Lights out HELP!!!

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Basic Ann

Member
I had a circuit trip and my lights were out for about 6 hours right in the middle of the “lights on” period of the day. I could have quickly rectified this had I known. Are there any devices that can be used to alert when lights go off outside of their scheduled time frame?
 
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Bud man 43

Well-Known Member
I would think a battery backup would/can set off an alarm when power is lost- it doesn’t necessarily need to be backing up the lights- just connected to the same circuit
 
manfredo

manfredo

Well-Known Member
Bud man 43 said:
Hugo is correct- changing the breaker may help also- not to a higher amperage- replace with the same breaker only- breakers can wear out
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They sure can. I heard a home inspector say "Many a house has burned down from a faulty circuit breaker". The old fuses are actually safer IF they are properly sized to the wiring they support, because a fuse cant fail, whereas a breaker is a spring loaded device that can and does fail, especially in damp basements.
 
Daino

Daino

Well-Known Member
Something very odd there tho if a breaker can't take the extra load of 2 led fixtures and maybe a couple of fans I'm guessing, I have my entire room with 2 720w true Watts and 2 dehumidifiers 2 humidifiers loads of fans and co2 buckets timers pumps all running from a single 2.5 amp wall socket and never tripped even once maybe another issue along side the grow causing the trip possibly just my theory
 
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Bud man 43

Well-Known Member
Daino said:
Something very odd there tho if a breaker can't take the extra load of 2 led fixtures and maybe a couple of fans I'm guessing, I have my entire room with 2 720w true Watts and 2 dehumidifiers 2 humidifiers loads of fans and co2 buckets timers pumps all running from a single 2.5 amp wall socket and never tripped even once maybe another issue along side the grow causing the trip possibly just my theory
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It is likely not a dedicated circuit and 15 amp.
I ran 3/20 amp dedicated circuits for my room - with 3/20 amp timers - never a problem
 
Daino

Daino

Well-Known Member
That's very possible yeah, older homes with older breakers or any damp interfering is a problem, my entire system is running a 16x6 room + all equiptment and then a smaller room 8x8 all running the same 30amp breaker I changed every breaker in the home from 20 to 30 not massive jump up just enough to ensure no power issues as I run a ring camera WiFi camera in each room allowing me to see if lights on and off have any issues it's the way forward because the cameras are both nightvision so I can see everything just little ideas like that to try help avoid problems, I hope you get ot sorted ASAP
 
Daino

Daino

Well-Known Member
I would ASAP have an electrician look at the breakers or IF your handy enough with wiring and know your bits and bobs replace the breakers with new ones there only cheap to buy just too try help narrow down whats really causing the breaker to trip most likely its just a problem with the breaker, to the best of your knowledge did it ever randomly trip before you started growing ya see totally depends what breaker your running off I have seen older houses with sockets feeding off a 10amp breaker with is usually only a breaker used for ceiling lights ya see you have no idea probably what way it has been wired if your not the only home owner who has lived there
 
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Bud man 43

Well-Known Member
Also- technically you are not supposed to exceed 80% of the circuits capacity- so you really only have 18 amps available on a 20 amp circuit, 12 on a 15 amp.
That is why I ran 3/20’s. I was right at the max for 2 so 3 is easy on everything
 
B

Basic Ann

Member
Bud man 43 said:
It is likely not a dedicated circuit and 15 amp.
I ran 3/20 amp dedicated circuits for my room - with 3/20 amp timers - never a problem
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Correct. It’s not a dedicated circuit and is 15amp. I’m gonna have an electrician come out and talk about some options to upgrade
 
B

Basic Ann

Member
Daino said:
I would ASAP have an electrician look at the breakers or IF your handy enough with wiring and know your bits and bobs replace the breakers with new ones there only cheap to buy just too try help narrow down whats really causing the breaker to trip most likely its just a problem with the breaker, to the best of your knowledge did it ever randomly trip before you started growing ya see totally depends what breaker your running off I have seen older houses with sockets feeding off a 10amp breaker with is usually only a breaker used for ceiling lights ya see you have no idea probably what way it has been wired if your not the only home owner who has lived there
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Thanks for the info. I’m gonna have an electrician come out and talk about some upgrade options. My main panel is pretty small so there are lots of outlets sharing circuits. Could just be an old breaker too. I’m pretty sure they are all original to the home. But I never had any issues before I started growing so I’m sure they are just overloading.
 
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Bud man 43

Well-Known Member
I was fortunate- room is in the basement- open all the way to the panel- easy- however I can’t believe how expensive the wire 12/3 was.
You should run 12/3 so you can get 2/20 amp circuits with 1 wire. No harm and saves $ on material’s
 
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