HPS Problem: Circuit overload

Hey guys!

My hps arrived yesterday and I hadn't had any problems with it until this morning. Everything was fine until I went to go use my microwave. When I came back into thew room right next to my grow room where I spend the majority of my time, I saw that the HPS and my oscillating fan where out. I was concerned about using my microwave in conjunction with the HPS because I am aware that there is a limit on how many electrical appliance can be running at any given time.

My concern is that I am in an apartment and I am aware that there is a possibility that my neighbors could cause this to happen by using their appliances too which can result in an electrical fire eventually. Not good. Is it likely that my neighbors are on the same circuit though since obviously, we have seperate power bills? If not then that means I just need to turn off the hps for 15-30 min at a time when I use any appliances which is no problem, I can work around it. Obviously, I do NOT want an electrical fire.

Meh, I'm not even sure if this is what happened. My 'High yield' heavy duty mechanical timer was set to come on at 10:15am but there is no power getting thru when it is activated. It says on the instructions to 'press black segments down for required on time' and I have followed those directions verbatim. When I deactivate the timer so everything is 'on' at all times, power still flows through the thing. Looks like it was a timer error.

Edit: It's a definite timer error. My bad lol. Freaked out for a minute.

If its a small apartment, then it was a overload and I highly doubt that you are sharing a circuit with your neighbor. It sounds like you are limited per circuit, and by turning on the microwave, you striped the circuit breaker.. No damage so don't stress about fires, circuit breakers are there to prevent that.

just change the breaker to the next size amp up or just plug your microwave into another outlet so its not running off the same breaker as your grow room

im no electrician but i would plug my hps and fan in one of those 6-way extencions that has the trip on it so if to strong of an surge comes through the extencion will trip and cut off! but make sure your microwave and the outlit your fan and hps is on are not one the same breaker! if so maybe you can just move your microwave to another outlit

Shit that sucks..

trunks said:

im no electrician but i would plug my hps and fan in one of those 6-way extencions that has the trip on it so if to strong of an surge comes through the extencion will trip and cut off! but make sure your microwave and the outlit your fan and hps is on are not one the same breaker! if so maybe you can just move your microwave to another outlit

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just plug your mic. into another outlet that a diffrent breaker runs and you will be set

DO NOT, change the breaker to the next size up! The breaker is sized to protect the wire. Find a different circuit or run a dedicated one to your grow area.

when you found your fan and light off what did you do to get it back on? and did the microwave shut off while you were using it?

if you had to replace a fuse or reset your breaker then you have too much on one fuse/breaker. move your microwave to a differnet outlet that is on a different breaker.

you cant shut your light down randomly because it will cause hermies.

It was def a user error. What happened was I didn't know how to work the mechanical timer yet and so I had accidentally programmed it to turn on in the am and go off 15 minutes later. There are black levers around the edges and each one is 15 minutes and you're supposed to push down ALL of the ones that coincide with the time you want it on. Instead, I pushed down only one at the exact time I wanted to light to come on. The result was that it turned on and did exactly what it was told to though that obviously wasn't what I intended. Pretty hilarious when you think about it. Even more so when you consider the fact that I was running around my house sniffing the air frantically for the scent of an electrical fire. Haha!

And no, the microwave wasn't off too.

what r hermies?

dirtyoz said:

DO NOT, change the breaker to the next size up! The breaker is sized to protect the wire. Find a different circuit or run a dedicated one to your grow area.

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it going to hurt to go the next size up as long as your not pushing it to the max. thats when our askig for troubleiswhen you over load a breaker not the wire. the wire (the romex in the wall not a piss ant extention cord) can handle bit of a load.

BTW is it normal for the hps bulb to flicker every now and then? It started doing this today a few minutes ago. Was barely noticeable so I was waiting for it to happen again and it didn't so I chalked it up to an overactive imagination. Then it did it again. It only flickers for a fraction of a second and I haven't seen it do it again for the last 5 minutes. Light seems just as bright as ever. Not sure what to think about it though.

mygirls said:

it going to hurt to go the next size up as long as your not pushing it to the max. thats when our askig for troubleiswhen you over load a breaker not the wire. the wire (the romex in the wall not a piss ant extention cord) can handle bit of a load.

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It can be very dangerous to just change the breaker to the next size up. The breaker is supposed to trip when you reach the max amperage of the breaker, therefore cutting the circuit. when you change it to the next size up, i.e. 15amp breaker to a 20amp breaker, it will no longer break the circuit at 15amps but at 20amps. i know the problem turned out to be a timer malfunction but if it was his breaker tripping, by switching out breakers to the larger one, means the circuit was being overloaded already. So everytime his circuit is being overloaded at 15amps it will no longer break the circuit at that 15amps but at 20amps now. this will send more power through the wire than was meant for it thereby potentially causing an electrical fire.

