Growroom Electricity and Wiring

[nightridda]

Aside from creating a tremendous fire hazard, you WILL get caught.

Rives; I think a quoted the wrong message but regaurdless I got an urgent urgent question my lights are supposed to come on in 45 min and my sup panel is not hooked back up.

Question. Sub panel to timer.. nuetral wire ? None ? When I go back into the 2nd sub panel from the timer nuetral none ? I have the two hots and grounds hooked up.. I'm just lost at nuetral..

 

[rives]

The T104 doesn't need a neutral, nor do the ballasts if they are setup for 240v. You might want to carry one through the timer and on to the sub just in case you want to be able to power some 120v equipment at some point, but it isn't necessary for either the timer or the ballasts.

 

[Sensi Smoke]

What I never understood is if you have enough money to buy a room with 30,000 watts of equipment.. why are you willing to risk you freedom doing it illegal. Your talking 20k just in lighting not Including anything else. If I had that type of money I would take a cruise and call it a day.

I do not know where you come from, but where I live it certainly ain't $675 dollars per HID kit. 20k is way above the cost of the lighting.

If you use sense, you will not be cought. As long as your name is not down on the building and you leave no fingerprints, you will be fine..unless they actually catch you there in the act, which is uncomman for people who do not stay at the grow.

 

[Sensi Smoke]

Are u talking about jumping ur meter?
I saw some video from an Asian gang grow op in Cali where they had used jumper cables to jump the meter.,,Sketchy shit and they got busted..
I'd look at diesel generators before Id considered stealing power... With all of the computer monitoring these days it won't take the electric co long to pinpoint the loss...
So yea, I second Rives post.. It's dangerous.. And prob a good way to get arrested and ur grow gear seized.

Yeas, that is exactly what I mean. Jumping the meter and pulling the power straight from the mains outside into the grow.

We have thought about diesel generators but a generator to power something of that magnitude would be huge and very noisy.

 

[nightridda]

The T104 doesn't need a neutral, nor do the ballasts if they are setup for 240v. You might want to carry one through the timer and on to the sub just in case you want to be able to power some 120v equipment at some point, but it isn't necessary for either the timer or the ballasts.

I just wanted to thank you again I rushed through (slow enough to make sure I did it as you said ) but I still have to clean it up tomarrow during lights out. But take a look.

 

[nightridda]

...

 

[rives]

All of those single-conductor wires are illegal for use if they aren't installed in conduit or flex. If you tighten the romex connectors down on them to the point where they will have any strain relief, you are almost certain to cut the insulation and ground them out. All of the conductors for a given circuit need to be contained within the same raceway and enter the enclosures through the same hole or you can get "inductive heating", which is when the enclosure acts as a transformer and can knock the shit out of you on contact. The yellow romex going to your receptacles still doesn't appear to have connectors at the sub end.

 

[nightridda]

Thank you for all the advice; some I knew some I didn't I was just rushing because my girls are half way through flowering and I can't afford to put any stress on them. Tomarrow I will be sure to fix every one of the things you mentioned. Just need more "dark time" to shut it down before touching. I don't trust touching any of it while it's live.

 

[Ref1]

Does anyone know if it's ok to bond CSST pipe to water main pipe for electrical ground?

 

[rives]

Does anyone know if it's ok to bond CSST pipe to water main pipe for electrical ground?

I've never worked around gas piping, but found the following link. It doesn't mention water pipe as an alternate, only bonded electrical gear, the grounding conductor or ground electrodes. Water pipes can be a very poor ground, with utilities purposely using non-conductive couplings to eliminate electrolysis, plastic pipe, tar coatings, etc.

http://www.csstsafety.com/Images/CSST-Direct-Bonding-Tech-Bulletin.pdf

 

[Ref1]

I've never worked around gas piping, but found the following link. It doesn't mention water pipe as an alternate, only bonded electrical gear, the grounding conductor or ground electrodes. Water pipes can be a very poor ground, with utilities purposely using non-conductive couplings to eliminate electrolysis, plastic pipe, tar coatings, etc.

http://www.csstsafety.com/Images/CSST-Direct-Bonding-Tech-Bulletin.pdf

Thank you Rives. Makes total sense about it being poor conductor. I will be doing a ground rod 8" down right outside the house then.

Do you know if the grounding wire has to be bare (no sheathing)? I bought one but now I am thinking that it will be touching other things in the house. I am thinking about getting one that is covered. Or am I good with this one?

 

[rives]

Thank you Rives. Makes total sense about it being poor conductor. I will be doing a ground rod 8" down right outside the house then.

