Electricity usage, wiring, saftey, and YOU!

[SpartanGrower]

Dude you helped me out with a lot of unanswered, unseen questions on many forums.

I found this power-surge-timer-strip thing that can handle 1725 watts.

I wasnt sure if it was safe to be putting all this crap into it or not, but its safe. (I hope)

Have a look at it:
http://www.htgsupply.com/viewproduct...roductID=54520

[jesuschristo]

Great read, thanks.

[naturalbeginner]

Yea you were definitely right the fundamentals of electrical usage is something everyone who wants to grow, no matter on what scale, should have at least a basic knowledge about.

But one thing i can never seem to get a straight answer on is how much power is too much? any idea's? im saying not too much for a house to handle, but too much where you attract attention, and would be reasonable grounds to have your house raided? i've heard if you have a setup that all together runs 1600-1800 watts you'll be ok if your living in the house and thats not its sole purpose. but then the guy at a local hydroponics store is telling me 30000 wkh a month would be ok too. seems waaay to high as far as i'm concerned, jsut looking for other people opinions. especially if someone has already been busted for amount of power usage, thats exactly the person i think we all need to talk to lol nothing like real life experience, there's all too much speculation with this kinda thing.

Great post btw, people don;t think about the dangers enough. whats was it all for if you end up burning your house down, or worse get in shit by po.

[alejnadro]

i believe i blew out all the lights in my house. well, half of it. i was using 4 75 watt "grow lights" i bought at walmart, each uses 17 watts of energy, plus a 60 watt bulb i also purchased. i was fucking around with the bulb, trying to get it to fit in just right and the i heard the little crack sound you hear when a light goes out, at first i was like " cheap fucking walmart lights" but then i saw that my other lights were out aswell. so i crawled out of my grow space and to my surprise, all the fucking lights are gone. the only light was the one from my computer. i turned off the fuse box and turned it back on and half of the lights came back on, including the A/C. but the outlets closest to my grow room are out. i tried again and again turning off and on the fuses, 4 times in total. and yet those lights are out. and my favorite program comes on today, what a bitch. i connected the lights to a "surge protector" multiple outlet, that connects to a regular outlet. it failed to do what it promised it would do from my view. and now my alarm clock is also out. can anyone help please?

[alejnadro]

problem solved, after reaching my boiling point i decided to bang on the fuse box with my fists, powers back now, i love anger.

[drix224]

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[Rob Zombie]

GREAT thread

Well, what I consider is most important in building the electricity part is figuring out if you're using the right stuff.

Say, the wires! You gotta ask for the propper wire according to the current "A" going through it. Whenever you try to make a stronger current go through a wire that is not suited for it, it will overheat and melt the isolation. As the neutral and positive are normaly side by side... they short-circuit and: a) start a fire; b) drop the switch on your light box. Notice that both could happen.

Also, switches. If you're using switches to flip on one 400W lamp... it draws 3.33 Amps. You go and buy a switch that is made for, lets say, 5 Amps. Then, suddenly, you decide for more light, and instead of getting a new switch for it, you put it in the same wire. You'll be drawing ~6.7 Amps. The switch will overheat, same as the wires. If it's ceramic, it might overheat till it starts a fire below it. If it's plastic, it'll melt and most likely ignite the plastic or short-circuit your wires.

Gotta be really careful with that, since Amps (and Power) drawn from the wall will be determined by the Resistors and Voltage.

The Volts you can't really do much about. It's either 120V, 240V or 380V. Depends on the eletric lines and your house settings.

The Resistance is inherent to the "thing" you're plugging in. I can't simple change the wiring inside a bulb! Or rewire the resistors, capacitors, inductors inside your vacuum cleaner. All you can do is limit the number of devices you plug into a line.

So, the formula is basically:

Volts (Constant) x Amps (Limited by the user, by plugging in more or less devices) = Power (Watts)

I hope this helps a bit.

[Rob Zombie]

Originally Posted by alejnadro

problem solved, after reaching my boiling point i decided to bang on the fuse box with my fists, powers back now, i love anger.

I suggest you install a new disjunctor in your fuse box, and get a new wiring for your grow lights and apparel.

