Electrical Question....Outlet Smoked And Popped??

[bongrippinbob]

Thanks for taking the time to read my post.

I have been having some issues lately with my setup. It seems like it is burning up outlets or something.

A couple of weeks ago I went into my room and everything was off. Two of the outlets in that bedroom don't work after that day. I had 2x600watt lights in one outlet and some fans on the other outlet.

I then moved to another outlet in my room and everything worked fine for a couple of weeks. Now all the outlets in that bedroom don't work.

I checked the breaker box and none of them were blown. I even reset them just in case and still nothing. I get my electricity for my veg stuff from a different bedroom, so it is 1200watts worth of lights, about 350watts worth of exhaust fans and like 100watts of ciculation fans.

I was looking and it looks like my breakers are 15amp in the bedrooms, so I am a bit over that, but they never tripped. I am thinking I ran too many watts for the bedroom. Does this sound like it is the case?

If this is the case, what do I need to do to get my outlets working again? Do I just need to go buy new outlets and just hook those up? Or am I screwed and need to have someone come out and do something else?

Thanks for all the help
Bob

 

[NOWitall]

watts devided by volts = amps

those 2 lights only comes to 10 amps

if its burning out plugs without without tripping the breaker, 2 possabilities, with variations one each

1. your outlets are underrated for that amperage, they come in 5/10/15/20/25. 15 is pretty common. var1. your outlets were improperly installed, I.E. wire not properly under screw terminals (sometimes they just stick the wire in the push in slots, not good at high loads) bad/loose connections arc, cuasing heat, deteriorating metal, increasing oxidation, increasing arcing, increasing heat, till they burn.

the fact that its not throwing the breaker means you dont have a ground fualt problem or a direct short (unless your breaker is bad, its not common but it happens)

2. wire of inssuficient size. many houses were wired with 14ga wire, perfectly fine for normal household loads. but were not talkin about normal household loads. this will cause heat damage down the wire depending on time damage (this is less likely, because of the lack of breaker throwing.)

so turn the breaker off unscrew those receps, get 15-20a replacements. and your good to go.
if you are unfamiliar with electricity i suggest buying a simple 120 detector (it can save your life)
if you are uncomfertable with the idea of touching a potentially leathal wire, please get an expert. call a friend. buy a book.

you can unscrew those plugs and look at em to see the damage

post a pic, of the plug front/side , and the interior of the box, ill tell u more conclusivly

 

[bongrippinbob]

Thanks for the help. I will try and get some pics up.

So basically I just need to switch off the breaker and replace the outlet right? If the breakers are off I shouldn't have a problem getting shocked right?

Thanks again.

 

[NOWitall]

yes if the breaker is off you are safe.

but.

some of the outlets might be on a diff breaker, plug in light to be sure, or use tester.

 

[bongrippinbob]

THanks for the help.

I think I figured out what was going on. The outlet is super loose so I think there may have been issues with that. I reset the breakers again and now some of the outlets work. But they are still super loose so I am going to home depot to get a new one right now. Hopefully I can install it correctly and not kill myself. We will see shortly.

 

[bongrippinbob]

I replaced the outlet just now and it seems to be working fine. But I did find out that both of my bedrooms are running on the same breaker. This means that I am running like 2000watts on a 15amp breaker. The guy at home depot told me I could just replace the breaker and make it a 20amp but I have to replace all the outlets as well.

Do you think this will work? I don't want to start any fires and I'm not really experienced in electrical stuff. I have wired ballast kits and added cords to things, but never really worked with interior wiring or anything. Any advice you have is appreciated.

 

[Dirty Harry]

...The guy at home depot told me I could just replace the breaker and make it a 20amp but I have to replace all the outlets as well.

Do you think this will work? I don't want to start any fires and I'm not really experienced in electrical stuff...

NO! NO! NO! If the breaker is 15 Amps, then 99.9% of the time the wiring for everything off that is only rated at 15 Amps. You put a 20+ Amp breaker in, then you have a very good chance of the wiring catching fire in your walls. It doesn't matter how heavy duty the outlets are, its the wiring to them. The wiring can catch fire before the breaker trips because you may not be pulling enough to trip the breaker, but enough for the wiring to heat up and catch fire.

It is possible, but not likely, that they ran heaver gage wire that could carry more amps, and just put in a 15 Amp breaker...But I would not go with that idea as that increases building costs when the house was built.

NEVER SLAP IN A BIGGER BREAKER BECAUSE THE SMALL ONE TRIPS!!!

That is about the same as putting a penny behind the old fashioned screw fuses...Your going to have a fire!

