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Breakers Shutting off all the time..

G

Guest

hey gertrude, from the sounds of it your old house wiring could use an electrical update. houses built 20 plus years ago were'nt wired adequately for the demands that we put on them. do youself a favor before you start growing seriously and get a good electrician in for an assessment.
i'd try to find a company with a names like M J Electrical Contracting or Weed Electric Co. might be worth a try. lol. good luck bro
 
gertrude420

gertrude420

Member
Trichome - Im doing that right now, got everything spread out on all the circuits of the house with extension cords, and thats also somewhat messy and unefficient, and I am going from 1 k to 4 k so Im def looking to go bigger.
 
G

Guest

I sure dont understand all this converter talk,you're considering a 4K grow right?What good is a 240 to 120 voltage converter,you want 240 anyway.The crux of the matter is the wire size anyway,you need a 10 wire circuit if you plan on running 4K and it has to be at 240V.Obviously your dryer receptacle isnt 240V if your using 120V appliances with it.Like I said earlier,the 4 1K fixturea can be run on a 10 wire 30 amp 240V circuit without a neutral by running the circuyit directly to the timer and from the timer to the box holding the receptacles.If you want to include 120V appliances on that 10 wire circuit you must also run a neutral wire from the main panel to a 30A subpanel,then from the subpanel to all your loads 120V and 240V.The 240V load would be the intermatic WH40 240V hot water heater timer"little gray box",no relay needed bro_Of course your actual 240V loads are the lighting fixtures themselves I'm just giving you an idea of how it actually works if you can picture it.From the panel to the timer to the receptacles with a 10 wire 2 hots and a ground,or from the panel to a 30 amp subpanel with a 10 wire circuit 2 hots a ground and a neutral.From the subpanel to all your loads.
 
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G

Guest

Q: What does "Step-up/Down Transformer" mean?
A: Step-up/Down Transformers are used to convert electricity from 220/240 VAC to 110/120 VAC (Step Down) or 110/120 Volt AC to 220/240 Volts AC (Step-up). These types of transformers are grounded and with built-in fuse protection system which provides safety against electrical shock and damage to the appliances.
 
G

Guest

a 220 outlet looks like this
http://neatitems.com/No_Worries/images/AC_outlets_-_old_220_and_new_110.JPG
gertrude420 said:
How do I check If the voltage down there is 220 volt ? I looked on the outlets where the dryers are pluggen in and they look normal... Also, I realised that i had extension cords plugged in and was running 120 volts on them. So it can't be 220 V then right ?


Those converters seem like a good solution.. I also did some research on adding a 220 volt outlet on your circuit, so it might just take some more homework and learning my wiring correctly and I can add one myself. Shouldn't cost as much as the converter, and at least it will guarantee to work if its dedicated, and not overload. The dryer/washer outlet right now even in 240 volts, is only 15-20 amps, because my house is old... a new circuit with thick gauge wire can be made 30 amps, thus being better right.
Click to expand...
 
G

Guest

Yes,the bottom line using voltage converters or not which I still dont understand why you'd want to do that,is you need a minimum #10AWG wire to run 4 fixtures,and remember thats at 240V,if you tried running them at 120V you'd need #8AWG or even 6 wire and you dont want to have branch circuits using wire that large
 
gertrude420

gertrude420

Member
Okay ballastmam, so I can just add a circuit on the main circuit breaker panel, and run it into the room and I can connect it directly to this unit the MLC 4a with the built in timer... on 240 V...and that would just be one cable going directly in.

http://www.discount-hydro.com/lightingcontrollers.asp



I can't find where to plug anything into the circuit breaker... its in the wall, and all thats inside is 6 built in switches with no room anything.. I will take a picture in a little while I Guess


Unicorn, 240 Plugs look like the top one in that picture ?



