electrical wiring help?

[s.cam]

Heres the deal, I need to run 6 seperate 1000 watt hps lights in my room plus some extra for pumps, etc. I have access to a 220 circuit via a washing machine outlet. I am also close enough to the panel to run a sub panel off the 110 and split it through a 70 amp breaker. Whats my best option here? I have this timer panel already built thats been passed on from a friend but I dont see how it works. Why is the voltage marked 110 and 220 and how are all the plugs being run off the same circuit if they are different voltages?

 

[Hydropimp]

Well have you bought the the lights yet?

 

[s.cam]

yes I already own the lights. Six 1000 watt hps to be specific.

 

[Hydropimp]

but are they on 220 or 120?

 

[s.cam]

I can switch them how I please. right now they are wired for 220

 

[PharmaCan]

s.cam - 220 is just two 110's, so don't get all confused about the voltage. See the white wire that is hanging down? You need to connect that to your power source. Don't mess with anything else on the timer, only the four wires coming into the box from your power source.

If you can put a sub-panel in your room, that would be the best way to go. Then you can size everything for the load you will have.

If your lights are 220 volt, you're in luck. If not, you only have four 120v outlets so you would either have to add another or convert one of the 220's to 120 volt.

PC

 

[Hydropimp]

None of the recepticals are 220 they are all 120

 

[wafflehouselove]

Hydropimp is correct their all 120v so don't make the mistake of thinking its 240v and you set your ballast at 240v that can be dangerous or won't work.

 

[Guest]

I plug my 240V fixtures into 120V receptacles wired for 240 to avoid installing new cordcap and creating a splice,you better check to see those marked 240 are in fact wired for 240

 

[yamaha_1fan]

Ask your buddy about the outlets. They are all 120 outlets but it is possible to run 240 on a 120 outlet. The outlet does not care, 240 outlets are different so you dont plug the wrong thing in to the wrong outlet. Its cheaper to use all 120 fittings.

I believe you can branch off a 240 circuit to get the 120. I would say the neutral for the 120 does not go through the timer, and he just used one hot off the timer. Thats my guess but I am no electrician.

It looks like its ready to go, just connect that big wire coming off to a power source. You can meter each outlet after that to verify voltage.

Keep in mind, 6,000 watts of lighting is 25 amps +/-. That timer is rated at 40 amps. 80% of 40 is 32. Be careful how much extra you plug in.

 

[s.cam]

so do I need to run this board through a breaker box first? or can I go straight from that white wire into the 240 service? and Im still unclear if I need to wire my ballasts for 240 or 120?

 

[PharmaCan]

None of the recepticals are 220 they are all 120

They are all 120 volt receptacles, but some of them have 220 volts going to them.

Yamaha_1fan - 220v doesn't need a neutral, so both wires going to the 220v receptacles are hot. Many 220v appliances can be switched off simply by breaking one leg (i.e., turn one wire off and on as opposed to turning both wires off and on). To convert that box to 120v, the always-hot leg needs to be replaced with a neutral. You know, for a guy that's not an electrician, you seem to know electrical shit pretty well.

PC

 

[PharmaCan]

s.cam - That set-up is probably perfectly functional as it is, but it's really not very safe. Your receptacle boxes should all be grounded and they aren't. If you want to ground the boxes, I'll explain the easiest way for you to do it.

PC

 

[s.cam]

please do pharma any help is appreciated. and in conclusion, after grounding them I can safely run all six of these lights off of that board?

 

[s.cam]

arent all the copper wiring runing to the ground pin grounding the receptacles. well at least after i tie the wires into the circuit?

 

[PharmaCan]

arent all the copper wiring runing to the ground pin grounding the receptacles. well at least after i tie the wires into the circuit?

Yes and no. It appears that the 120v receptacles are properly connected. The wire connections inside the timer appear to be ok. Inside the receptacle boxes, there may or may not be self grounding receptacles, so the metal boxes themselves may or may be grounded. Threason you want the metal receptacle boxes grounded is so that, if there is a short in a hot wire, it will trip the breaker instead of shociking you when you touch the box.

Get s couple feet of 12 ga. wire. Green is best, but any color, or even bare wire, will work. Then get some grounding screws and see if you can get them to screw into the holes in the side of your boxes. DO NOT use a pointed screw for this! If you don't have holes in the boxes, or if you can't start screws in them, use the screws on the wire clamps going into your receptacle boxes. Attach your wire from one box to another then feed it into the timer, alongside the big white cable, and attach it to your ground bar. NOTE: This is not the "right" way to run a ground, but it is a perfectly good ground and probably preferable to you opening all those boxes and hooking it up the right way.

PC

 

[s.cam]

bump!!

 

[s.cam]

thanks for you help pharma

if you dont mind Id like your help on msn maybe where you could kinda give a newbie some step by step advice. I woulda done this in a pm but I dont have permission yet......

 

[wafflehouselove]

Ok dude i've made my discision to either help you or not, my decision based on your knowledge. My opinion is that its best if you just rid of that system what your buddy gave you. First of all he gave it to you and its all 120v but he marked it 240v and not only that, his not helping you with the wiring or better do it himself. Dude there's one of the commandments you just have to obey by is to respect electricity. Anything that goes wrong can really F you up even if its a 5% possibility things can go wrong. They sell preset boxes with timers and recipticles that is rated at 240v for you already easy to install you might have to spend a lil money but it will save you from the troublesome. Remember like someone else said in this thread if a city inspector come looking at that he'll laugh his ass off, if your buddy that gave you that setup doesn't explain things to you then nobody know wth he did with that system and wil take more then 1 picture to figure out whats going to what. GL!

 

[Guest]

I am dead serious when I say you need a contactor (big relay) to turn on 6000 watts. I do not know if you have one. There will be lots of problems if you do not possible fire hazard and definitely equipment falier.
Pax