Will this electrical setup work?

[gsxxer]

The main room where the growbox is has its own 20 A circuit, and each 1k is plugged into a different outlet...so that is 2000 watts on a 20 A wich is putting it right at 80% cap, so thats it on that one, should be fine right?

This is the part im not sure about, there is a laundery room right next to room the grow is in, so im going to put an extension cord in there and run it throught the wall and then plug a surge protector powerstrip into that for the other 1k, fans and pumps. 400 hps...

there would only be 4 ft of extension cord, but what gauge or type would i need?

and would i be able to plug an extension cord off of that to run all those things? I mean there would be 1750 watts at max on this 20 A circuit.

so maybe i could run 2 extension cords from the laundry room, each with there own surge protector powerstrips to evenly disperse the stuff so its not on one line?

any suggestions??

 

[Guest]

#12 AWG is it. 10AWG will be better 12AWG less than 100'= 20 AMPS 10 AWG=30 AMPS

 

[MTF-Sandman]

The main room where the growbox is has its own 20 A circuit, and each 1k is plugged into a different outlet...so that is 2000 watts on a 20 A wich is putting it right at 80% cap, so thats it on that one, should be fine right?

Ummm...no it's not cool. A 1K draws about 9.2a during normal operation, but about 10.0a while starting up. 80% of 20 is 16a...which you're well in excess of.

This is the part im not sure about, there is a laundery room right next to room the grow is in, so im going to put an extension cord in there and run it throught the wall and then plug a surge protector powerstrip into that for the other 1k, fans and pumps. 400 hps...

there would only be 4 ft of extension cord, but what gauge or type would i need?

and would i be able to plug an extension cord off of that to run all those things? I mean there would be 1750 watts at max on this 20 A circuit.

so maybe i could run 2 extension cords from the laundry room, each with there own surge protector powerstrips to evenly disperse the stuff so its not on one line?

any suggestions??

You'll be better off just creating a 30a/240v subpanel and running it off the dryer plug from that room with 10/3 wire or drop a new 30a/240v circuit into your grow room from the main panel. Extension cords may work, but they are asking for trouble since most of them aren't rated for the draw of a 1K...

 

[gsxxer]

its a small washer and dryer, so the plug isnt 240v, its all 120v...and i dont need to the extension cord to be that long, but what kind is rated for 1k?

worst comes to worst i have another 20 A circuit dedicated if i need it, but would be more of a pain, and would like to do it with 40 A...

any other suggestions?

 

[gsxxer]

Is there a way i can get a 240v 40Amp sub-panel instaled??

i dont have any 240v outlets anywhere, but can i still get one installed?

and if i only have 20 amp circuits would i be able to get a 240v 30Amp sub-panel installed?

 

[Keefhead]

A qualified electrician may be abe to determine which phase the lines are, and whether the wire gauge is adequate for a 220 system. 220 reduces your current requorements by 1/2, and that allows a bit more leeway in the wiring.

Nobody here can see your panel, the gauge wire, the wiring, or other information. So nobody can be of any REAL help. We just wish we could. An electrican at your house can set up the wiring for your "paint room" in a matter of an hour or so. Call one.

And wishes for a successful setup and grow.

 

[MTF-Sandman]

Is there a way i can get a 240v 40Amp sub-panel instaled??

i dont have any 240v outlets anywhere, but can i still get one installed?

and if i only have 20 amp circuits would i be able to get a 240v 30Amp sub-panel installed?

Yeah...Just have an electrician drop a 6/3 wire to the room off a 50a/240v breaker and get a spa subpanel to put on the end of it. If they ask any questions, tell him you're putting in a server rack for your web business. A new circuit like that is probably gonna run around $200-250 plus parts (about $100). I don't know of a single residence in north america that doesn't have a 240v main so it's definitely doable.

 

[Keefhead]

Exactly what I did, spa setup - 50 amp service. About $200.00 in parts, and a contractor buddy did the wiring.

Wiring is no place to learn. One mistake and you could have a fire, and unless its on the end of a joint, it's bad.

 

[UNREGISTRD]

Exactly what I did, spa setup - 50 amp service. About $200.00 in parts, and a contractor buddy did the wiring.

Wiring is no place to learn. One mistake and you could have a fire, and unless its on the end of a joint, it's bad.

Yes ur running an indoor spa! thats very common these days! u can hire any electricaion to do that for u no question asked!

BUtt ahh on the other hand dude that schematic willNOT work!
U cant run 2 1k's on 1circuit...a 1k and a 600 is ok but not 2k's

 

[gsxxer]

yeah i rethinked situations and i am going to put each 1k on its own 20amp breaker, if i dont get a sub panel installed.

you think the guy will believe that a spa? or painroom, lol maybe...im in LA, mostl likely it will be some shady fool that will know exaclty what im doin once they take one look at me and 3 months later no more plants..lol maybe im just being scetch, i gotta find some really old fool, old chinese fool..yes..

instead of puting extension cords in the outlets, what if i just get 12/6 gauge wire, and tap into the outlet and run that through the wall where the growroom is and wire it to an outlet so it will look like a normal socket, would that be more safe than an actual extension cord?

i just got this electrical book and it shows me how to tap into it and ground it and shit, so as long as i match the wire up in the wall to what i use for the extension i should be fine right?

 

[gsxxer]

This is what is says on the actual breaker: cu/AL 60-75*c wire
Amps 15-35 40 40-50
Awg 14-6 8 6-4
In LBS 25 40 45

so that means i can get the black and white 14 gauge and tap into the outlet with that?

