electrical safety

[coolpotnamegone]

can I use a one foot 14/3 extension cord of to plug my 1k ballast and be safe

i mapped electical circuit and found this outlet that is alone on it's circuit but my ballast cord dosent reach the outlet by one foot

 

[Young Giver]

It should be fine at 14 gauge. But the bigger the gauge the better. 10 is the best but hard to come by prob. expensive too.

 

[imnotcrazy]

I'd use a MINIMUM of 12/3 for that application for a short run and 10/3 for anything longer than 20 ft or so. By code you are supposed to derate for longer runs to compensate for the resistance of the wire. That coupled with the fact that extensions are rather flimsy is a good excuse to use a heavy duty cord and I certainly wouldn't consider 14/3 heavy duty.

 

[Guest]

click the link in my sig on electrical safety.
i have a huge writeup on the dangers of extension cords.

 

[coolpotnamegone]

ok I got one yes one no and a bunch of info I am just too damn stoned to read. for the moment

if worst come to worst ill just move my ghetto DIY grow tent closer but would cost me a few $$ that i dont have for now i would only use this for the 10 week i need to compleet those plants

 

[imnotcrazy]

Yeah, but it only takes that wire gettin hot once to burn your house/apartment down.

BTW, Thorodee and I do electrical work for a LIVING

 

[Guest]

Yea we're all electricians unfortunately lol.14 wire is rated at 15A or 12A on a continuos load.Most 1K fixtures pull just under 10A so if I had to bust a move to get 12 wire,I'd just use the available 14.The power cord on a 1K fixture is not #12AWG thats for sure.

 

[imnotcrazy]

True it can carry the load, but why even mess with such a small extension?????

 

[coolpotnamegone]

because evrything is set up the light is hung the plants are under the light but bad planin I got a feet missing on the cord wired to my balast to reach the outlet

 

[Guest]

can you easily change the cord on the ballast?

 

[imnotcrazy]

Most ballasts are tagged so if you open them you void the warranty Thoro

 

[coolpotnamegone]

and I don't feel confident enough about rewiring the balast myself even if i keep tellinmy self that it's just 3 wire to changewire nuts and that's it

 

[imnotcrazy]

It wouldn't be re-wiring, same connections just adding a longer cord. VERY simple and the transformer taps are labeled. But again if the ballast has warranty tags I'd try to get the ballast closer to the outlet or use the larger cord for the time being

 

[coolpotnamegone]

if try to add longer cord 14/3 would do the trick ?caus I have one I could use if it 's any longer ill need to check the lenght first

 

[imnotcrazy]

Basically, the smallest wire I use for ANY application is #12. I try to not mess w/ #14 it's not worth it to have 15A rated wire layin around.

 

[coolpotnamegone]

ok if buy 12/3 wire tomorow and I do it that way I can make it let say 6 or 7 ft longer and make sure I dont hit my toes on the heavy balast box cause right now it's in the midle of the way in the kitchen

 

[imnotcrazy]

Yeah, easy to do and the wire should be cheap enough. Plus you've derated the wire at that point so you can make it a pretty long run no problems

 

[coolpotnamegone]

last question what would be the best thing to put at the end of the cord to plug into the wall outlet any extension cord part that they sell in in hardware store or could find som 12/3 wire ready to be plugged in the wall?

 

[Guest]

Go to home depot or lowes and ask for a 12/3 "pigtail",Its about a 6 ft length of cord with 3 wires on one end and a male plug on the other.Derating or upgrading for a 6 ft possible run is a bit nutzy kookoo but if its floats yer boat

 

[coolpotnamegone]

i would lik it to be little longer then 6 feet so I dont have the ballast box under my kitchen table... ? possible