Ballastman... In the manual for this product similar to the one I was previously looking at for lighting control, it says " do not connect to dedicated 30 a 240 power" on the bottom there...whats that about
 
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gertrude420

gertrude420

Member
Im kinda stoned but aren't these things pretty much just like a big power bar connected to a timer.... ie. trigger cable to timer signal. so couldn't I just make a normal 240 volt outlet and connect a 240 timer to a 240 power bar and connect 4 , 240 volt lights ?
 
gertrude420

gertrude420

Member
Hey Heres a Pic of my circuit breaker.... is there any room to add a 240 V circuit onto there ?

Im thinking about getting an electrician to come in and add a 30 amp circuit in my basement and say its for my new dryer and washer, because the ones that are down there have normal plugs and are regular 110 V, is that normal, i thought all dryer/washers run on 240... hence the term dryer plug

 
G

Guest

i cant see behind the breakers...but he will need to pull wire for the new breaker...i would have the electrician do it for sure
 
gertrude420

gertrude420

Member
Ya I just want to know what Im getting myself into before I call the electrician over, so all of a sudden I need to have a new panel installed and the bill goe's from 100 to 500 $, but I Guess in the end Im gonna have to do it anyways if I want to have 4 lights going.
 
G

Guest

i'M PRETTY BLOCHEADED OUT THIS VERY MOMENT AND HAD A DAY THAT ONL HAPPENS ONCE IN A LIFETIME,WELL TYWICE OF YOU'RE LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE TWO PARENTS BUT wtff ARE YOU GUYS TALKING ABOUT?????????gERTRUDE IS THAT LINK YOU POSTED OF ALL THOSE LIGHTING CONTROLLERS SOMETHING THAT INETERESTS YOU FOR SOME UNKNOWN REASOnfuck there I go again sorry for the caps.All these controllers,voltage transformers,I'm missing something big here.I've helped a dozen folk at least set up 4K grows including myself so I know the simplest safest way.Not bragging bro I want to help.All you need for 4 1K HID's is a #10/2 with ground on a 2 pole 30A 240V circuit.From the panel to an intermatic WH40 "little gray box" hot water heater timer or an intermatic T-103,same thing basically.From the load side of the timer bring the wires to a box holding the receptacles.You are done bro,no relay needed I've been running 3 K this way for 6 years and the contacts are hardly burred.You can run 4 1K fixtures with about 5 amps to spare.Sorry if I'm missing something,repeating myself,or just being a general a-hole.Weird hard day
 
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gertrude420

gertrude420

Member
No Its just I don't know any of this shit so I was confused what Works best for me in my situation, and now that im informed, I agree with you that adding a 30 amp 240 V circuit to the main panel and running it to the lighting controller.

I added a pic to another post here showing my circuit breaker.. I don't see any room to add another circuit... what gives
 
G

Guest

What gives is right!Is that the main panel for your dwelling?Are you sure there isnt another maybe outside the bldg. by the meter?I love Sq.D equipment its the best bar none,but thats a strange looking loadcenter I tells ya.I wish you could pop off the "dead front" which is the flat metal panel protecting you from live parts,hence "dead front".I'd like to see the guts,you'll need two spaces for a 2 pole 30A breaker,this is mandatory you cant do this without the panel room.Sometimes you can finneagle the breakers around to make room,and I'm not talking about doubling up on a breaker never do that.They also make whats called "tandem breakers" which basically take only one slot but can accomodate two 120V circuits.No tandem 240's unfortunately,you need two spaces period.Didnt you say you already had a dryer receptacle that you dont use?That would be perfect as they are 10 wire circuits normally,you dont need a neutral for the 240V lights.Only if you were to run a subpanel for 240 and 120V loads.Why do I get the feeling I'm repeating the shit out of myself lol?Bad week folks,very unreal and surrealistic to say the least.Anyway man,look to see you dont have another load center somewhere.(Panel)I need to learn to talk english lol
 
gertrude420

gertrude420

Member
I took the Dead Front off... and opened her up... And Im pretty Sure there isn't one outside




Im positive its the only we have... as Iv flipped the breakers for any part of the house from this panel...


Also I though I had a Dryer Plug but turns out my dryer wand washer runs on 120 V on a normal plug, as opposed to a 240 V 30 amp circuit.
 
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