question about timer and light controller

Snicklefritz

Well-Known Member
hey guys, i just bought 2 more 1000 watters for a total of 6. My light controller only has for 4 outlets so instead of buying a bigger light controller, can i just put two 2 outlet 240 volt timers in two of the slots to give me 6 outlets? the light controller is powered by a 50amp cable and all my lights are 240 so i have plenty of room to add the lights but im not sure how the ballasts or the timers will react to this?
 
hey snicklefritz if your running everything on 240 and you have a 50amp breaker powering your box i think you would be fine. Im not asking this to sound rude but do you know the calculation to figure out what your total draw is? (watts/volts= Amps) so you say you have 6 1000 watt lights thats 6000 watts so plug in the numbers 6000W/240V=25A, which would put you way under your 50A breaker. Now something i just learned is that its best to only use 80% of your breaker to allow room for ballast start up and such BUT if you plan on running your lights longer than 3 hours then its 70%, you dont wanna burn your house down. As far as your ballasts are and timers are concerned i would hesitate to have them all starting up at once thats ALOT of power i would mabye stagger them by 10 mins or mabye have 2 turn on at a time over the span of say 15 mins. Anyway im no expert but i hope this will help you out if not jump on and well figure it out LOL
 
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