Growroom Electricity and Wiring

[rooted]

mp, i'm thinking the same bro, damn things have been nothing but trouble from the beginning.

no rush though man, i don't want to bother you, especially during the holidays, i've got the 40a timer so this will be straight by tonight, and we can take our sweet ass time addressing these shit in wall timers, if at all....probably end up tossing them though haha

 

[Shcrews]

Great thread

Great thread

it's about time.


just wired up a new room, 30 amp 240V circuit for my lights and two 15 amp 120V circuits for fans, dehuey, and AC.

my advice for anyone having electrical issues... get a book, then get an elecrician.

 

[madpenguin]

each timer is wired as specified in instructions:
one hot goes from 15a breaker to timer
a separate hot goes from timer to relay coil
neutral from sub, and timer neutral, join at the relay
ground terminates at ground bar

Can't say that I like that. Remove the neutral from the sub to the relay and just run a 14/2 or what have you from the in-wall timer to the center contacts of the relay.

See if your problem goes away after that.

Also, you say a separate hot.... Your still running 14/2 or some sort of cable assembly from the timer to the relay, right? One that contains all conductors of the circuit, ie. hot, neutral and ground?

Always keep your neutrals separate if they are different circuits. You should have a neutral for the 240 relay that powers the lights. The only neutral in that enclosure should be coming from the timer.

As far as any relay that might be powering 120v loads like fans and what not, you will have 2 neutrals in the relay enclosure. Terminate the timer neutral to the center contact of the relay and just "pass through" your breaker feed neutral on to the receptacles that the relay controls. You also shouldn't be hooking up that neutral to the relay at all. Just wire nut the incoming feeder neutral to the out going receptacle neutral and just switch the hot via the relay.

Neutrals should never ever be "switched".

I don't know if any of that applies to your situation, just throwing stuff out there (just in case).

 

[transplant]

Hey any one...I need some relay switches to flip flop my ballasts...Please help!

 

[agent 420]

fan wiring Q

fan wiring Q

I was thinking about buying a six inch "flat whisper fan" from HidHut.
Here's the description:

"Rugged, durable, quite flat exhaust or intake fans, manufactured by Tidar. Rated for continuous duty, 120 Volt AC. Does not include 120V power cord, has 6" long wires which can be wired to any standard 120V power cord. 230 CFM 59 Decibels@ 1 Meter. Includes Ball bearings."

How would I go about wiring this fan to the 120V power cord?

thanks

 

[jyme]

whats the safe usable watts on an 125 amp mini distrbution box?

 

[kcbudz31]

Will one of the 150w HPS security lights so common for like $40 bucks run off two-wire ungrounded?

I'm not asking if it's safe. I know it's not.
I'm not asking if it's best practice. I also know it is not.

Will it electrically function? My gut tells me yes because if they're properly designed they are only using ground for safety and it carries no current normally/has no function other than protection. But if they're shoddy and they're using ground as part of the circuit, it wouldn't work.

 

[madpenguin]

1.) They sell relays all over the place, especially on some hydro shops. They have even been linked to on this thread.

2.) Any fan you buy should come with wiring instructions.

3.) Use ohms law for a rough estimate

4.) Yes, it probably would.

 

[Makk]

I was thinking about buying a six inch "flat whisper fan" from HidHut.
Here's the description:

"Rugged, durable, quite flat exhaust or intake fans, manufactured by Tidar. Rated for continuous duty, 120 Volt AC. Does not include 120V power cord, has 6" long wires which can be wired to any standard 120V power cord. 230 CFM 59 Decibels@ 1 Meter. Includes Ball bearings."

How would I go about wiring this fan to the 120V power cord?

thanks

Get yourself a 3 conductor flexible cable the same wire size as those 6" long leads on the fan. the wire size should be on the wire with the letters awg.

 

[JackCough]

I am thinking of using a sprinkler irrigation controller to control up to 4 120volt recepticles sorta like a flipflip. Output of controller is 24v. What specs for a relay is reccomended? ice cube or not. sp/dp st/dt . Appreciated.

 

[madpenguin]

I am thinking of using a sprinkler irrigation controller to control up to 4 120volt recepticles sorta like a flipflip. Output of controller is 24v. What specs for a relay is reccomended? ice cube or not. sp/dp st/dt . Appreciated.

Your going to use the controller to trigger the center contacts on a relay?

If it's just 120v and one branch circuit, then a SP will do.

 

[JackCough]

thanks

 

[agent 420]

thanks as well

 

[madpenguin]

Those whisper fans look like they come prewired with a male plug on them. Atleast the ones I saw when I googled them. If they don't, then I'm pretty sure they are 120v AC. That means you would just do black to black, white to white and if it has an extra wire, that would be your ground.