For everyone else: NEVER NEVER just change out breakers to a larger size. if you want to go up in breaker size you need to change the wiring for that entire circuit.

"Bumping-up" the amperage of a circuit by just changing the breaker is a very effective way to rid yourself of all of your pesky possessions.

docd187 said:

It can be very dangerous to just change the breaker to the next size up. The breaker is supposed to trip when you reach the max amperage of the breaker, therefore cutting the circuit. when you change it to the next size up, i.e. 15amp breaker to a 20amp breaker, it will no longer break the circuit at 15amps but at 20amps. i know the problem turned out to be a timer malfunction but if it was his breaker tripping, by switching out breakers to the larger one, means the circuit was being overloaded already. So everytime his circuit is being overloaded at 15amps it will no longer break the circuit at that 15amps but at 20amps now. this will send more power through the wire than was meant for it thereby potentially causing an electrical fire.

For everyone else: NEVER NEVER just change out breakers to a larger size. if you want to go up in breaker size you need to change the wiring for that entire circuit.

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wehat ever.if your going to change a breaker to run 8 1000wtt light then yes your asking for trouble but to change it cuz it pops with one light and a microwave then it as safe as safe sex.

mygirls said:

wehat ever.if your going to change a breaker to run 8 1000wtt light then yes your asking for trouble but to change it cuz it pops with one light and a microwave then it as safe as safe sex.

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and even in safe sex people are getting pregnant and std's. i know you might do it and you'll probably be safe but i wouldn't wanna run that risk. If i wasn't home and that circuit overloaded and didn't trip because of the larger breaker and did cause a fire. my house would be gone. im in the woods so my neighbors wouldn't see anything til it was too late. then when i get home to find my house gone, the insurance company denying me coverage because i was stupid enough to fuck with the breaker box and not call an electrician, I'd probably get arrested for my grow because everysingle one of those firefighters was getting high as a motherfucka lol.

MrMcpot said:

Meh, I'm not even sure if this is what happened. My 'High yield' heavy duty mechanical timer was set to come on at 10:15am but there is no power getting thru when it is activated. It says on the instructions to 'press black segments down for required on time' and I have followed those directions verbatim. When I deactivate the timer so everything is 'on' at all times, power still flows through the thing. Looks like it was a timer error.

Edit: It's a definite timer error. My bad lol. Freaked out for a minute.

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docd187 said:

and even in safe sex people are getting pregnant and std's. i know you might do it and you'll probably be safe but i wouldn't wanna run that risk. If i wasn't home and that circuit overloaded and didn't trip because of the larger breaker and did cause a fire. my house would be gone. im in the woods so my neighbors wouldn't see anything til it was too late. then when i get home to find my house gone, the insurance company denying me coverage because i was stupid enough to fuck with the breaker box and not call an electrician, I'd probably get arrested for my grow because everysingle one of those firefighters was getting high as a motherfucka lol.

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Amen brother. It's never worth the risk of an electrical fire. You can bet that if my breakers started tripping I would ditch the hps for floro tubes or cfls because getting caught for me means that I will die in prison. There is no 'later' for me as far as I am aware.

My immune system is fucked. Cd4 count was 127 the last time I was tested and my viral load was 480,000. I'm sitting here waiting to develop an opportunistic infection that will kill me as it is. It's only a matter of time.

MrMcpot said:

Amen brother. It's never worth the risk of an electrical fire. You can bet that if my breakers started tripping I would ditch the hps for floro tubes or cfls because getting caught for me means that I will die in prison. There is no 'later' for me as far as I am aware.

My immune system is fucked. Cd4 count was 127 the last time I was tested and my viral load was 480,000. I'm sitting here waiting to develop an opportunistic infection that will kill me as it is. It's only a matter of time.

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yea man i wouldn't want that on my head if my house burnt down cuz of me fucking with the breakers. then on top of that you know the cops would find out about ur grow. i try and stay as far under the radar as humanly possible.

docd187 said:

yea man i wouldn't want that on my head if my house burnt down cuz of me fucking with the breakers. then on top of that you know the cops would find out about ur grow. i try and stay as far under the radar as humanly possible.

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your all just paranoid, your house will not burn down, as long as your not overloading the breaker by running 10,000wtt of lights