 

[Roland]

NO! NO! NO! If the breaker is 15 Amps, then 99.9% of the time the wiring for everything off that is only rated at 15 Amps. You put a 20+ Amp breaker in, then you have a very good chance of the wiring catching fire in your walls. It doesn't matter how heavy duty the outlets are, its the wiring to them. The wiring can catch fire before the breaker trips because you may not be pulling enough to trip the breaker, but enough for the wiring to heat up and catch fire.

It is possible, but not likely, that they ran heaver gage wire that could carry more amps, and just put in a 15 Amp breaker...But I would not go with that idea as that increases building costs when the house was built.

NEVER SLAP IN A BIGGER BREAKER BECAUSE THE SMALL ONE TRIPS!!!

That is about the same as putting a penny behind the old fashioned screw fuses...Your going to have a fire!

Dirty Harry is ABSOLUTELY correct....

Do not upgrade the breaker unless u have adequate wire gauge for increased amperage .. 20 amp requires #12ga. wire throughout the circuit .



.. sounds like you have about 1650 Watts of load .. Plus other lighting .. etc on that circuit.

you need to find everything on that circuit .. bathroom lights ?

1200 + 350 + 100 + (unknown others on that circuit )= 1650 Watts (+)


1650 W /120 Volts =14.7 amps


your circuit is overloaded

.. if you have a timer .. that pulls some current too

if you have loose blades in a receptcle .. they can cause a problem .. but be very careful if you are not a certified Electrician ..


if one receptacle doesn't work after you replace ot .. you have to backtrack the circuit .. trouble shooting a circuit can be tricky and you should have a reliable tester .. a light bulb does work .. if u do it right ....

even small amounts of electricity CAN and do kill ... BE CAREFUL ... if you aren't comfortable with electricity do yourself a favor and ask around for a good electrician to come by and take a look at it for you .... lot's of electrician's take a toke now and then .. and can probably be trusted to check out your room .... find the right guy .. ask your grow supplier .. check Craig's list and get references.. ask people you smoke with .. who do they know that is an electrician they trust

an hour spent on an electrician might save you a LOT of headaches


if you keep tripping breakers .. find another circuit and run a long extension cord ... but .. the longer the cord .. and the smaller the wire ... the more current the Cord uses

 

[Roland]

just read above .. you are pulling 2000 watts .. u said .. way overloaded .. also ... if you start everything at the same time it pulls more current for a brief time ..

 

[sqhschief]

... if you start everything at the same time it pulls more current for a brief time ..

Exactly right.

 

[bongrippinbob]

Thanks for the replies.

I replaced the outlets with no issues. I was looking and I think the wiring is 12g. I forgot to mention that the guy told me to check and see if it is 12g wiring before I changed the breaker.

The stuff doesn't all come on at the same time. The only thing that comes on at the same time are the 2 600watt lights. My exhaust, circulation fans, pumps, etc are all on 24hrs. I am pretty pissed that both bedrooms are run on the same breaker. It is only the outlets in the bedrooms that are on the same breaker. The power to the overhead lights and what not are on seperated breakers. I may talk with my dad and see if we can run another outlet directly from the breaker box and into my room. I don't know how to do it, but he knows how.

The 15amp breaker never tripped. The outlets just stopped working. And even when the outlets in my grow room were not working the outlets in my bedroom were still working. I may just go out and buy a 240v power cord and hook my ballasts up to that. That way I can get my amps down from 10 to 5 which should free up a lot of power and fix this problem.

 

[HomeGrownHairy]

Thanks for the replies.

I replaced the outlets with no issues. I was looking and I think the wiring is 12g. I forgot to mention that the guy told me to check and see if it is 12g wiring before I changed the breaker.

The stuff doesn't all come on at the same time. The only thing that comes on at the same time are the 2 600watt lights. My exhaust, circulation fans, pumps, etc are all on 24hrs. I am pretty pissed that both bedrooms are run on the same breaker. It is only the outlets in the bedrooms that are on the same breaker. The power to the overhead lights and what not are on seperated breakers. I may talk with my dad and see if we can run another outlet directly from the breaker box and into my room. I don't know how to do it, but he knows how.

The 15amp breaker never tripped. The outlets just stopped working. And even when the outlets in my grow room were not working the outlets in my bedroom were still working. I may just go out and buy a 240v power cord and hook my ballasts up to that. That way I can get my amps down from 10 to 5 which should free up a lot of power and fix this problem.

Try staggering your ON time for the 2-600 w lights at 5-10 min apart to reduce the start up load. It wont affect your grow and it may work and you wont have the electrician to contend with.
o hire an electrician.