Also with the relay question, you never want to "switch" a neutral. It has to be unbroken and incapable of being broken all the way back to the panel. That's why if your working with a 120v branch circuit, you just 'switch' the hot and wire nut the neutrals to pass through the relay box.

Same deal when you wire up a light switch in your home. Always use the power in and the power out to the light (switch leg or switch loop). Never use the neutrals to switch a light. It'll work but can have bad consequences in the case of a fault.

Sorry I got short with those raft of questions. They seemed a little on the mundane side so I blew threw them.

 

[jyme]

i just finished up my shed.it wasnt so bad. i ran a 100a indoor breaker box. and wired 20 outlets.the shed is a 12x16x12. all 20 outlets are on 110v and im gunna run two 220v outlets aswell.

 

[madpenguin]

Hmmmm..... That's quite an undertaking to do correctly and safely.

Wish you would have mentioned that in your previous post.

1/0 direct burial 4-wire cable is what you should have used but I have a feeling you didn't do that....

Please guys, don't be afraid to just throw your entire plan out there instead of asking how many watts a 125A box can handle. That hints at nothing for which you are about to do.

Well, hope you did everything safely.

 

[jyme]

ok what i did was i ran a 4 wire cable underground with two hots a nutral and a ground the two hots are rated for 55amps each giving me a total of 110amps on wire from a 200amp outdoormain.my indoor wiring inside the shed was 14-2 on my 110v outlets the left wall was ran and put on a 20a ciurcit the right wall was put on a 20a cuircit and the back wall was put in a 20a ciurcit i have a 110v ac unit im gunna run on its own cuircit what size breaker would you use? im also in debate about my air outtake? should i use a seperate ciurcit on it aswell so it will not pull from my lights?

 

[dakin3d]

Hi MadP,

Thank you for your detailed information and scrupulous explanations of your knowledge. I am still making my way through the thread.

It will be apparent that I have limited experience w/ electrical systems by the questions that I will ask, but I feel that I have to start somewhere. I will be establishing plans over the next 6 mos. in anticipation of building a g-room, and I would like to be well prepared so that I can move swiftly when the time comes. I will have an open/clean slate as far as building/wiring (ie, an unfinished basement), so logistically it should be as 'easy as it can be', barring the inevitable problems that will likely occur.

Let me start by asking if it would be wise to utilize a 'sub-panel' or a second breaker box altogether when setting up a new room. It isn't likely that I will have enough slots in my primary breaker box to add circuits even though there are some open. I will start initially w/ 2x 1000W units, to eventually expand to 4x 1000W systems over the next year from the initial time of building out. Also, 400W system and a 4x 4' T5 fixture. The other high wattage items will be a split A/C (12K-15K BTU), space heater, dehumidifier and Charcoal filtration unit. The rest will all be peripheral equipment not exceeding 3K watts (ie, fans, Sulphur burner, pumps, CO2 monitor/burner, light mover, ozone machine, and eventually a 1/4 HP chiller). I would like to wire 120V, as the majority of equipment will be compatible (obviously US res). I just have no idea where to start? Can you point me in the right direction to some good resources, addtl threads of yours, etc? I trust your judgement, references, and recommendations. Thank you in advance, it is much appreciated.

I know how you feel regarding utilization of trained technicians, and plan on having it inspected by such, however I would like to complete the labor myself.

 

[GeorgeSmiley]

So I have done 120 and 220 to machinery and such. Experienced with some aspects of wiring.

So. I have a 200 amp panel that looks pretty full, I'm wondering how big of a sub panel i can add.

There is a 60amp 220 breaker that leads 70 feet to the other end of the house and down for the power to the old outside hottub.

i want to take this line directly down into the basement into the grow area and install a sub panel.

How do I figure out the biggest sub panel I can install? How much do i need for 2500watts of lights then all the fans, humid, pumps etc etc

Looks like most of the work is done for me just need to terminate it properly. The cable is really thick but couldn't see the writing when i pulled the insulation away in the spa room. Do all cables have writing on them?

Thanks for any help

 

[madpenguin]

ok what i did was i ran a 4 wire cable underground

What kind of cable? That's extremely important.

with two hots a nutral and a ground the two hots are rated for 55amps each giving me a total of 110amps

Wrong. That #6 cable can't have anything higher than a 60A Double pole breaker feeding it. Once you hit 60A total, the breaker will trip.

my indoor wiring inside the shed was 14-2 on my 110v outlets the left wall was ran and put on a 20a ciurcit the right wall was put on a 20a cuircit and the back wall was put in a 20a ciurcit

Those 14/2 runs need to be bumped down to 15A breakers. It seems you didn't even read the very first post on the first page of this thread.

i have a 110v ac unit im gunna run on its own cuircit what size breaker would you use?

That all depends on how much current the AC draws.

im also in debate about my air outtake? should i use a seperate ciurcit on it aswell so it will not pull from my lights?

Always a good idea.