Experienced Electrician! Here to Answer Any and All Growroom Electrical Questions
- Thread starter bricktown73
- Start date
wyteboi
Well-Known Member
u need to test both sides of the big fuses while they are on. (the ones in the middle pic) i think/hope both of them are bad and just need replaced? everything else looks "normal"
wyteboi
Well-Known Member
look at your main breaker and see how many amps it is ........ THAT is the size of your service...
wyteboi
Well-Known Member
well in my country , (for a 15amp circuit) you get some 14/2 romex and you will take the black wire and put it on the breaker screw , and take the white and the bare wire and put them wherever the rest of the "whites are" . on the other end put the black on the gold screw of the outlet and the white on the silver screw and the bare wire on the green screw of the outlet.
a 30 amp breaker is usually for a 220 outlet. and if u do use a 30 amp breaker u will need 10 gauge wire instead of 14........
DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!
That 's the one I was talking about. From behind she looks just like my son to be ex wife.You aint got nuthin to worry about. Your "old lady" is safe with me.
Its the young one in the picture above and to the left that I would be worried about
It should have read "SOON TO BE EX WIFE"
I was joking.
FreeLeaf
Active Member
Well finally installed the 20 amp outlet and ran the 12/2 through the attic and down into the breaker box (what a pain in the ass!). But I have 1 more question before attaching the wires to the box. I know the bare copper wire is the ground and the white is the neutral but in my box both of these wires seem to be connected to the same bar. ?? What up with that?
Attachments
wyteboi
Well-Known Member
That is normal , they are both for the same purpose basically. the ground is just a backup neutral. some electricians will separate the two and some counties require it , but for now it is "standard" to put them in the same place.
Wyteboi,
I tested the main box and all four connections (both sides of each fuse) have power. I also tested the pony box and neither black or red has power.
What I am doing now is tracing the entire main circuit as it seems somewhere between main box and pony box the line goes dead.
Any other ideas of things I could try?
Thanks.
I tested the main box and all four connections (both sides of each fuse) have power. I also tested the pony box and neither black or red has power.
What I am doing now is tracing the entire main circuit as it seems somewhere between main box and pony box the line goes dead.
Any other ideas of things I could try?
Thanks.
BigBudBalls
Well-Known Member
My understanding of neutral vs ground is:
The power company produces an AC sine wave. The neutral is the middle point between the top and bottom peaks. Now in a perfect world it should be zero volts and also equal to ground.
Now bring in a floating ground. Where the ground can actually have a potential either positive or negative. Or the positive part of the sine wave is 145V and the negative at 95. (just an exaggerated example) Still gives you 240 peak to peak.
After traveling the distances, these can drift a bit, as they pass through many transformers. Inductance, harmonics, etc. happen.
By bonding the neutral to the ground, it kinda evens things out. but I've also been told (but could have gotten it wrong) that, that bonding should only be done in the main box.
The power company produces an AC sine wave. The neutral is the middle point between the top and bottom peaks. Now in a perfect world it should be zero volts and also equal to ground.
Now bring in a floating ground. Where the ground can actually have a potential either positive or negative. Or the positive part of the sine wave is 145V and the negative at 95. (just an exaggerated example) Still gives you 240 peak to peak.
After traveling the distances, these can drift a bit, as they pass through many transformers. Inductance, harmonics, etc. happen.
By bonding the neutral to the ground, it kinda evens things out. but I've also been told (but could have gotten it wrong) that, that bonding should only be done in the main box.
curioushiker
Active Member
Hope I dont have anything to do with the divorce...just kidding.
Well, if she is soon to be an ex then I/we here at the Roll it Up think that you should share your lovely pictures of her. I like ot think of it as therapy.
curioushiker
Active Member
His guys, got another question that I am hoping you can help with.
I want to wire Two combination switches for water pumps. One switch for each pump. The switches that I have I got from Home depot. They have a switch on the top and an outlet on the bottom.
Looking at the switch/outlet on the top left there is a brass colored screw. On the bottom left is a silver screw. On the right side top and bottom screws are both black.
How can I wire this so that the bottom outlet is controlled by the switch above it.
The screws are labeled as follows.
