketching out about everything. Got a lot on my plate right now as well. The only problem is the address change but the woman at health canada told me i have a 21 day grace period after i move, and so I'm good until april 21. even if i got busted in may, and my papers hadn't come, which wouldn't surprise me considering how slow this all is.. it probably wouldn't be much more than a nuisance. Most of it will be harvested by the end of april, if not all, so its all good. I live in Canada man, not quite the police state america is. This kind of reminds me of one of those threads where someone has a few spider mites and a bunch of people start telling the poor guy to tear down all his half ripe, flowering plants and start from scratch. I am a medical patient, I'm not just claiming to be one, the place isn't going to catch fire, the army isn't going to show up. No offense, I know you guys are just trying to help but i feel like some people need to take a chill pill.

For a group of guys who basically told me I'm an idiot and then walked around acting real smart and knowledgeable throughout this thread it's sad what little amount of common sense was used throughout this whole ordeal. An argument over a simple analogy comparing electricity to plumbing broke out momentarily, someone suggested I pay an electrician to change out the breaker box, and some other alarmist fire shit. wtf? What's happening even, is this real life? The breaker is tripping, as a safety measure..just as it is designed. Telling me there is a problem. I'm not going change out the breaker, or pay someone to fix a place I am renting, and probably only living at for 6 months, when I could run a quality extension chord for what is only 450 watts needed to my grow tent, or the other endless amount of options, Which are easier, and cost efficient. If this offends someone well then grow some big boy pants because I was offended at a couple of remarks that seemingly insulted me, but I didn't pip and squeak about it. I realize some of my posts too could have made things seem worse, and the fact that the main breaker was flipping played a role in all of this as well. But I need to take a mental shit right here and so I've shat. I'll also apologize though, which is sort of the act of wiping my ass. So now I'll pull up my pants, wash my hands and spray some febreeze.

I feel bitchy this morning and reading through all this has made it worse, so I apologize if I've offended anyone, and I thank you all for the knowledge/help you've given me, but I feel like I needed to say that. It makes a point for those of us out there who still do things in a down to earth way. The problem is solved now, I've learned a little bit about breaker boxes and electricity, both through this thread and the resulting google searches there after, So it's been a success.cheers

outlet breakers are your first defense.they are not tripping.this is a problem.it has nothing to do with your grow,you just happened to stumble across it.that could be a fortunate find.the main tripping before the 15a-20a breakers is suspicious to me.if i was being an alarmist about mentioning fire,so be it.ive seen the aftermath of an electrical fire.GL

 

[TacoMac]

lolol.thats funny. i'm also legal. so nothing would ever come of it. I have my medical documents, and i am growing 7 plants when i am allowed 15. So that's why I'm not sketching out about everything.

You are renting. It is illegal to grow in a rental dwelling under every single rental agreement I've ever seen. If caught, you will be punished just the same as if you had no documentation at all...because in the eyes of the law, you don't.

 

[sunandsky]

You are renting. It is illegal to grow in a rental dwelling under every single rental agreement I've ever seen. If caught, you will be punished just the same as if you had no documentation at all...because in the eyes of the law, you don't.

Wrong. Under human rights laws in Canada, you have access to your medicine, and under privacy laws you do not have to make your landlord aware that you are a medical marijuana patient or are growing marijuana. When I moved from my last place the tenants board of canada also made me aware that my current landlord, under law, is not allowed to communicate with my new landlord that I was or will be growing medical marijuana.

 

[TacoMac]

Good luck with that.

 

[sunandsky]

Good luck with that.

Here's a recent article in the news, though the landlord did kick the tenant out, this was an extreme case and the tenant was fully within the law. This article shows you how fully within the law it is for a renter to grow medical mj.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/go-public-medical-marijuana-landlord-tenant-insurance-pulled-1.3985875