Do you know if the grounding wire has to be bare (no sheathing)? I bought one but now I am thinking that it will be touching other things in the house. I am thinking about getting one that is covered. Or am I good with this one?

I think that it was probably a mistake when you typed it, but just in case, the ground rod needs to be 8 feet, not 8 inches.

Ground wires from the main panel to the ground rod are usually bare but have little chance of coming in contact with anything else. The ones used in the various circuits in a structure are also uninsulated, but are covered with the overall cable jacket when outside of an enclosure. I think that for your application and the fact that it attached on one end to a bomb, I would probably opt for an insulated conductor. There should be wire with a green insulation available, which is the color code for a ground.

 

[Ref1]

Yes, that was a typo. I meant 8 feet.

Thank you fro your feedback. I will get that insulated wire and will sleep better.

I think that it was probably a mistake when you typed it, but just in case, the ground rod needs to be 8 feet, not 8 inches.

Ground wires from the main panel to the ground rod are usually bare but have little chance of coming in contact with anything else. The ones used in the various circuits in a structure are also uninsulated, but are covered with the overall cable jacket when outside of an enclosure. I think that for your application and the fact that it attached on one end to a bomb, I would probably opt for an insulated conductor. There should be wire with a green insulation available, which is the color code for a ground.

 

[Jhhnn]

I do not know where you come from, but where I live it certainly ain't $675 dollars per HID kit. 20k is way above the cost of the lighting.

If you use sense, you will not be cought. As long as your name is not down on the building and you leave no fingerprints, you will be fine..unless they actually catch you there in the act, which is uncomman for people who do not stay at the grow.

Stealing power is just another way for the cops to get a line on a grower. Once they know that, they lay back, watch the happenings until they get it all dialed in real nice & then drop the hammer.

 

[nightridda]

Stealing power is just another way for the cops to get a line on a grower. Once they know that, they lay back, watch the happenings until they get it all dialed in real nice & then drop the hammer.

And that's just something I'm not willing to let happen. Might as well call the police station and turn yourself in. Save yourself time.

 

[eebbnflow]

Hey Rives , I am wiring up a carrier 2 ton air handler . Cooling only . It's calls for230v . 2 hots and a ground . 15 amp max breaker . Seems over kill 230v double pole . My question is can I use 14g wire ? Or should I use 12 ? I have both 12 armored 14 non armored . Thank you

 

[rives]

Hey Rives , I am wiring up a carrier 2 ton air handler . Cooling only . It's calls for230v . 2 hots and a ground . 15 amp max breaker . Seems over kill 230v double pole . My question is can I use 14g wire ? Or should I use 12 ? I have both 12 armored 14 non armored . Thank you

14 gauge is adequate on a 15 amp breaker, but I prefer to run 12 gauge as a minimum. It gives you more flexibility if you need to bump the breaker size to a 20a at some point in the future, is more forgiving of voltage drop and the overall run length, etc. Running armored depends on the wire exposure. If the cable is going to be concealed and fully protected, standard wiring is fine.

 

[eebbnflow]

Thx bud . The wire will be exposed . I will run the 12 armored instead plus it give me an excuse to play in the box . I already have a split circuit with 14 there that I was gonna consider using

 

[Antrim]

Posted this on another thread but was told I'd get a better response here. So, here goes.

I'm building a room capable of running six 1000w ballasts off of 240v outlets. My room just so happens to be in the basement right underneath my kitchen where there is a dedicated 240v on a 30A breaker going to my cooktop rated at 4kw. Everything is currently wired with 10awg in 1" rigid conduit.

Does anybody see any problem with replacing the 30A breaker with a 50A, Replacing the 10awg with 6awg, Splitting the 240v (one going up to the cooktop and one going down to the room) and then piggybacking six 240v outlets together? Thanks!

 

[Arf]

Posted this on another thread but was told I'd get a better response here. So, here goes.

I'm building a room capable of running six 1000w ballasts off of 240v outlets. My room just so happens to be in the basement right underneath my kitchen where there is a dedicated 240v on a 30A breaker going to my cooktop rated at 4kw. Everything is currently wired with 10awg in 1" rigid conduit.

Does anybody see any problem with replacing the 30A breaker with a 50A, Replacing the 10awg with 6awg, Splitting the 240v (one going up to the cooktop and one going down to the room) and then piggybacking six 240v outlets together? Thanks!

What is feeding the existing 30A breaker? Can it provide the extra 20A without stress?