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Growroom Electricity and Wiring

rives

rives

Inveterate Tinkerer
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MedResearcher said:
Running a little low on poles within this sub panel. Wanted to double check, get a little consensus if this wiring sounds right. The goal is to plug in 4x 220v 1kw lights.


30 amp dual pole breaker. Romex 10-2 from breaker into a junction box , 2 runs of Romex 12-2 pig tailed to the 10-2 in the junction box. Each lead of 12-2 will lead to a 20a duplex 220v outlet.


Could do the pig tailing within a double gang box, but I feel like using a junction box would be cleaner, less crammed, easier access to the connection.


Anyone notice anything wrong with this set up?


Thanks,
Mr^^
Click to expand...


Yep. Your breaker is too large to protect the downstream components. The breaker needs to be sized at or below the lowest-rated component in the circuit.

You might consider running the feed from your panel into a small sub-panel and distributing your 15a or 20a circuits out of it. This won't cost you any more space in your main panel and will give you the downstream protection that you need. Small subs can be had for under $20.
 
M

MedResearcher

Member
Veteran
Ahh, thanks Rives. Makes sense. Gonna look at some of the smaller subs.

If the second smaller sub, is only running 220v. Is it ok to feed it with only 2 hots and a ground?

Thanks again,
Mr^^
 
rives

rives

Inveterate Tinkerer
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ICMag Donor
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MedResearcher said:
Ahh, thanks Rives. Makes sense. Gonna look at some of the smaller subs.

If the second smaller sub, is only running 220v. Is it ok to feed it with only 2 hots and a ground?

Thanks again,
Mr^^
Click to expand...


Yes, you can do that. If the wire isn't already in place, the incremental expense of the extra conductor is minimal compared to the flexibility that it would give you later.
 
beanja

beanja

Member
You can but if down the road you ever wanted a 120v circuit for plugs you would have to run another wire for the neutral. You might as well run a 3 wire ... red black white and a ground.
 
wvkindbud38

wvkindbud38

Elite Growers Club
Veteran
Hey guys I used to have a large grow but never had to mess with anything in the house I used to live in.


Ok my question is how hard would it be for me to add a extra 20 or 30amp breaker into my current house breaker box? I'd like to put 20 or 30amp breaker in and run me a outlet outside or possibly to the basement were I need it for growing.

I'd like to just at least run my lights off that breaker I'm considering putting in. Again I don't have much experience with things like this. If I got the breaker installed and just ran the wire and outlet outside it wouldn't be 10ft from the breaker box so I wouldn't have to run the wire and outlet . Is this very hard/complex to hook up???
 
rives

rives

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The difficulty is directly related to your mechanical ability.

Installing a breaker is no big deal - you remove the cover over the top of the breakers/buss work and plug the breaker into place if you have the space. The rest of the work gets a little more complicated since you have to concern yourself with the amperage rating of the downstream components, protecting the wire, providing strain relief, etc., all of which must comply with code in order to be safe.

You cannot simply use a "20 or 30 amp breaker" - the breaker needs to be correctly sized for the load, and it needs to match or be rated lower than the amperage of all of the downstream equipment. For instance, you can use a 15a breaker with a 20a receptacle and 12 gauge wire, but if you use a 30a breaker, then a minimum of a 30a receptacle and 10 gauge wire would be required. The connected load should not exceed 80% of the breaker amperage rating if it will run for more than 3 hours. Any plug circuit used outside should be on either a GFCI breaker or use a GFCI receptacle.
 
K

Kree73

Well-known member
Wow ... Who would of thunk it . Two of my interest in one web page thingamibob. Mary-jane and sparkying.
Over the pond we use...
Brown=live (hot)[line]
Blue =neutral
Green with yellow stripping = earthing (ground).
These are the harmonized colours with red, black & green being the pre-harmonized colors respectively .

Domestically we use 220-240 v and commercially around 400 v give or take a gnat's cock. I think its important people must be confident when dealing with some things .. Electricity being one of those things. Use of GFI (RCD) and even correct fusing and cable selection are important .

Thanks for reading , sorry if it seems pointless ... I just wanted to say something about electricity.

Seriously now tho . Electricity CAN kill . Very quickly . Take precautions and use protective equipment and work with an isolated circuit . Try to Avoid working on your own so you have someone to help if needed .

Kree73 :tiphat:
 
Vash

Vash

Ol' Skool
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Question.....I'm going to be utilizing 2 1K's, plus scrubber, couple of fans,etc. The shed is wired with a 15 amp & a 20 amp breaker. I want to upgrade to two 30 amp breakers and change out 120v receptacles to 240v receptacles just for the lights. Everything else will stay 120. Is this acceptable? Thanks for any input.
 
