Experienced Electrician! Here to Answer Any and All Growroom Electrical Questions

CrackerJax

CrackerJax

New Member
Actually, a central A/C unit will dispel hot air and recirculate the cooler air. It separates them.
Chimney? Is that what you call it in ur country?

Cut into ur duct at a 45 degree angle going with the flow of exhaust air....u'll be fine. Ur hot air will be released outside.
 
S

sherriberry

New Member
BehindYou said:
Wow. Not to common for cb to go bad. The 150 size is Installed to protect the wire feeding the panel.
If you install a larger 200 you may be opening a can of worms.
The panel needs to be rated for 200 amps, the wiring to the panel needs to support the added load as well as the transformer that supplies power to the panel (owned by the elec company most likely). Most comercial panels are 225amp but the main can't exceed the bus rating. What size wire serves the panel? Is it copper or aluminum?
As for a self install, that's depends on your ability.

I'm stomping on someonez post. Sorry let the electrician guide you.
Click to expand...
yeah, so the box says 150.

the house is an old house, not sure if that makes a difference, and when i say old i mean 50's 60's

there are 2 huge metal cables that come in, and obviously the ground going out.

None of them appear to be yellow copper color, but instead a aluminum color.

They are all VERY VERY thick tho.

I understand the idea that if the electrical company's box outside is rated for the 150, i might hurt things.

200 is the norm these days tho i thought? at least thats all i see at lowes and home depot for new boxes.

anyway, let me know, im going to go talk to the guy at the electric store and find out
 
laughingduck

laughingduck

Well-Known Member
Sherry,
The 150 amp service is odd, I would bet you have 200 available from the meter. You need to have an electrician to come out and look at it. Best case all that you need is a 200 amp panel to replace the 150. Worst case the service is 150 or the wire feed coming from the pole is too small to carry the 200 amps. An electrician that can put his ryrs on it can tell pretty quick.
 
CrackerJax

CrackerJax

New Member
It's an old house.... and 150 used to be the norm, I assure you. I've worked on old cracker homes that were 100 Amps.... the days before A/C. I don't know how they did it frankly.

I'm sure the wire can probably handle the load, but IF she can get a 200 amp breaker to fit.... it will still be a flagrant code violation if detected. Guts aren't that expensive...take the plunge and do it right.
 
CrackerJax

CrackerJax

New Member
Something to consider is if a panel is on the outside of the house, or the inside. You could probably get away with a code cheat on an inside panel, since the risk of detection is quite minimal. But if the panel is outside, then it might be found out...and attention is not something anyone wants when growing.
 
B

BehindYou

Member
In the US the meter is typicaly the utility and the wires to the panel are yours. So ur going to install a hot tub and need to know if the service will allow the additional load. Call the utility ask what the service to the house is. Minimum service in the US is now 100 amp. I don't know how the layout of the panel is but if the utility says 200 is no problem then get a service entrance rated panel with the 200 main, 100amp and 150 branch breakers. Subfeed the existing 150 with the new 150 branch breaker and remove the old 150 main to make it a mlo ( main lug only ) panel. Refeed the the other panel with the 100 amp.
 
SM4RT3

SM4RT3

Active Member
hiya Bricktown, awesome idea for a thread

basic question really but... my grow room atm has 2 x 125cfl's running into a 2 plug extension socket (3 core wire) which inturn is plugged into a segment timer, i read somewhere that the segemnt timer could overheat with a no. of wattage and fuse together, i think it will prob handle the 250 im puttin in atm, but when i come to flower i will be using 1 x 400w hps and 1 x 125cfl, will i need anything specific for this or will the 2 socket extension and segment (digital if i update) timer work?

Thanks in advance

Peace
 
M

mrmadcow

Well-Known Member
CrackerJax said:
It's an old house.... and 150 used to be the norm, I assure you. I've worked on old cracker homes that were 100 Amps.... the days before A/C. I don't know how they did it frankly.
Click to expand...
I just looked at a service for a buddy, he still has fuses w/ a 60 amp main.house was built in the 30s, guessing service is same.6 fuses for a 2500 sq ft house!

Sherri, assuming you are in the US, a 200 amp main will not fit in a 150 amp box & the wire from the top of the house to the meterbox & from the meter box to the panel are yours and are probably only rated for 150 amps so will need replacing as well.materials should only run around $250-300 so if you know an electrician....
replacing the 150 amp main isnt to hard but you will need to remove the meter to kill power to it, best not to attempt if you are not used to working w/ electric.
 
iloveit

iloveit

Well-Known Member
I have 2 questions:

First question: How do I calculate the maximum number of fans I can attach to one power adaptor?

