...~Mountain Bud's Gone Underground~...

[MountainBudz]

Would 6/3 wire be a better option than 10/3? You can bury it directly without having to run it in conduit and also I think it is rated for 55 amps. The more amps it can handle the better right? Even I I only use half of that.

 

[MJPassion]

That link doesn't work bro.

I tried to edit the link...
Copy & paste the link minus the 'https://' to get you there.

For future reference...
ICMag, I think, is automatically inserting the https:// tags & screwing up links.

 

[MountainBudz]

A little update...

I ended up going with 2-2-4-6 URD aluminum wire (120 feet for $228.00) and also purchased a 100 amp main breaker panel to install in the cellar. This should be more than efficient to pull my load with entire ease and also allow for future add one up to 7 or 8 lights and still be in the safe zone.

I purchased the wire from an electrical supply store and asked the owner what he recommended to run to a 100 amp breaker. He first recommended a copper wire which was 5 dollars and some odd change per foot!!! Wtf!?!? No thank you. Then he mentioned he had the aluminum wiring which would work the same for a dollar and some odd change per foot and that was I was filled with relief in return.

So I plan on purchasing a Titan controls Helios 8. What else do I need to add to my list??

 

[MountainBudz]

A little update...

I ended up going with 2-2-4-6 URD aluminum wire. 120ft cost me around $230.00. I told the owner of the electrical store to give me what I need to run into a 100amp main breaker panel which I also purchased as well.

He first recommended a copper wire until he said it ran around $5 and some odd change per foot, wtf?!?! Hell no and no thank you was my response to that. He the proceeded to tell me he also had some aluminum that would do the same for a dollar and some change per foot. What a relief to hear that! A HUGE price differential!

So I now have my main feeding wire, a brand new 100 amp main breaker panel and plan on placing an order for a Titan 8 Helios controller tonight. What else do I need? I know what I need as far as grow equipment and gear goes, very experienced in that but what else do I need as far as electrical set up goes??? Need to make a list and give it to my electrician buddy, he will have it in control from there!

 

[MountainBudz]

Sorry about that double post. I didn't think the first one posted and thought I had lost it.

 

[MountainBudz]

Can some help lean this way please? I really need it and asap so I can get this grow and journal underway!

 

[jonesb]

make sure to use noalox on all aluminum connections

http://www.idealindustries.ca/products/wire_installation/accessories/noalox.php

 

[MountainBudz]

make sure to use noalox on all aluminum connections

https://www.idealindustries.ca/products/wire_installation/accessories/noalox.php

I had picked up a tube yesterday when purchasing the wire. Thanks for putting it out there though and for your help Jones.

 

[MountainBudz]

Does anyone around here have any knowledge in electricity??? Surely there is someone.

 

[SuperBudBros]

You're gonna need conduit like EMT, EMT fittings, junction boxes, conduit straps, also screws and stuff

 

[SuperBudBros]

And you have to size everything according to the size and number of wires in the conduit and remember if you have more than three current caring conductors in your conduit the amperage rating of your wire goes down.

 

[MJPassion]

Need to make a list and give it to my electrician buddy, he will have it in control from there!

Have you spoken to your electrician buddy to see if he can help?
Or is his purpose only installation?

A real electrician only needs the final number of outputs (sockets) & the wattage being used on each leg to come up with a circuit diagram & a BOM (Bill Of Materials).

 

[getpulse.co]

I'm am not an electrician but I have ran electrical and don't recommend it in general but I can give you a few considerations.

First question being... Can your main house panel support an extra 100a load? Most residential houses in our area only have 100-200a service from the utility pole and the home uses most of it.

Now then -- the wire must match the breaker size for the main run to your subpanel (which sounds like you have covered). Now you will have to determine how you want to distribute the power from that subpanel inside your room. Ideally you would like to know the layout before planning out the distribution.

There are some concerns with your current room design though. I would not recommend running multiple tents because you will end up needing to control multiple environments and that will become annoying and also require extra gear (fans, dehueys, fan controllers, etc). This is true even if you are using the main space as a lung room.

I would recommend running the two biggest tents you can fit and running them on a flip-flop timing schedule. This will likely solve your lights off temp problems and also allow you to run more lights while reducing the overall ampage load at one time.

