Running electrical line to attic - need advice

[MrDanky]

If you replace some of those full size breakers with slimline breakers, you can make room for a new 240v breaker. Stick a 40 amp 240 volt breaker in there, run up to a small subpanel in the attic and you'll be set with all the power you'll ever need.

...and then you won't have to disconnect the a/c.

PC

the house is rented... do you think i run a chance of running into some trouble when i move out of the house and there is a bunch of slimline breakers in the breakerbox and an extra 40amp breaker in there that leads to the attic? the guy who owns this house that im renting lives in the same city as me, and im pretty sure he is on the up and up with this house as he once lived in it... the house is meticulously kept...

would it make more sense for me to just unhook the AC line, or should I say fuck it and just make room in the panel for an extra 40amps...

who knows, maybe he would be happy that I ran the extra power up there? only reason why it doesnt seem feasable is because to get to this attic you have to go thru some small ass hidden door and crawl up to the attic...

or also, who knows, maybe this can be a good house for me to do it up in for a couple years? i just moved in a week ago... tryin to get this show on the road

 

[madpenguin]

Looks like an old plaster and lathe house but I see some 50's era romex. One of which looks like a multiwire branch circuit where the red conductor is just wirenutted off and unused....

DO NOT throw that circuit that was on the 15A breaker onto a 20A breaker like you were talking about. I'm going to gracefully step out of this one as I'm afraid your a little in over your head, atleast with regards to converting existing circuits.

Looks like you already have one tandem breaker in the panel, I'd buy 2 more and free up a space for a 40A DP breaker as PC suggests. And I seriously doubt there is fire blocking in that house just from judging by the look of the construction. If the house was built in the 40's or 50's, then yea.... You might run into fireblocking in the stud areas.

Try the drop chain and #8AWG on a 40A DP breaker. Install a MLO panelboard in the attic and your set, as PC already suggested. Don't mess with any of those existing wires unless you know what your doing.

 

[MrDanky]

fffffffffffffffffffff

 

[MrDanky]

Looks like an old plaster and lathe house but I see some 50's era romex.
its def an old house, when it was built, i have no idea... im guessing the 40s

One of which looks like a multiwire branch circuit where the red conductor is just wirenutted off and unused....

DO NOT throw that circuit that was on the 15A breaker onto a 20A breaker like you were talking about. I'm going to gracefully step out of this one as I'm afraid your a little in over your head, atleast with regards to converting existing circuits. ill take your word for it!

Looks like you already have one tandem breaker in the panel, I'd buy 2 more and free up a space for a 40A DP breaker as PC suggests. And I seriously doubt there is fire blocking in that house just from judging by the look of the construction. If the house was built in the 40's or 50's, then yea.... You might run into fireblocking in the stud areas.

Try the drop chain and #8AWG on a 40A DP breaker. Install a MLO panelboard in the attic and your set, as PC already suggested. Don't mess with any of those existing wires unless you know what your doing.

ok id love to install the DP breaker, but I actually went ahead and bought one of these a while back and wanted to use it... its plug and play and connects to a 30 amp dryer hookup... lets me use up to 4- 240v outlets and 2 120v outlets

http://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/30-amp-240v-power-box-p-1397.html

 

[Lord Doobie]

LMAO @ rented...
There's no need to ever do this and you aren't going to get rich....just busted

 

[PharmaCan]

That breaker in the photo is a slimlime type breaker. It is for 2 x 120v. It replaces two of the larger breakers.

If you do the wiring in the panel correctly, when you leave you can just take out the wire and leave the 40 amp breaker in there. That way you don't have any big holes in the dead panel staring at you. The landlord would probably never notice and, if he did, would probably just wonder wtf the 40 amp circuit was used for. But everything would work just like it does now, so he probably wouldn't pursue the matter. It's like, why bother?

If you set up a good grow in the attic, you're going to have a lot of tearing down to do when/if you move, so it's not like uninstalling your electrical work would be any big deal; more like just another item on your list.

Madpenguin has a good point. Working on a panel can be very dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. You can buy a book that tells you how to do most of the other wiring, but it really would be a good idea to get an electrician to do the wiring in the panel.

PC

 

[MrDanky]

LMAO @ rented...
There's no need to ever do this and you aren't going to get rich....just busted

hey first and foremost..

how dare you go into someones thread and mention anything about getting busted... that deserves nothing but bad karma your way... you FUCKER

 

[MrDanky]

lord doobie is a loser who is hated by his entire family and will always be a loser living in his apartment his whole life instead of living in a home. fuckin loser.

