(URGENT) Electrical Hum from growlight

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MintyDreadlocks

Well-Known Member
Hello I'm posting this here because I'm just a little confused and not sure if I should be worried.

Last night my grow tent woke me up at 5am making a very loud buzzing/humming sound much like u would here out by the power lines. I turned off the power. Turned it on. and it hasn't happened again.

I know refrigerators do this hum and other small appliances. I notice that the light itself does have a slight barely noticeable hum. What would have caused it to get so loud and what's the reason ?

Here is the exact sound I heard
 
M

MintyDreadlocks

Well-Known Member
I'm not a electrician by any means so hopefully someone who understands electric more than I do can help me out.

However. I do have a theory from what I gathered. But not quite sure how to word it. I think because I have a AC in the room which when it kicks on will dim the lights for a second. Is it possible that this creates some sort of ground loop or am I totally off on my reading.
 
Barristan Whitebeard

Barristan Whitebeard

Well-Known Member
MintyDreadlocks said:
Hello I'm posting this here because I'm just a little confused and not sure if I should be worried.

Last night my grow tent woke me up at 5am making a very loud buzzing/humming sound much like u would here out by the power lines. I turned off the power. Turned it on. and it hasn't happened again.

I know refrigerators do this hum and other small appliances. I notice that the light itself does have a slight barely noticeable hum. What would have caused it to get so loud and what's the reason ?

Here is the exact sound I heard
Click to expand...
Is the "slight barely noticeable hum" being emitted by the cooling fans inside your CLW light?

It's possible that a fan is malfunctioning (either near the end of its life or maybe some debris got stuck in the fan), that could account for the loud noise you heard. How long have you owned the light for?
 
M

MintyDreadlocks

Well-Known Member
Barristan Whitebeard said:
Is the "slight barely noticeable hum" being emitted by the cooling fans inside your CLW light?

It's possible that a fan is malfunctioning (either near the end of its life or maybe some debris got stuck in the fan, thacould tlaccount for the loud noise you heard. How long have you owned the light for?
Click to expand...
The noise was a 120hz hum very loud and not how it runs normal or 'barely noticeable'

The system is only on its second grow. I've ruled out the debris and all that. It's somethi f to do with the unit or electrical currents or capacitors. IDK. I'm hoping someone here has electrician experience.
 
B_the_s

B_the_s

Well-Known Member
Is it an HID light? In HIDs, magnetic lighting ballasts hum louder and louder as they get older (heat breaks down the shellac insulation on the coil wire) but electronic ballasts are nearly silent because they operate at a much much higher frequency and usually cause flickering before they fail.
You might want to put a call in to the mfr.
 
M

MintyDreadlocks

Well-Known Member
It is a COB LED system from California Lightworks USA.

I was reading a bit more about how LED lights with drivers can be funny like that but I just would really like to know why. Maybe I should try contacting the company and maybe there engineers could help. Just posted here to see if anyone had experience.

Was just very odd waking up at 5 am thinking I was in the middle of a power line field. Hearing a loud 120hz hum. Thought my wife took her vibrator out in the middle of the night. But the sound grew louder and I woke up . LMAO
 
getogrow

getogrow

Well-Known Member
MintyDreadlocks said:
I'm not a electrician by any means so hopefully someone who understands electric more than I do can help me out.

However. I do have a theory from what I gathered. But not quite sure how to word it. I think because I have a AC in the room which when it kicks on will dim the lights for a second. Is it possible that this creates some sort of ground loop or am I totally off on my reading.
Click to expand...
i am an electrician with no schooling. I think your noise came from exactly what you said. Make sure that ac is plugged in direct to outlet and to prevent that from happening in the future , get the ac its own dedicated outlet. i dont have enough experience with leds to have ever heard anything that loud coming from them...... was the lights already running at 5am or did they just kick on? Im assuming the ac compressor was trying to kick on and during them couple seconds , it dropped the voltage going to your lights .....
 
M

MintyDreadlocks

Well-Known Member
Regardless I'm going to use this experience to upgrade my ele
getogrow said:
i am an electrician with no schooling. I think your noise came from exactly what you said. Make sure that ac is plugged in direct to outlet and to prevent that from happening in the future , get the ac its own dedicated outlet. i dont have enough experience with leds to have ever heard anything that loud coming from them...... was the lights already running at 5am or did they just kick on? Im assuming the ac compressor was trying to kick on and during them couple seconds , it dropped the voltage going to your lights .....
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The ac is on the same breaker but a different outlet receptical. (20A service)

When I contacted California Lightworks I was assured the light fixture was operating as normal. Even after sharing the audio clip they didn't seem concerned. They offered for me to return it to have them look at it.