 

[Roland]

Thanks for the replies.

I replaced the outlets with no issues. I was looking and I think the wiring is 12g. I forgot to mention that the guy told me to check and see if it is 12g wiring before I changed the breaker.

The stuff doesn't all come on at the same time. The only thing that comes on at the same time are the 2 600watt lights. My exhaust, circulation fans, pumps, etc are all on 24hrs. I am pretty pissed that both bedrooms are run on the same breaker. It is only the outlets in the bedrooms that are on the same breaker. The power to the overhead lights and what not are on seperated breakers. I may talk with my dad and see if we can run another outlet directly from the breaker box and into my room. I don't know how to do it, but he knows how.

The 15amp breaker never tripped. The outlets just stopped working. And even when the outlets in my grow room were not working the outlets in my bedroom were still working. I may just go out and buy a 240v power cord and hook my ballasts up to that. That way I can get my amps down from 10 to 5 which should free up a lot of power and fix this problem.

Yeah ! You sound like you have the right attitude and are proceeding
with a sensible approach ... Best of LUCK !!

check wire guage with a wire stripper ..

I assume you know how to re-wire ballasts for 240 ? Or .. you have modern electronic ballasts that you can change power supply by switching cords ?

 

[bongrippinbob]

I have one ballast kit that is multi tap, so that wont be an issue. My other ballast is a 600watt digi so it just needs a 240v power cord. I will try and stagger the on times for the 600s and see if that helps.

I have been running pretty much the same setup for the past 6 months without issues. But I did just hook up a 465cfm blower to exhaust the entire bedroom outside. I think this extra 100watts or so is what is causing the problems. I only half of my veg lights running right now, but I will need the other half on here in the next couple of days when I transplant my clones. I'm thinking that even if I only get on of the ballasts running on 240v that I should have enough amps going to the room.

 

[bongrippinbob]

One more quick question. Do I have to buy one of those outlets that has multiple 240v outlets on it to run more than one light? I am guessing I do, but I have never run any of my stuff off 240v. With the 120v I know I can jsut hook up a power strip, but does 240v work the same way?

THanks again.

 

[Roland]

One more quick question. Do I have to buy one of those outlets that has multiple 240v outlets on it to run more than one light? I am guessing I do, but I have never run any of my stuff off 240v. With the 120v I know I can jsut hook up a power strip, but does 240v work the same way?

THanks again.

240 V reguires a 240 circuit (2 pole breaker )

I ran my 240 to an industrial timer .. and hard wired my power cord into the timer.. I can run more than one cord out of my timer......... 240 will be half the amps of your 110/120 V

photo below shows 120 V on left .. 240 V on right

by changing to 240 V u will remove that load from your 110 V circuit

 

[NOWitall]

ok they might make them, but i have never seen a commercial 240 power strip. probably because theres too many differant kinds of 240 plugs, i installed 4 diff ones 2day for window AC's, in the same house, against my advice (i suggested changing the cords, and keeping the existing matching outlets)

ive seen Medusa head lookin things, and conduit runs with multiple outlets.

on the up side 2phase is more efficient and youll save money in the long run

 

[IAm5toned]

I replaced the outlet just now and it seems to be working fine. But I did find out that both of my bedrooms are running on the same breaker. This means that I am running like 2000watts on a 15amp breaker. The guy at home depot told me I could just replace the breaker and make it a 20amp but I have to replace all the outlets as well.

Do you think this will work? I don't want to start any fires and I'm not really experienced in electrical stuff. I have wired ballast kits and added cords to things, but never really worked with interior wiring or anything. Any advice you have is appreciated.

In some states you could sue home depot for the comment that fucking idiot made.... NEVER LISTEN TO SALESMEN

ps- they DO make 240v power strips... but you dont wanna pay for it... trust me lol

http://www.specpower.com/powerstrips_order.aspx

 

[c5rftw]

just read above .. you are pulling 2000 watts .. u said .. way overloaded .. also ... if you start everything at the same time it pulls more current for a brief time ..

yup, try to spread the load on different breakers. just find an outlet that doesn't use the same breaker.If you do run an extension cord, get the THICKEST gauge possible.. this helps with prolonging the life of your equipment and giving more output...(not much though) Or run some 10/2, or thicker gauge wire, and a 30 amp breaker

 

[c5rftw]

20 amps is max for 12/2 and really not recommended, that guy in homedepot was right, in the sense that it will work but it could lead to other, much worse, problems... like fire. 12/2 is common for 15 amp outlets... like most outlets are