LOSING POWER

[Badjem]

UPS wouldn't last more than 1 minute..

Damm so generator prob to loud idk o well

 

[Drop That Sound]

I would still get the UPS though, it will work for your pumps.. it will run small enough pump that only turns on briefly throughout the day, for plenty of time to enjoy a vacation... Get the biggest one you can for HPA..

And ya breakers are only rated to run at like 80 percent of their capacity..

You could maybe get away with swapping that 15 for another 20, as long as the wire is good enough.. Need to know the gauge running to the receptacles... Might get lucky and they used the same wire as the 20.

 

[Badjem]

I would still get the UPS though, it will work for your pumps.. it will run small enough pump that only turns on briefly throughout the day, for plenty of time to enjoy a vacation... Get the biggest one you can for HPA..

And ya breakers are only rated to run at like 80 percent of their capacity..

You could maybe get away with swapping that 15 for another 20, as long as the wire is good enough.. Need to know the gauge running to the receptacles... Might get lucky and they used the same wire as the 20.

Lol right on bro yea that's what I was thinking swapping 15 for 20 then it will be 2 that are 20. Trying to figure out wire guage to give you to see if I can do it. Yea I been going crazy for like two days now unplugging an plugging and adding lol.

 

[Drop That Sound]

I've contemplated modifying free worn out UPS's, and hooking them up to banks of large deep cycle batteries.. until I seen a guy that did whose house caught fire..

A true battery backup system that puts out that many amps probably cost more than a standby generator system though, and especially the portable kind..

I just ended up getting a few big noisy ones..

 

[pahpah-cee]

Gotta make sure everything is 12 gauge wire if you swap the breaker out. Every wire needs to be 12guage or larger and every outlet needs to be able to handle 20amps or more.

general rule of thumb like Drop that sound said, keep everything below 80%. That include your main breaker. If your main breaker is 200amps don’t exceed 160amps total.

 

[pahpah-cee]

I’m in a legal state so I don’t really try to hide from my neighbors. But, if you are experiencing a black/brown out I really wouldn’t stress about running a geni. I’m sure 50% of your neighbors will be running a geni to keep their fridges going.

 

[Badjem]

I hear you so I Elie everything wire is 12AWG so prob just get away popping a 20amp breaker in the 15 spot that should stop power problem. And I am going vacation soon so I guess I will get ups and hook the 2 pump up and maybe a flashlight back up for emergency light idk

 

[Drop That Sound]

15 amp receptacles are actually rated for 20 amp, but 20 amps need a thicker wire. 12ga I think.

The pic looks like they are using the same wire on the 15 and 20, so that's the only reason I suggested it. Your probably either in luck, and they did use the same wires (12ga), or they used 14ga and its already hooked up wrong. I could be wrong though, and accept no responsibility for my advice, lol.

 

[Badjem]

Gotta make sure everything is 12 gauge wire if you swap the breaker out. Every wire needs to be 12guage or larger and every outlet needs to be able to handle 20amps or more.

general rule of thumb like Drop that sound said, keep everything below 80%. That include your main breaker. If your main breaker is 200amps don’t exceed 160amps total.

Word thanks man okay so what I didn't understand was if they 12awg wore I can put 20 in spot of 15. What I didn't understand was its got two outlets I'm their, and 2 single pole breakers so 15amp breaker has 2 black wires coming out of it and20amp breaker has 1black wire coming from it. Any clue about this?

 

[pahpah-cee]

15 amp receptacles are actually rated for 20 amp, but 20 amps need a thicker wire. 12ga I think.

The pic looks like they are using the same wire on the 15 and 20, so that's the only reason I suggested it. Your probably either in luck, and they did use the same wires (12ga), or they used 14ga and its already hooked up wrong. I could be wrong though, and accept no responsibility for my advice, lol.

That’s interesting. Any idea why they do that? Why not just market them at 20amp? I’m guessing it could be a weird safety law?

 

[Drop That Sound]

That's called double tapping. Running multiple circuits off one breaker.

I would try to find out what all go's to what...test each outlet and find the corresponding breakers.. map it out and make sure.

 

[Rurumo]

I have some battery operated fans I throw in the tents if the power goes out for longer than a couple hours. The RH might be 90+% inside the tents but as long as you have air movement, there's not much to worry about. They are fine for days in the dark as long as you can maintain a somewhat normal temperature.

 

[pahpah-cee]

That's called double tapping. Running multiple circuits off one breaker.

I would try to find out what all go's to what...test each outlet and find the corresponding breakers.. map it out and make sure.

definitely do this.

From what I can remember, running two lines off one breaker is frowned upon unless the breaker is designed for that application.

 

[Drop That Sound]

I believe it's only required to install a 20 amp receptacle on a 20 amp circuit if there is only one receptacle..

If there's more than 1 that 15 amp receptacles are ok, because they share the load, and you could never plug in something to the 15 amp slots that will pull a full 20 amps anyway..

 

[pahpah-cee]

I believe it's only required to install a 20 amp receptacle on a 20 amp circuit if there is only one receptacle..

If there's more than 1 that 15 amp receptacles are ok, because they share the load, and you could never plug in something to the 15 amp slots that will pull a full 20 amps anyway..

Thanks, that Logic makes sense to me.

 

[Badjem]

I have some battery operated fans I throw in the tents if the power goes out for longer than a couple hours. The RH might be 90+% inside the tents but as long as you have air movement, there's not much to worry about. They are fine for days in the dark as long as you can maintain a somewhat normal temperature.

Thank

 

[Badjem]

I believe it's only required to install a 20 amp receptacle on a 20 amp circuit if there is only one receptacle..

If there's more than 1 that 15 amp receptacles are ok, because they share the load, and you could never plug in something to the 15 amp slots that will pull a full 20 amps anyway..

Yea it's got 2 receptacles in their and yes they all are same 12awg wire so I am gonna slide 20 see what happens

 

[Badjem]

Also I was thinking at petco they got those fish pimps that take 2 d batteries and they last for days and cheap maybe that would save em if power went out

 

[Badjem]

That's called double tapping. Running multiple circuits off one breaker.

I would try to find out what all go's to what...test each outlet and find the corresponding breakers.. map it out and make sure.

So bro 7 day Vaca coming in week scared what should I do for back up in my system. What about these battery operated pumps? They cheap but looks really to me 2 d batteries don't last but couple days I am going for 7 days? Trust your skills bro it's the 28 gal aero cloner I built that what they in my 4 auto gsc strain? How an I keep them alive just in case they 4 to 5 weeks in flowering

 

[tstick]

We get the occasional power outage that might last a few hours at most. I've been thinking about getting some kind of contractor work light like the Milwaukee one that takes their M18 batteries. The light is about 150 dollars (without the battery), but it could probably be used for other things, too. But I only grow a couple plants at a time, so that might not be a reasonable solution for everyone.