I honestly don't think it has anything to do with the light itself. Maybe my setup. I'm going to buy a better surge protector/extension. Im doing a no-no using a heavy duty extention cord and a surge protector daisy chained so im going to get rid of the extension cable and buy this...

Thinking the extention cable may have caused the ground loop. (though idk what im talking about)


Peace of Mind at least. And that surge protector looks kickass for my 600w (max) setup
 
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colocowboy

colocowboy

Well-Known Member
The sparky above hit on it, you’re dropping under voltage which creates resonance in the system. I bet if you check your your power load you see that you’re dropping under voltage expectations. Is the breaker getting hot?
 
getogrow

getogrow

Well-Known Member
MintyDreadlocks said:
The ac is on the same breaker but a different outlet receptical. (20A service)
Click to expand...
you will need to know whats on every outlet on that 20a circuit. If its just the light and the AC , then you wont have a problem very often but i would get that light off the AC circuit just because the startup draw on the ac is high and because you already heard the noise once. we dont wanna hear that again...ever. Specially if it was from the driver on the lights....... i would run an extension to the lights from another circuit. The lights dont need much but they need it constant. most sparky wouldnt agree and i only say things like this on a case by case basis but you can safely run that light on about any other circuit in your home....try to avoid AC's and the fridge.

Heavy duty extension cords are fine if you know what to look for. for 50ft an under i consider 14awg to be heavy duty. (not big enough for space heaters but usually plenty enough for the 1000 watt range)......for an AC unit , i recommend no extension or a 14awg under 25'. The "surge
protectors" are another ballgame. you wuold have to read the max rating on the surge strip itself....or the box.....
 
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getogrow

getogrow

Well-Known Member
NukaKola said:
I’m surprised no one has asked, what is the total number of amps or watts you are running?
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he gave us enough info to run with. 600 watt lights .....and an AC (about 1000watts) less then 2k on a 20amp breaker.....ive done this a time or two so i can guess on the fans , ect....
 
NukaKola

NukaKola

Well-Known Member
getogrow said:
he gave us enough info to run with. 600 watt lights .....and an AC (about 1000watts) less then 2k on a 20amp breaker.....ive done this a time or two so i can guess on the fans , ect....
Click to expand...
Depends on the size of AC and how many accessories he is running. I have a 1 ton 120v AC that is 11.6A which is about 1400w. So if he is indeed running a 12k BTU or larger that could be the issue.
 
getogrow

getogrow

Well-Known Member
NukaKola said:
Depends on the size of AC and how many accessories he is running. I have a 1 ton 120v AC that is 11.6A which is about 1400w. So if he is indeed running a 12k BTU or larger that could be the issue.
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Yes , agreed. im 95% that he just has to run his ac separate even if the load is within the 80% range. The extension cord is "im assuming" where he lost voltage and started making noises.
I give "dumb advice" but only on a case by case basis.... if i think you are capable of doing it safely then i'll advise it.
 
getogrow

getogrow

Well-Known Member
getogrow said:
Yes , agreed. im 95% that he just has to run his ac separate even if the load is within the 80% range. The extension cord is "im assuming" where he lost voltage and started making noises.
I give "dumb advice" but only on a case by case basis.... if i think you are capable of doing it safely then i'll advise it.
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"dumb" is probably the wrong wording.... im just not as safe as most. im the guy getting fined for not wearing a hardhat or mask.....im NOT the guy to get his work flagged. Nothing i do or say is "unsafe for your equipment" ...i may get ya zapped but you best believe your equipment will go unharmed HAHAHAHAHAH
 
HydroKid239

HydroKid239

Well-Known Member
MintyDreadlocks said:
It is a COB LED system from California Lightworks USA.

I was reading a bit more about how LED lights with drivers can be funny like that but I just would really like to know why. Maybe I should try contacting the company and maybe there engineers could help. Just posted here to see if anyone had experience.

Was just very odd waking up at 5 am thinking I was in the middle of a power line field. Hearing a loud 120hz hum. Thought my wife took her vibrator out in the middle of the night. But the sound grew louder and I woke up . LMAO
Click to expand...
Gotta oil that thing every now & then lol
 
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