 

[MTF-Sandman]

You don't have to have the electrician put in outlets...he can just run the wire out a gang box and you can finish it out by attaching a subpanel yourself. There's really not too much to electrical work and with a $20 book from your local home improvement store anyone can do it safely unless they are braindead or mentally retarded (no offense to the tards out there ).

That breaker is a 15a though, so you really shouldn't run more than a 1K and a couple of fans or pumps off each circuit. You can also run some 14/2 (14 gauge, 2 conductor + ground) wire from another outlet through the wall (and yes it would be much safer) but it's probably gonna be more hassle than getting a new 50a/240v drop installed.

Just because it's a spa sized subpanel doesn't mean you have to have a spa hooked up to it. I've setup 50a/240v circuits like that with multiple 20a/120v circuits for computer rooms that needed several circuits with fault tolerance in case a breaker trips/fails as many servers have multiple power supplies and the owners can't afford to have a server go offline while they are away.

Most electricians really don't give a shit as long as you pay them in cash anyway...just don't have a grow going when you have him come over and you'll be fine.

 

[Guest]

This is what is says on the actual breaker: cu/AL 60-75*c wire copper/aluminium Temp C
Amps 15-35 40 40-50- Amperage
Awg 14-6 8 6-4- wire size
In LBS 25 40 45- torque

 

[gsxxer]

the number on the break says 15-35, but the actualy breakers are all 20 amps, so i can still use 14/2 with for that?

im not going to be at this place for long, so i think im just going to try tapping into the outlet from the next room...i know everything is pretty simple, its just the electricity that scares me, ive been shocked a couple of times, and one time the shit went all down the right side of my body and face, it wasnt just a shock, so im a little sketch

im going to be tapping into the bathroom outlet next to the growroom also, and its a CGFI, but that doesnt mean i need to run the extension a CFGI...because im going to get Arc fault circuit interupter (AFCI) breakers for two of them, the bedroom already has one. But i dont need CGFI right, because its too sensitive?

I remember reading that the room should be ground faulted, so you buy a ground fault receptacle...is this necessary?

also i read about needing a "pig tail" with an overload breaker in it..do i need that?

i want it to be safe as possible

thanks

 

[MTF-Sandman]

Got a pic of the breaker? Usually the amperage is marked on the breaker's lever, so all that 15-35 stuff doesn't sound right IMO. If it's a 20a breaker, it must have 12 gauge wire (normally yellow jacketed) to meet NEC code for North America.

If you're only doing a grow or two in this place, then I'd probably go with heavy duty extension cords rated for at least 20a usage and run them from several rooms.

If you piggy back off a GFCI, then all the subsequent outlets will be protected by the original GFCI. GFCI is actually much more stable than AFCI...which is why my local electrical inspectors don't require AFCI in bedrooms due to all the false trips...even though it's national code. Don't worry about the overload breaker unless you're going to try to squeeze every possible amp out of that outlet.

 

[gsxxer]

yeah pulled out one of my sockets today and looked at and it had like 10 wires all hooked up ...orangel, yellow, whit, green...but there was no black..nothing like the pictures i have seen, it was the CGFI one, maybe its diff...

but i realized piggy backing off the outlets was not as easy as i thought it was going to be, espically since im only going to be here 6 months..

one of the extension cords only needs to be 4 feet, the other one will need to be like 8ft..so its not alot of length...

and i know i get a ballast cord 15' or it might come with it not sure...but that would long enough to go through the wall and plug into the outlets them self, but then i would have to have a timer on each of those outlets and that would include on in the bathroom, so they would be pretty visible, plus i would feel wierd having all the timers at diff locations.

so say i run an appropiate gauge extension cord into the next room, then i plug a surge protector power strip into that, then i timer into one of the slots, then the light plugged into that...they other empty outlets will be used for pumps on fans, but not all on that same one, because i will run 2 diff cords with 2 diff powerstrips and the pumps and fans will be evenly dispersed.

will this be fine? i saw sun system sells a 15' extension for there ballast, and its basically an extension cord, of course you need there special plugs to fit the adapter, so why is it so bad to run an extension if there selling you one.

I know its not good, im just curious..even in the electrical book i got it said never use and extension cord as a permanent connection, but i guess its talking about most people who dont know about electric that thhink they can just run an extension cord for everything.

nothing can just go up in flames right, there will be warning signs like plastic burning smell and extra hot wires and stuff? as long as i go around all the time and touch each timer and connection to make sure its not heating up thats the only thing that can happen right?

 

[MTF-Sandman]

The only thing that scares me about that setup is the surge strip. There are surge strips that can handle the load, but most of the cheapies aren't intended for prolonged use with 1K even though they are rated for it.

Unfortunately things can just go up in flames though, so double check everything with volt meters and you should be fine.

 

[gsxxer]

How do i use a volt meter...like after i plug the surge strip into the outlet, i put the volt meter into an outlet on the surge protector and it will tell me how many watts it can handle?'

i have never used one of this but am willing to buy whatever testers i need.

 

[gsxxer]

would this be too heavy duty? http://www.hammondmfg.com/1589.htm

i would need a 20amp one since its on a 20 amps circuit i think, but the male plug looks weird if you notice the bottom pic...it uses 12/3 g, so i would have to find an extension cord with that gauge and a normal male end plug to plug into the outlet, and then a female recepticle that has that same design as that 20amp breaker, but they probably dont sell cords that have 2 different ends like that so i have to just get a female end piece and wire it myself on an open end 12/3 g extension cord? im pretty phaded, sorry if i dont make more sense

 

[gsxxer]

http://cableorganizer.com/power-extensions/ this thing seems perfect for what i need right? its CFGI and already has outlets attached

what do you guys think?