quick question for any electricians or hobbyists

[AlterEgo860]

ok I was replacing my hoods and going barebulb.. and I realized I need more outlets to plug shit in .. inside my grow room.. well then I remembered.. that in the ceiling there was a 2 bulb 6foot flouresent light fixture with ballast.. hooked up to a switch in the room that I haven't used in years.. I was thinking I can use the existing wires and everything to make an outlet.. on a switch instead of the ballast/light being on the switch.. this cant be very hard.. can anyone help me with this.. I just want to make sure I don't fuck this up.. I was just going to take it all out .. but then I realized that If I can switch it to outlets.. I will be able to plug my shit in right above them instead of using extension cords..

 

[Mr Blah]

Can be done but most light wiring are done on 14/2 wire. Any other lights/switches on that run or is that the only light from the breaker/fuse?

 

[SRGB]

AlterEgo860:

quick question for any electricians or hobbyists

ok I was replacing my hoods and going barebulb.. and I realized I need more outlets to plug shit in .. inside my grow room.. well then I remembered.. that in the ceiling there was a 2 bulb 6foot flouresent light fixture with ballast.. hooked up to a switch in the room that I haven't used in years.. I was thinking I can use the existing wires and everything to make an outlet.. on a switch instead of the ballast/light being on the switch.. this cant be very hard.. can anyone help me with this.. I just want to make sure I don't fuck this up.. I was just going to take it all out .. but then I realized that If I can switch it to outlets.. I will be able to plug my shit in right above them instead of using extension cords..


Hi, AlterEgo860.

We are not electricians, though we have a moderate amount of experience with electronics and electrical circuitry. We would suggest, at the least, consideration of electing for a certified electrician to review and perform such tasks. There might be aspects of the circuitry that is not immediately observable by the lay person or `hobbyist`. If, perhaps, the gardener has already put adequate resources into acquisition of multiple luminares, they might also allocate some adeqaute amount of resources to proper installation of high voltage equipment. Perhaps at least three important points that might be considered, one mentioned by Mr Blah.

Extension cords should perhaps be avoided entirely, if possible. Extended and exclusive use of extension cords to power heavy and constant load equipement might be a source for potential build up of heat at the connection points, and possible bends in the cords.

Not employing exclusive or expansive use of extension cords might also deter the gardener from making the run from the power source to the output too lengthy, and prevent the extension cords from becoming tangled, twisted or otherwise creating a heat sink - which could occur without the gardener actually noticing the arc in a line until they observe the results; i.e.g., singing or actual melting of materials around the outlet.

Note that the initial voltage generally required to ignite an HID, or multiple HID`s, can be considerably greater than the running voltage. It is perhaps when the HID`s fire up that capacitors can become damaged or fail, or the prongs in the outlet could become a heat sink - especially if there are long cords leading to a distant, or multiple distant outputs.

Perhaps 12/3 guage wire might be equipment possible worthy of looking in to. If the run was originally designed for ordinary flourescent output, the run might only be 14 or or 16 guage wiring. Simply placing an outlet at the end of a 16 guage run will not convert th run into one designed for high voltage and heavy constant loads - especially if the output are heavy amperage 1k luminaires.

If in the design and consideration stages, it might be beneficial to simply design the entire set of new runs from scratch, directly from new breakers to each luminaires. 1 15 or ideally 20 amp breaker for each luminaire, unless running 220/240 voltage, in which instance the amperage would be approximately half that of 110/120 voltage. The start up amperage/voltage required to fire an HID could still be substantial.

If the room had not been used in some time, it might be practical to check the integrity of the existing runs. Not to post that this might be the case, but critters could have gnawed on the runs inside of the walls, or ceiling, bends could be in the run, or there could be shorts, or brittle parts of the run. It might be advantageous to look into the entirety of the run - inside of walls and ceilings - again, especially if installing either a single, or multiple HID`s.

`Wiring Simplified` might be a book available at most, if not all hardware shops. It might be a good read and review prior to embarking on an attempt to rewire existing electrical circuitry for high voltage devices and heavy loads. Again, simply wiring an outlet to the end of a 14 or 16 guage run might not change the application capacity of that those guages of wiring.

Perhaps your initial thought to `take it all out` was probably a sound idea. Allocating resources for an actual electrician to review, estimate and perhaps install a run for the applications that you may be considering, might additionally be considered.

It might not be impossible to `do it yourself`, however, if unaccustomed to builting runs from scratch, from the service box to the eventual loads, placing patches on or simply replacing existing flourescent fixtures with outlets, might not take into consideration what that particular run was designed for, that is, the capacity of the wiring. Extension cords might be avoided if possible, especially with large, continuous loads. There might be several potential points of failure in such a prolonged configuration, two being the plug prongs going into the outlet itself, and the tendency of extension cords to have bends in them - and that they might simply be overly lengthy, potentially directly affecting the ability of electron flow to the output.

We normally attempt to limit our discussion on such matters, as, again, we are not electricians; though we have posted about similar concerns previously, if only to alert a gardener to twisted power cords. The major issue is that the gardener might not notice heat build within the cords, possibly fostering the culmination of potentially hazardous conditions for both the gardener, their family, material goods and surrounding environment - when the potential adverse situations might possibly have been prevented by preliminary sound consideration and allocation of matching resources to install high load devices.

We hope that this post might be helpful.

Best,
/SRGB/

 

[AlterEgo860]

very helpful thanks a lot.. then I have one question.. and honestly I have a friend who I can call who is electrician but i don't want him to know i grow.. so its either rewire it.. and make it into something useful or.. leave it be .. only if leaving it alone wont fuckin cause a fire or anything stupid if say the switch was accidentaly hit.

just if I leave a flouro ballast and light fixture setup empty with no bulbs.. and just make sure the switch never turns on.. will it cause any issues.

it says on the ballast itself that its a 120v setup. not sure much else i guess i could take a look wen i get time.

 

[nuggiespl]

Very easy, most likely it is 14/2 so it's good for 80% of 15 amps. Turn the breaker of that feeds that light. When u do this u will also be able to find out what else that circuit powers. Then remove the switch and wire nut the wire connected to the top of the switch to the wire connected to the bottom of the switch. There should be an electrical box that feeds the light, at that box install ur recpt there, or install another box close by and route the wire accordingly. Be careful depending on what other wires are in box that feeds the light, there may be other hot wires in there. I would def recommend having a sparky do it. Should only be 15-30 min job tops.

Good luck
Nugs

 

[AlterEgo860]

I figured it out yesterday. just popped the breaker.. an left it that way. lol . easy fix.. now instead of having to install lights when I revert the room back to living space.. I can just get 2 see threw drop ceiling pieces pop 2 bulbs in that bitch.. and turn the breaker on.. so that's solved..