Top left brass screw says A1. The bottom left says N. The top right says common and the bottom right is not marked. Also on the right side of the switch there is a tab that connects both the top and bottom black screws. This is made to be broken off if needed.
Thanks
I want to wire Two combination switches for water pumps. One switch for each pump. The switches that I have I got from Home depot. They have a switch on the top and an outlet on the bottom.
Looking at the switch/outlet on the top left there is a brass colored screw. On the bottom left is a silver screw. On the right side top and bottom screws are both black.
How can I wire this so that the bottom outlet is controlled by the switch above it.
The screws are labeled as follows.
Top left brass screw says A1. The bottom left says N. The top right says common and the bottom right is not marked. Also on the right side of the switch there is a tab that connects both the top and bottom black screws. This is made to be broken off if needed.
Thanks
CHILLINxWITHxMARLEY
New Member
I'm buying a HPS light (high pressure sodium) and im kinda weary/curious of the difference between a say 1000w HPS Grow light sun system 3 and a 1000W sun system budget gro remote ballast 120/240v... there is a great price difference and im curious about the difference, hookup and anything else?
hers the site with the lights described...
http://www.expresslightbulbs.com/grow-light-hps-grow-lights-c-132_192.html
hers the site with the lights described...
http://www.expresslightbulbs.com/grow-light-hps-grow-lights-c-132_192.html
wyteboi
Well-Known Member
ok the red is got , the white is neutral, and the ground is green. MAKE sure and break that tab on the right side .
That will give u constant power to switch only , so the outlet is controlled by the switch....
curioushiker
Active Member
Wyteboi, thanks again for the help. You guys made this build sooo much easier.
wyteboi
Well-Known Member
i would stick to the budget light. its cheaper and IMO it will last longer then the higher one.
http://cgi.ebay.com/1000W-MH-HPS-Switchable-Ballast-120V-FREE-HPS1000-Bulb_W0QQitemZ270424771838QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_2?hash=item3ef6928cfe
there is a link to the cheapest setup on the net.
ScHiZoTyPaL
Member
looking to set up a separate meter with a separate bill for grow op.
want to know wut needs to be done (with cost) including inspection before the good ol electric co will come out and install the meter and turn on the power.
here's pics of existing....from my understanding so far:
old needs replacing
before the meter 200 amp service needs to be split into (2) 100 amp and prepared for a two meter device
second box installed
is that all?? been quoted at 2.5k over the phone. i know this can be A LOT cheaper, just need to know wut needs to be done for inspection
want to know wut needs to be done (with cost) including inspection before the good ol electric co will come out and install the meter and turn on the power.
here's pics of existing....from my understanding so far:
old needs replacing
before the meter 200 amp service needs to be split into (2) 100 amp and prepared for a two meter device
second box installed
is that all?? been quoted at 2.5k over the phone. i know this can be A LOT cheaper, just need to know wut needs to be done for inspection
Attachments
I have updated my situation and diagrammed the layout of my electrical in the attached word doc with corresponding pictures.
My situation right now is my pony panel is completely dead--obviously not a good thing.
In the attached doc you can see what I have done/tested at each part of the diagram.
Any insight is appreciated.
My situation right now is my pony panel is completely dead--obviously not a good thing.
In the attached doc you can see what I have done/tested at each part of the diagram.
Any insight is appreciated.
Attachments
pabloesqobar
Well-Known Member
Well, let's see how this thread works. I'm tired of waiting for spring so want to do a small one plant grow in my closet. I have a shelf that has about 3 1/2 feet of vertical room, 2 1/2 feet wide and a little over 2 feet deep. I'm going to use about 200 watts of CFL's. I've already purchased (3) of the 68 watters. I'll use one small fan.
The lightbulb outlet that you see is my only source of power. My plan was to just plug an extension cord into it, a timer, then a surge protector. Plug everything into the surge protector.
You can see that I'm using a 20 amp breaker. I know it's ancient.
Is this safe? Will it work? Any concerns with this setup? Thanks so much.
The lightbulb outlet that you see is my only source of power. My plan was to just plug an extension cord into it, a timer, then a surge protector. Plug everything into the surge protector.
You can see that I'm using a 20 amp breaker. I know it's ancient.
Is this safe? Will it work? Any concerns with this setup? Thanks so much.
