Am I going to burn the house down?

[Phaeton]

The bud room is burning 4500 watts. 1600 on a 20 amp circuit, 2200 on a 30 amp circuit, and 700 watts on a 20 foot extension cord with 14 gauge wire.
The cord was needed to reach a third circuit and 700 watts is half the rating of the cord. It runs cool from plug to plug.
Another 14 gauge cord only two feet long is used with 1200 watts. Rated at 1875 watts the cord portion is cool to the touch but the female plug casing runs hot enough to burn me.
The weak spot is the sliding contact in the plug itself, occasionally the contact area is quite a bit less than the capacity of the wire.

 

[St. Phatty]

Yikes..that's exactly what I'm afraid of. So get a digital timer?

Mechanical Timer or Digital Timer, you still have to watch the watts, and the temps.

One area both timers degrade is the contacts (where the plug is plugged in, male+female connector).

Seems like most of the time a degraded timer has dirty contacts. Which increases resistance and temps.

I usually use a knife to scrape the connector clean. (Of course the tiny bits of metal need to go in the bin, careful that they don't go in the timer.)

 

[gorilla ganja]

Thanks everyone again you have all been greatly helpful. One more question. http://m.homedepot.com/p/NuTone-50-...rv_mobileweb_rr-1-_-100645396-_-100081599-_-N the fan I am think in of getting for my flower box and attaching a carbon filter directly to it. Ive gone to hope depot its light i could hand on the ceiling which would take 5 in or so off the top of my box, which is 20 in wide, 32 &1/2 in tall and 18 &1/2 in deep. Is there a way I can wire this to plug into a regular outlet?

very easy, just buy a length of cord and a 3 prong extension cord end.
black wire goes to gold screw, white to silver and ground to green usually.
While at home depot buying supplies pick up a book called
wiring 1-2-3 for about 20 bucks. It is a simple easy to understand book explaining the basics of electricity and how to wire things around the house.
worth every penny.
https://www.amazon.ca/Wiring-1-2-3-Home-Depot-Books/dp/069621184X

peace GG

 

[quicksilver91]

Will definitely pick up that book. Today I went and bought the fan (actually had a little plug already) and through the bonsai in there. Let the fun begin!

 

[quicksilver91]

Still need to attach that carbon filter but this little fan gives it good negative pressure

 

[quicksilver91]

Sorry here it is

 

[whadeezlrg]

Mechanical Timer or Digital Timer, you still have to watch the watts, and the temps.

One area both timers degrade is the contacts (where the plug is plugged in, male+female connector).

Seems like most of the time a degraded timer has dirty contacts. Which increases resistance and temps.

I usually use a knife to scrape the connector clean. (Of course the tiny bits of metal need to go in the bin, careful that they don't go in the timer.)

in my particular case, the only months old mechanical timer jammed(dirty contacts were not the issue in my case)...I've just made it a personal point to only use digital timers since then(2009) and have yet to have a digital timer do that...there is like a $2 difference.

if you need to stick a knife into your timer to clean it, you just need to throw that pile of crap into the garbage and pony up for a new one...this mickey mouse shit is how fires get started. fyi most timers/light controllers have di-electric grease in the female contacts from the factory.

very easy, just buy a length of cord and a 3 prong extension cord end.
black wire goes to gold screw, white to silver and ground to green usually.
While at home depot buying supplies pick up a book called
wiring 1-2-3 for about 20 bucks. It is a simple easy to understand book explaining the basics of electricity and how to wire things around the house.
worth every penny.
https://www.amazon.ca/Wiring-1-2-3-Home-Depot-Books/dp/069621184X

peace GG

solid advice though you MUST use fine stranded wire in an application such as an extension cord...black to brass saves your ass, and white to bright. just note: you wont save a dime if you don't already own a good set of wire strippers.

if this is the route you go, I would personally stress familiarizing yourself with the proper way to make connections(that home depot book is a good one, the proper way to make connections is hugely important when it comes to wiring things safely.)

 

[quicksilver91]

I would rather not home make anything electrical if I can help it. I also got a husky brand 14g 3 outlet 15 ft cord. It is powering flower while the orangeone I now know to be 16 g powering veg. Flower 6 23 w and 2 fans, veg 2 23w and 1 fan.

 

[whadeezlrg]

sounds like your stylin man, I dont blame ya. diy isn't always the most economical.