Bud Green

Bud Green

I dig dirt
Veteran
If you don't fully understand how electrical systems work, get someone who does really know, to help you or to do the job for you...

Always remember:

Whenever messing with the electrical system in your house,
remember that even a fleeting misunderstanding or inattention to energized equipment may easily carry the punishment of death,
enforced promptly, and without the chance of appeal.
 
wvkindbud38

wvkindbud38

Elite Growers Club
Veteran
I need to replace a breaker or 2 maybe. I don't really know how to check, but have watched some YouTube videos that I understand. I also bought a lil tester because a lot of my outlets don't work. Well seems half the house/outlets were wired backwards. I know a lil about electricity, like how not to overload a breaker and change outlets. The house is older, it still has 2 black and 2 white with a ground. But my meter is a handy little thing. Should I just replace the outlets correctly?? Wire them proper?? most outlets are old and don't work or burned up from over loading. I think my breaker box is 200 or 250 amp. I can't afford a electricrion if they could even find the place. I'm in extra rural America!!!!! I'm not gonna get into anything I shouldn't or get shocked, I'm gonna check the breakers and see which are bad. Are they pretty easy to replace?? It's just taking out and wiring it correctly back I'm looking at?? I know I probably need the entire house updated and rewired but I'm disabled and dont even get anything but foodstamps and medicaid which im thankful for both. There a LOT of things you gotta learn to do and not be certified down here lol!!! YouTube certified, I've fixed my mom's cobalt a few yrs back from a video on there. And I'm useless working on cars, but watched that video and fixed it in minutes lol.
 
Fixer

Fixer

Active member
wvkindbud38 said:
I need to replace a breaker or 2 maybe. I don't really know how to check, but have watched some YouTube videos that I understand. I also bought a lil tester because a lot of my outlets don't work. Well seems half the house/outlets were wired backwards. I know a lil about electricity, like how not to overload a breaker and change outlets. The house is older, it still has 2 black and 2 white with a ground. But my meter is a handy little thing. Should I just replace the outlets correctly?? Wire them proper?? most outlets are old and don't work or burned up from over loading. I think my breaker box is 200 or 250 amp. I can't afford a electricrion if they could even find the place. I'm in extra rural America!!!!! I'm not gonna get into anything I shouldn't or get shocked, I'm gonna check the breakers and see which are bad. Are they pretty easy to replace?? It's just taking out and wiring it correctly back I'm looking at?? I know I probably need the entire house updated and rewired but I'm disabled and dont even get anything but foodstamps and medicaid which im thankful for both. There a LOT of things you gotta learn to do and not be certified down here lol!!! YouTube certified, I've fixed my mom's cobalt a few yrs back from a video on there. And I'm useless working on cars, but watched that video and fixed it in minutes lol.
Click to expand...


You can tell what size panel you have looking at the label on your main breaker, usually at the top of the panel. If you're going to change breakers flip the main breaker to off before you remove the metal cover that the panel door is attached to. the breakers tip out of the buss bars and there should be one black wire attached to the breaker. remove that and attach it to the new breaker. click the new breaker into the panel.


Having said all of that breakers/circuits are only supposed to be loaded to 80% of their rated capacity. So you can pull up to a 12 amp load on a 15 amp breaker. Don't up size a breaker without up sizing the wire. 15 amp breakers get 14 gauge wire and 20 amp get 12 gauge wire. Be careful when you remove the cover you can still get shocked or electrocuted with the main breaker off. :tiphat:
 
wvkindbud38

wvkindbud38

Elite Growers Club
Veteran
Yea it's a 200 or maybe 250, I think one part of the house the breakers went back was maybe were half the outlets are wired wrong. And it might not trip the breakers and they just burned out I guess. This was a older family home that was not wired correct. I've got a outlet checker that tells what's the outlet wired like. Also the multimeter to check the breakers. I'll get around to checking those soon. I'll be starting a new grow and wanna get those replaced before starting.
 
E

Esme

Member
wvkindbud38 said:
Yea it's a 200 or maybe 250, I think one part of the house the breakers went back was maybe were half the outlets are wired wrong. And it might not trip the breakers and they just burned out I guess. This was a older family home that was not wired correct. I've got a outlet checker that tells what's the outlet wired like. Also the multimeter to check the breakers. I'll get around to checking those soon. I'll be starting a new grow and wanna get those replaced before starting.
Click to expand...

you in the UK ? Have you got pictures?

If you change breakers make sure YOU KNOW What you are doing it can KILL.
 
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