Also, instead of 8 1000k's I would run 12 630w LEC's. These are great lights and you will get better coverage (light the room, not the plants). The LEC's also run a cooler which you are really going to appreciate considering your ceilings are VERY LOW. Headroom is going to be a headache for you.

I was going to recommend a layout but I just realized that most tents are taller than 6 1/2ft (Gorilla Tent Lites are 6'7" and the regular Gorilla are 6'11"). Not sure you'll be able to fit a tent with those low ceilings.

I'll wait to hear your thoughts. I would run a dual room flip flop regardless of what you end up doing.

This is a flipflop controller, you use it in combination with a 8-light timer like the Helios8 and you will be able to run 16 lights.
https://www.powerboxinc.com/lsm16.html

Turkey time

 

[Bobby Boucher]

I was going to recommend a layout but I just realized that most tents are taller than 6 1/2ft (Gorilla Tent Lites are 6'7" and the regular Gorilla are 6'11"). Not sure you'll be able to fit a tent with those low ceilings.

Bandsaw a couple inches off the vertical supports, pull the slack up over the top beams from the inside of your tent, et voila.. A $5 3/4" pipe cutter works fine too.

I'd rather buy larger and cut to size than have to sacrifice even a few inches from such a small clearance, slack be damned.

 

[MountainBudz]

I'm am not an electrician but I have ran electrical and don't recommend it in general but I can give you a few considerations.

First question being... Can your main house panel support an extra 100a load? Most residential houses in our area only have 100-200a service from the utility pole and the home uses most of it.

Now then -- the wire must match the breaker size for the main run to your subpanel (which sounds like you have covered). Now you will have to determine how you want to distribute the power from that subpanel inside your room. Ideally you would like to know the layout before planning out the distribution.

There are some concerns with your current room design though. I would not recommend running multiple tents because you will end up needing to control multiple environments and that will become annoying and also require extra gear (fans, dehueys, fan controllers, etc). This is true even if you are using the main space as a lung room.

I would recommend running the two biggest tents you can fit and running them on a flip-flop timing schedule. This will likely solve your lights off temp problems and also allow you to run more lights while reducing the overall ampage load at one time.

Also, instead of 8 1000k's I would run 12 630w LEC's. These are great lights and you will get better coverage (light the room, not the plants). The LEC's also run a cooler which you are really going to appreciate considering your ceilings are VERY LOW. Headroom is going to be a headache for you.

I was going to recommend a layout but I just realized that most tents are taller than 6 1/2ft (Gorilla Tent Lites are 6'7" and the regular Gorilla are 6'11"). Not sure you'll be able to fit a tent with those low ceilings.

I'll wait to hear your thoughts. I would run a dual room flip flop regardless of what you end up doing.

This is a flipflop controller, you use it in combination with a 8-light timer like the Helios8 and you will be able to run 16 lights.
https://www.powerboxinc.com/lsm16.html

Turkey time

Man thanks so much for that information. You opened my eyes to a whole new perspective in the room. I may actually do the two tent flip flop and and just take Bobbys advice and cut the tent poles down a hair... I like the idea of the LEDs but since I already have 3 block buster 6 inch hoods I am going to stick with the HPS for now. I am going to likely purchase 2 large tents. Now Bobby, what is it exactly K do with the slack in the tent???

And as far as my main panel being able to handle it I'm not sure on the 8 lights. But I am almost sure it can handle a four light flip flop. That is just 2 on 2 off simultaneously. That would be a good starting point to get things dialed in.

Now, what about this wire I have purchased?? My uncle said he didn't think aluminum wire was a good idea. But the master electrician at local electrical supply store said it would work...2-2-4-6 URD*aluminum wire is what I went with. He said it was good for 100 amps. He also said it can be burrowed of course it is URD. He asked if I was getting it inspected and I told him no, He said that instead of running it 24 inches deep I could run it 16 inches and to just keep sharp and large rocks off of the wiring.

 

[MountainBudz]

Bandsaw a couple inches off the vertical supports, pull the slack up over the top beams from the inside of your tent, et voila.. A $5 3/4" pipe cutter works fine too.

I'd rather buy larger and cut to size than have to sacrifice even a few inches from such a small clearance, slack be damned.

What is it exactly I do with the extra slack???