 

[Mystic Funk]

I always like to use cords one size bigger than I need. so if i'm running off a 15amp breaker I use a 12g cord and if i'm running off a 20amp breaker I use a 10g cord. try and get rid of all those splitters. even if you have to run two cords to your setup. keep all electrical off the ground and run all light cords, timers, fan cords, outside the room because they are not weather tight!

make sure everything is well grounded! that means all cords and plugs should have three pins sticking out not two!

 

[St. Phatty]

if you need to stick a knife into your timer to clean it, you just need to throw that pile of crap into the garbage and pony up for a new one...

I was talking about cleaning the contacts on the connectors.

Whether you are using digital or mechanical timer.

Knife, old #2 pencil with an eraser, file, sand-paper - doesn't matter how you do it, the timer/ extension cord 'system' works better with clean metal contacts.

And, one way to get that is, buy new when the oxidation builds up.


However, a used timer that has proved itself as being reliable, is usually more reliable than a new, un-tested one.

 

[FoothillFarming]

extension cords are only rated for temporary use. That set up is illegal.

 

[quicksilver91]

Unfortunately I have to go for stealth over legality.

 

[corky1968]

Pretend you are running 110 volts and have a 15 amp fuse in the power box.

This means the maximum power you can use before things go bad is:

Volts multiplied by Amps = Power ( in watts)

110 volts X 15 amps = 1650 watts

So as long as all of your toys don't go over lets say 1200 watts you should be fine.

Start counting your watts.

Always consider that the wires also draws on power so don't max everything.

BTW: I normally run a heavy duty outdoor extension cord in my place.
I like them because they are thicker and built stronger than indoor cords.


Good Luck.

 

[AvidLerner]

Hello all, this question is purely electrical. I'll be as detailed as I can cause I'm having technical difficulties uploading pics. I have a single 20 ft extension cord going from a regular wall socket to supply my closet with energy. Plugged into the extension cord is a splitter that turns the end into 3 sockets. Into one is plugged a 4 inch desk fan. The two other plug ins have 6 outlet surge protectors plugged in. One of those 6 outlet surge protectors provides light to my two mothers by having 2 polarized socket adapters each with a 23 w daylight fluorescent bulb plugged in for 46 watts total that hangs over my two small mothers. In the other 6 outlet is another low power fan, as well as a surge printed double socket light timer. In those sockets are 2 6 outlet surge protectors. In those surge protectors are 3 polarized socket adapters each, each with 2 23 w warm white fluorescent bulbs and 1 23w daylight bulb to provide light to my flower box. I still need ventilation for the flower box, two more weeks to sort that out but it will surely add another 100 w at least to this single extension cord. What can a single extension cord take?

Feel the extension chord. If it is warm, ok. If it is HOT too long, need more power from another source, or a shorter extension chord. peace

 

[moses wellfleet]

Feel the extension chord. If it is warm, ok. If it is HOT too long, need more power from another source, or a shorter extension chord. peace

Most important advice ever!!

Remember the load in terms of heat is cumulative, if you are 6 hours into 12 hours of operation and the wire is already hot that means it will only get hotter. It builds up over time, it may be very gradual but you could be heading for a meltdown.

IF IN DOUBT MAKE SURE YOU FEEL THE LINE REGULARLY SO THAT YOU CAN PREVENT A MELTDOWN LONG BEFORE IT HAPPENS!!

 

[quicksilver91]

Thank you all very much for the advise. I've learned a lot and I'm glad I chose this forum of all. Lines are never even remotely warm to the touch. Nothing inside or out side the grow room is too warm, even the lightbulbs themselves you can touch and hold for as long as you want without burning. I feel pretty safe about it. To be honest I'll probably remake my boxes just so everything is even more secure and tied up.

 

[quicksilver91]

But for now, I have a flowering female green crack back seed that, while it possibly hermied on me, I am still quite excited about. The master kush already smells amazing and its just vegging with preflowers. No odor yet from the GC but I'll have to make that carbon filter most likely this coming weekend.

 

[quicksilver91]

Still feeling every thing regularly..the motor compartment of the exhaust fan is hot. This runs 24/7 though and has since 3/24. It still isn't too hot too touch. I'd classify above warm though as fairly hot. Nothing to worry about? Is small motor heat accumulative or steady and normal?

 

[quicksilver91]

Well I can tell from observation its staying steady but idk that is the only thin I'm remotely worried about my wattage is only 520 so I'm wellll below that 1200 the only thing hot is the bulbs and that moor compartment which I might say is slightly hotter than a 23 w bulb