Second question: The below pic shows how to connect one ballast to a relay which controls 2 x bulbs & switches them on/off at any one time. But what are the EARTH wire connected to?

 
Ghani Bonaduce

Ghani Bonaduce

Member
Hi, noticed you gave the advice to never buy lights from hydro retailers unless you wanna pay 3x more than worth. Can you recommend some of the cheapest sources you know of ?
 
IAm5toned

IAm5toned

Well-Known Member
sherriberry said:
i just had a seimens 150 main breaker go bad.

first off.... can i replace it without dying?

second, can i replace it with a 200 instead?

the seimens box says 150 inside it, but ive since added higher level regular breakers, so i think the 150 is about to reach its peak anyway.

thanks
Click to expand...
a 200 amp main breaker normally will not fit in a 150amp main breaker panel. the frame of the breaker is designed to fit a certain way...
you will have to replace the entire panel to a 200 amp.
 
IAm5toned

IAm5toned

Well-Known Member
iloveit said:
I have 2 questions:

First question: How do I calculate the maximum number of fans I can attach to one power adaptor?

Second question: The below pic shows how to connect one ballast to a relay which controls 2 x bulbs & switches them on/off at any one time. But what are the EARTH wire connected to?

Click to expand...
power supply rating equation:
in this example i will use a 120vac/12vdc 1.25amp wall adapter. you can fill in your numbers into the equation as needes.

1. Find Continuous Duty Wattage of your Power Supply-
(12vdc x 1.25amp= 15watts)
15 watts x 80% = 12 watts.
you have 12 watts of continuous duty 12vdc.

2. Combine the wattage of all your connected 12vdc fans (voltage x amperage of the biggest fan x number of fans) is this number greater than the the continuous duty wattage of your transformer? if it is you need a bigger and/or another power supply. if it is smaller, than your good to go.........

to answer your second question-

that drawing wont work. sorry. lol heath's way of a joke......
 
IAm5toned

IAm5toned

Well-Known Member
mrmadcow said:
I just looked at a service for a buddy, he still has fuses w/ a 60 amp main.house was built in the 30s, guessing service is same.6 fuses for a 2500 sq ft house!

Sherri, assuming you are in the US, a 200 amp main will not fit in a 150 amp box & the wire from the top of the house to the meterbox & from the meter box to the panel are yours and are probably only rated for 150 amps so will need replacing as well.materials should only run around $250-300 so if you know an electrician....
replacing the 150 amp main isnt to hard but you will need to remove the meter to kill power to it, best not to attempt if you are not used to working w/ electric.
Click to expand...
what if there was only a 150 amp service from the power company? if you did this, add a 200 panle to a 150 amp service, there is a very real likely hood you will burn up your service equipment (meterbase, wires in from street connection) then the power company will nail your ass for tampering with there meterbase.
there's a reason you need a key for it........
 
iloveit

iloveit

Well-Known Member
IAm5toned said:
power supply rating equation:
in this example i will use a 120vac/12vdc 1.25amp wall adapter. you can fill in your numbers into the equation as needes.

1. Find Continuous Duty Wattage of your Power Supply-
(12vdc x 1.25amp= 15watts)
15 watts x 80% = 12 watts.
you have 12 watts of continuous duty 12vdc.

2. Combine the wattage of all your connected 12vdc fans (voltage x amperage of the biggest fan x number of fans) is this number greater than the the continuous duty wattage of your transformer? if it is you need a bigger and/or another power supply. if it is smaller, than your good to go.........

to answer your second question-

that drawing wont work. sorry. lol heath's way of a joke......
Click to expand...
Thanks IAm5toned.

What are the earth terminals usually wired to?

Heath has the relay in action in another forum:

http://www.breedbay.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=201348996
 
laughingduck

laughingduck

Well-Known Member
iloveit said:
I have 2 questions:

First question: How do I calculate the maximum number of fans I can attach to one power adaptor?

Second question: The below pic shows how to connect one ballast to a relay which controls 2 x bulbs & switches them on/off at any one time. But what are the EARTH wire connected to?

Click to expand...
Earth ground should be attached to both cases of the lights.
 
S

sherriberry

New Member
wow did i give you guys something to talk about while i was gone :)

to make you feel better, im getting an electrician to come out and prob replace the whole box because i found out the old seimens main 150 breakers... are only 230 bucks.... sarcasm

and a new 200amp box is a while 120 bucks... sarcasm

so, either way i go im going to pay a lot of money, might was well do it right, and that way if anything fails again, im not buying discontinued expensive ass parts

Thanks for all the help everyone, ill let you know how it goes tomorrow
 
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