I had already considered cutting it down but the baggy slack is what was burning me on the issue.

Where do I cut the poles at? Center? Or tips?

 

[MountainBudz]

I'm am not an electrician but I have ran electrical and don't recommend it in general but I can give you a few considerations.

First question being... Can your main house panel support an extra 100a load? Most residential houses in our area only have 100-200a service from the utility pole and the home uses most of it.

Now then -- the wire must match the breaker size for the main run to your subpanel (which sounds like you have covered). Now you will have to determine how you want to distribute the power from that subpanel inside your room. Ideally you would like to know the layout before planning out the distribution.

There are some concerns with your current room design though. I would not recommend running multiple tents because you will end up needing to control multiple environments and that will become annoying and also require extra gear (fans, dehueys, fan controllers, etc). This is true even if you are using the main space as a lung room.

I would recommend running the two biggest tents you can fit and running them on a flip-flop timing schedule. This will likely solve your lights off temp problems and also allow you to run more lights while reducing the overall ampage load at one time.

Also, instead of 8 1000k's I would run 12 630w LEC's. These are great lights and you will get better coverage (light the room, not the plants). The LEC's also run a cooler which you are really going to appreciate considering your ceilings are VERY LOW. Headroom is going to be a headache for you.

I was going to recommend a layout but I just realized that most tents are taller than 6 1/2ft (Gorilla Tent Lites are 6'7" and the regular Gorilla are 6'11"). Not sure you'll be able to fit a tent with those low ceilings.

I'll wait to hear your thoughts. I would run a dual room flip flop regardless of what you end up doing.

This is a flipflop controller, you use it in combination with a 8-light timer like the Helios8 and you will be able to run 16 lights.
https://www.powerboxinc.com/lsm16.html

Turkey time

And do you think panda film would be a good way to split the area of the two tents?? I just don't want any light leaking into one tent from the other during the others lights off time. Ventilation always seems to carry some degree of lighting through the ducts. Separating the rooms, does this also mean I need two dehumidifiers as well or can I just put one in the main lung?

 

[Bobby Boucher]

The slack is really a non-issue. I personally just pull it up over the top beams from the inside of the tent, and there it sits. The tent fabric should be pretty thick and rigid, so it does a good job of holding itself in place regardless.

Theres nothing wrong with letting it sag either. It just gives you and the plants a little more wiggle room in the tent. My bet is that if you only have to take 2-3" off, there wont be enough slack to "pull back" to begin with.

As far as light proofing goes, I'm no pro. I would personally just install either a dust-shroom or a dark-room louver over every intake and out take of both tents and call it a day. That's just me though, and it's probably bad advice. Panda film in between the two room couldn't hurt. I flip flop between 2 tents manually with the same 600w cooltube using unistrut and trolleys, manually opening and closing ports every 12 hours like a crazy person... so take my advice with a grain of salt.

And as far as where you should cut your poles, that's something you are going to have to figure out for yourself when the time comes. On the larger tents that click together with the little depressible metal buttons, I have had to cut from the vertical pieces which accept the button, from the middle, and bore out new holes to accept the metal buttons.. I'd draw a picture but my head is throbbing.

 

[Rodehazrd]

Hey Budz
I would suggest you decide on the timer before finishing the wire hookup. Romex on the ceiling should not need piping staples in the back wall will be fine. Also you are not talking about that much current a 1k hps is 8 amps. I used the 2246 wire for a 200' run and no issue Aluminum is fine just bigger and you need the goo on the connections. I use dual 15 breakers and run each outlet home run with a 14-3 that gives two circuits for each outlet. Break out the tabs. I just use the cheap plug in timers. Since you ran the ground too you don't need to drive another rod. Keep those outlets high and you will be fine you will mount the ballast up there anyway

 

[Bobby Boucher]

Pics of the cut since I can't explain shit.. It took me a second to figure this one out, I was about to run out for pipe connectors and everything. (I'm dumb.)

Make sure you measure everything twice, there isn't a lot of room for error drilling the pin holes. I don't like doing this kind of work without a good caliper in hand, otherwise it never turns out quite right.

A nice tip for accurately drilling through metal tubing.. notch an "x" with a hacksaw or dremel plum over where you would like to drill your hole beforehand, otherwise your drill bit will try and run away from ya.