If the switch dropped, it probably means you're drawing more power than it's supposed to. This could start a fire on your walls/roof at the worst scenario. On the best case, you'll have your switch dropping every now and then... Annoying

[M.C.O.]

This is a MUCH needed forum. I work as a lineman ( line trash). Time an again I've had to go cut power to some poor persons house. BECAUSE THEY OVERLOADED a circuit in the house/ garage / barn , An burnt the farm down. Now You an Ma are outdoors with the chickens.There are LOTS of lineman,electricians that blow smoke. If you're in doubt ask one of them. Only dumb question is the one not asked!

[PotPower]

Originally Posted by ricard0

I bet that thing wasn't cheap. They sure are nice to have though. Makes managing loads a breeze

Cost me a total of $700 shipped but I am very happy with it.
The powerbox 1500 GFCI 60 amp with AMP meter!
10x 220v plugs! and 4 120v! and one more 120v times!
I am only using it as a power supply,
Trigger cord connected to a CAP GXC fuzzy logic co2 master controller for my
co2 and cooling timer needs.
=)
I am running 4ga 3 wire with ground to a Subpanel on a 100amp breaker
then from the sub a 70ampGFCI breaker to the power box 1500
another 30amp 120v X 2 gfci outler for the air conditioner.

My electrical should be good I am running everything and ballasts outside of the room.and the powerbox and greenhouse controller in the room

[PhillyBlunts]

Guys. Electricity is dangerous. I have a working knowledge of it because I work with it in my field.

Take ALL the safety tips here EXTREMELY seriously. The potential for burning down your house, fucking up your life, killing someone (yourself, a loved one), and getting busted is huge if you just simply fuck up with some wires.

Know your home! You likely have four wire 120VAC singlephase. In from the street you get three wires from the power company, X Hot, Y Hot, Neutral. The fourth wire, ground, comes from your own property. Ground everything.

You will get 240VAC between BOTH hot legs, 120VAC between hot and neutral. Your mains breaker panel repeats XY legs, hence "240VAC Breakers" are the size of two normal breakers.

If you are just getting started on your grow op: HAVE A LICENSED ELECTRICIAN INSTALL IT. If you want to stick with a "standard plug" system ask him to install a couple of NEMA 5-20R receptacles on SEPARATE CIRCUITS. This is to say that each receptacle is on its own breaker, so each receptacle can provide 20A of power (2.4kW; 2,400W).

Electrical work is not that complicated, if you want to do it yourself BE CAREFUL, GO SLOWLY. You can go to Lowes and pickup everything you need. If you are going to do it, you should understand what you're doing. If you don't know what the colors of the wires mean, don't go any further. Reversing hot and neutral could fry all of your expensive electronic gear (not lights though, just electronics).

[seymor skagneti]

I had someone tell me when he was replacing a section of his water line from the street he got a little shock and his wife came running out saying some stuff in the house was smoking, he told me everything electronic fried, he had just bought alot of new electronics in the year or so previous said it added up to $20,000.00 or so in damage, whoops.

Does this sound possible?

[89fbird]

Quick noob question. Now i do have some experience with electricty from classes in high school but that was years ago. the outlet i want to use doesnt have a ground, but the extention cord does. So can i just put a newer outlet in there?

[nederhead]

This depends on the wiring going to the outlet. There was a time (1960's) when grounded wire was used but the outlets that were installed did not have a ground. Usually, the electricians that wired the home looped the extra ground wire around the nail that secured the electrical box to the stud, running only the hot(black) and neutral (white) into the box. If you want to investigate you can; 1) shut-off power at breaker to outlet. 2) remove the outlet and look for ground wires in the box. 3.) If you still don't see bare ground wires in the box you can confirm by removing cover panel of breaker box; you would see a lack of bare ground wires in the panel (confirming a lack of grounded wiring in the home) or many visible bare ground wires (confirming grounded wiring but no grounded outlets). If you have non-grounded wiring. You may want to have an electrican run some new dedicated circuits for your project if possible. If you do find grounds you can install a new grounded receptacle, with the hot, neutral, and ground wires connected to the outlet. In the event you put a regular three prong outlet in the wall. Plug in a power strip with surge protection, etc.

[JDtotha]

very good info