Electrical question... whole house

Guido Sarduchi

Guido Sarduchi

Well-Known Member
So I have a 100 amp service and my room consists of an EZ box with 3 ballasts and 220v and 1 at 110v... On the box i should be pulling around 33 or 34 amps (its built for 35 total), with a reset button if you overload it on both the 220 and 110... any ways the 4th ballast on the 110 went in yesterday.... everythings going great for like 4 hours when my power goes out (whole house) was in the basement so i couldnt see if the whole neighborhood went out. It then kicked back on about 30seconds on its own..... This morning the exact same thing happens after its been on for about an hour. My area does experience frequent outages but is it possible im overdriving my system and yet not tripping the main?? Im an electical non genius and have no clue but can it overload then attempt to restart itself... it looks like nothing more then your standard box and as im sleeping it occured the second time, not like someone kicked something on but my dehumid is set to a humididty causing it to kick on and off at times... i dont know any info would be helpful if its on my end i need to find a solution which may include shutting down the vedge as I havent even put my AC in the flowering room yet.
 
Sand4x105

Sand4x105

Well-Known Member
What you could have is an "Unbalanced" load...
Without seeing your install, I am guessing that one of your legs of 220vac has too much load...
The 110vac circuit/ballast you added last, if it has it's own breaker, try putting it in the next slot down, if you can...
I think, prob, the 110vac lighting is all on same circuit...which causes a spike on that leg...
Walk around and feel the cords, where they hook together, and make sure everything is plugged in tight...
Might be a loose something, arching...
Heat will slow the flow of electrons, resistance [too small of wire?] will also cause a blowing issue...
I could fix the issue with my 'Amp Probe' in about 10 minutes...if it's an unbalanced circuit...
Good Luck!
 
Guido Sarduchi

Guido Sarduchi

Well-Known Member
Thank you if it continues to occur ill call my electrician out... I do only have 3 ballasts in the 220v and the guy at the store (prob not right but maybe) told me they only draw 3 amps each... so 9 amps coming out of that end and it has it listed at 20 .. the other end offers 15 amp at 110v and i think that may be where im pulling too much because of the new 110 ballast... its listed at 5.5 amps .... If I try plugging it in to a seperate breaker all together do you think it would help... sorry i know its probably annoying getting questions about something you cant look at
 
Sand4x105

Sand4x105

Well-Known Member
Walk around and just check all your wires, cords... make sure there is no heat issue...
And good luck with it....
If a cord, or plug 'feels' hot, then that is where you start to look for issue....
Again...GOOD LUCK!
 
Doer

Doer

Well-Known Member
Guido Sarduchi said:
So I have a 100 amp service and my room consists of an EZ box with 3 ballasts and 220v and 1 at 110v... On the box i should be pulling around 33 or 34 amps (its built for 35 total), with a reset button if you overload it on both the 220 and 110... any ways the 4th ballast on the 110 went in yesterday.... everythings going great for like 4 hours when my power goes out (whole house) was in the basement so i couldnt see if the whole neighborhood went out. It then kicked back on about 30seconds on its own..... This morning the exact same thing happens after its been on for about an hour. My area does experience frequent outages but is it possible im overdriving my system and yet not tripping the main?? Im an electical non genius and have no clue but can it overload then attempt to restart itself... it looks like nothing more then your standard box and as im sleeping it occured the second time, not like someone kicked something on but my dehumid is set to a humididty causing it to kick on and off at times... i dont know any info would be helpful if its on my end i need to find a solution which may include shutting down the vedge as I havent even put my AC in the flowering room yet.
Click to expand...
If it just comes back, you didn't trip any breakers. So, unless somewhere in your rig is a thermal switch out, resetting in 30 sec., I suspect the power company and weird coincidence.

OTH as you say you are on the edges, but maybe over. 100 amp service and a calculated 35 amps means your instant loads as motors come on, are much higher. But, you are not blowing breakers.

Check with power company next time?

EDIT: I also realized a thermal switch out could be a defect in the house wiring somehow. IOW, somewhere this power loading on a 100 amp service (I upgraded to 200) could be causing a thermal open, and then when it cools a thermal close, but that has to be at the panel to effect the entire house.

Worth it, I think to shut the main breaker and re-lug down those main tie ins. That might be a little scary unless you are very careful and have good insulation protection for yourself. Arcing 100 amps will kill you.

But, that is what electricians are for. ;)
 
Guido Sarduchi

Guido Sarduchi

Well-Known Member
Yeah Ill call an electrician if it keeps happening.. Im not touching the box... ive seen an elecrician melt his watch to his arm and take a few minutes to remember his name after getting hit by something... i think it was the main coming into his house... had to go to hospital for days... was 20ys ago and I was working as a 2nd month apprentice... pretty much made me decide it wasnt the job for me and all i had done to that point was pull wires in new homes. but thank you very much for the reponse!! How expensive was the 200 upgrade as im strongly considering it for an extra room in my house... if you dont mind me asking
 
legallyflying

legallyflying

Well-Known Member
I think it's the police Lol.

Seriously though. Snug down everything move and tight and see if that helps. I check my connections every 6 months at one place. I'm pulling A LOT of amps and have aluminium main feeds though which are prone to loosening
 
legallyflying

legallyflying

Well-Known Member
Oh yeah. The 200 amp upgrade won't cost you much. Especially if you do it yourself and use the same brand of panel so you can swap breakers. Call the electric company, the cut the feeds and you swap the box and the reconnect. The expense would be incurred if you have to replace the feeds to your house...which is doubtful.

If your worried about killing yourself then keep the power off until you have everything connected. The risk is pretty low though. Should take about 3-4 hours to swap everything over.

The plus side is that you can route everything nice and clean and orderly which is a strange point of pride. The panel in my rental house is fucking dope!! The panel in my primary house though ... Looks like it was wired by someone that pulled all the wires into the panel and then went over everything with an egg beater. Calling it a birds nest is an understatement.
 
Guido Sarduchi

Guido Sarduchi

Well-Known Member
yeah i have a buddy whos an electrician .. he isnt free but he doesnt rake me over the coals either... looks like next crop is going towards something for the house
 
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