 

[Sam the Caveman]

Thats really lame to make a blanket statement like that, I'd be willing to bet half of the people on here that grow rent their home. Renting a home is usually much safer and more private than renting an apartment.

If he were my renter, I'd be happy he was making an effort to not burn down my house.

Even if he has to take it down when he moves, it will still be worth it. I'm doing some work in my attic atm and am moving in a year. It will have to come down, so what, even if I only go one round, it will be worth it for me. Or I could just leave it and say it has climate controlled attic space, mylar walled, dome tunnel ceiling, ok, bad idea, its coming down.

Its a free standing structure, except for the a/c mount and is designed to be taken down easily.

More power to ya MrDanky

 

[robbiedublu]

pharmacan, thanks alot for all of the time you have put in with my matter... i really appreciate that there is someone like you out there willing to help someone like me out, and not just pop in like lorddoobie and say haha your going to get busted... fuck that dude.. anyways, i have a buddy who knows whats up with electrical and i can trust with knowing whats going on here.. he's an old schooler - in his 50's... anyways, i just came here to icmag to gather some thoughts and different routes, and pharmacan, and MP, you guys helped me out alot... im just planning things out right now, cuz if you fail to plan, plan to fail... someone on here has that quote in their signiture and i like it. and to lorddoobie, i guarantee i can grow 10x the quality smoke as you... ive been growing for 8 years now, all in different settings... this current setup happens to be my most challenging because of the electrical and it being in an attic... all of it of course is nothing i cannot handle. ive mastered every other grow, and i know i will master this one.. ill be sure to post some stuff up when i get it going. i plan on having it all setup by the middle of the week. once again, thanks to all who help, and to lordoobie, may negative karma be bestowed upon your shallow soul for even mentioning anyhting about me getting busted... thats just wrong

If you're so experienced why are you afraid to bust out and then patch a little drywall?? Just asking. Your question just doesn't make sense for someone with such extensive growing experience in so many different settings. I'm not trying to start shit with you, just speculating on the possible reason someone may have thought you were in over your head.

 

[MrDanky]

If you're so experienced why are you afraid to bust out and then patch a little drywall?? Just asking. Your question just doesn't make sense for someone with such extensive growing experience in so many different settings. I'm not trying to start shit with you, just speculating on the possible reason someone may have thought you were in over your head.

i know i can get around busting out drywall... in my experience, repairing drywall is something that I would rather avoid.. yeah its simple, but its something that I just dont want to have to do. not only would i have to drywall it, but id have to go and find the matching paint... its alot of BS...

...experience taught me to avoid any damage if at all possible...

and lucky enough for me, it is possible to avoid damage in this situation...

 

[PharmaCan]

If he were my renter, I'd be happy he was making an effort to not burn down my house.

ROFLMAO - Yeah, I guess you would!

Mr Danky - If you are going to make a room in your attic, you should look at rigid insulation. It would be a piece of cake to make walls out of it, just attach it together with thin slats; it provides great R value that you need in the attic; it would be easy to take down and it's not expensive.

PC

 

[MrDanky]

^ sounds good... i WILL look into it.. thanks for everything PC

 

[MrDanky]

so i ended up getting a good friend over.... he hooked it up like crazy. he is a master electrician - he brought over everything i needed... i sent him the picture of the breaker box and told him what i needed and he brought over all of the slimline breakers, the dryer recepticle, and he cleared up enough space for a double pole 30amp breaker.. i just had to buy the 10-3 wire... the greatest thing the guy did was he found an old clothes shoot that was boarded up and we ended up dropping the line straight down the old shoot... i was so freakin extatic about that... it was almost meant to be... ill snap you guys some pictures...

so now i have 30 amps of power in my attic, thanks for all who put some input in...

 

[KermitTheHermit]

^^^Nothing like working with a pro!

 

[cashmunny]

The first thing that comes to mind is a very heavy duty extension cord. Maybe two 50 footers daisy chained. As thick as you can get. Like a 100 ft 8 gauge extension. You can check the voltage at each end and make sure you aren't getting a significant loss which would indicate resistive heating of the extension cord. I bet you wouldn't get much loss if you bought the monster 8 gauge $100 extension cord.