Electrical Questions Answered Here + Ohm's Law Chart

Discussion in 'Grow Room Design/Setup' started by Sativanya, Apr 7, 2010.

  1. #1 Sativanya, Apr 7, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 7, 2010
    I do allot of electrical work by trade, so I wanted to start this thread to help people out in a safe way, and to understand electricity a bit better. Feel free to ask your question no matter how noob it is, it's better to be safe.

    This Chart will let you find out anything you need to know about how much power all your stuff is using. If you need help to understand it, feel free to ask questions.
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  2. #2 Sativanya, Apr 7, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: May 11, 2010
    Quick Amp Draw Reference At 120v:

    250W - 2amps
    400w - 3.3amp
    600w - 5amp
    1000w - 8.3amp

    At 240v:

    250w - 1amp
    400w - 1.6amp
    600w - 2.5amp
    1000w - 4.1amp
    How Lights Work - CFLweasel


    When trying to power your computer fans, muffin fans, whatever, always match the voltage and never just wire it straight to a plug and stick it in the wall, the wires will get red hot or explode. Old cell phone chargers work great, here is some pictures to show you what to look for:

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  3. +REP for sharing good usefull practical info, and an open offer to take on questions.

    Not many people seem to take advantage of such a good offer IMHO, but I will ;)

    Would you mind taking a look at my "how light works" thread and telling me if you think my explanation of iron core ballasts is pretty solid? I used to be an electronics major about 10 years ago. I lasted about a year but I haved too much trouble doing the math that goes along with alternating current.

    Please let me know what you thing. As an added note: I'll be adding much much more info whenever I get some more time, but as for now, I'm back at school for my bachelor's so I'm wicked busy :)

    CHEERS!

    -Weasel
     
  4. if you're taking electrical questions i have a lot. :)
    im trying to run a grow setup completely off of deep cycle batteries. after going through it a bunch of times i came up with the best way would be to have a small solar panel that would charge one of the batteries, and the grow would be running on another battery. i could simply go out there and alternate the two when needed. would this even be possible with maybe double the amount of batteries? sorry for sort of invading your thread but you said you were taking questions so you got them now. ps. you should look at my thread, its located in this same forum(grow room design/setup)
    thanks
     
  5. How many watts are you running? Once you have that then you can figure out how big of a solar panel you need and batteries. It's going to be an expensive investment. Why not invest in an outdoor greenhouse and use the suns light? Or is this the only option?
     
  6. #6 Sativanya, Apr 8, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 10, 2010
    How Light Works has amazing information and tons of detail. You explain not only the ballast but everything else so people understand the science behind everything, which I find very interesting.
     
  7. i would like to have two 125watt CFLs, intake and exhaust fan, timer. that might be all. not a lot of watts. but my plan is to get to have batteries powering the system through a 1250w power inverter. then if possible have something hooked up to the batteries so they will always stay charged. something like a solar panel or a small honda gas generator, its very quiet and runs on about 1.8 gallons of fuel for 24 hours. but i wouldnt need to run it all the time.
     
  8. should i just take power off the gas generator and run it 24/7 and attach it to a bigger boat gas tank or something. or should i get a battery and just use the generator to keep them charged. could i even run a generator 24/7?
     
  9. I would say generator 24/7, investing in a diesel generator would pay off in fuel over time and last longer. Those things can run forever. The thing with batteries is they take allot of power to charge, and they won't give back what you put into them. So your basically loosing power trying to store it. If you invested in a huge solar panel and the energy was free and not from a generator I can see it being cost effective over time but that's a huge initial investment.
     
  10. thanks for all the help. idk if im going to be able to pull this one off. a quiet diesel generator is too expensive, along with solar, and batteries are a waste of time. the gas generator would cost over 3 grand to run 24/7 for 100 days. i think im at the end of my rope
     
  11. thats not alot of power to be using you shouldnt be worried about power comsuption but if you want to spend less on power get the solar panels i hear you can get tax rebates on some a 2 kw system would cost about 3-5 grand but the amount of power you get back is awsome in savings
     
  12. Mobluntz- I too once considered using deep cycle batteries to power a grow, but gave up once I realized that the conversion of watts to watts is a little unforgiving when you have to step from 12VDC to 120VAC. My Idea involved installing a heavy duty alternator and a deep cycle battery or two in my truck, and charging them with the huge ammount of driving I do every day anyway, then taking them out at night to use. Like I said, the numbers just didn't add up in ,my favor. I too became disappointed and turned to the thought of using a small genertor. After weeks of compulsing and studying I gave up and decided it wasn't worth it, although your goals seem a bit more reasonable than mine were. If you indeed only want a couple hundred watts of fluoro- you might get there yet.... I'm guessing this is gonna be in a shed in the middle of nowhere where noise doesn't matter?


    Also- I would strongly recommend if you buy a gasoline generator to be mindful of 2 things:

    1) Many smaller gasoline generators (especially the cheaper ones) use 2-stroke engines. If you're not sure what I'm talking about that means they are the type you add about a shot glass of special oil per gallon of gasoline. They do not have oil filters or require oil changes. There are many other critical differences I won't discuss. That's not the bad part though: these engines are basically like dirt bike, go-kart, or chainsaw engines. As such they are noisier than generators equipped with so called "four stroke" engines. If you're trying to be low-key a noisy generator is not on the list. Many, many cheap genaerators of various sizes use the 2stroke engine because it is cheaper and simpler. Although you should note that even the nicer honda generators tend to come with 2stroke engines for the lower wattages. which leads me to my next point.

    2) DON'T disappoint yourself by buying a cheap generator. I have admitted a few times on here that I am cheap as hell, but this is one of the few things that's worth doing correctly the first time and saving the headache. Buy a generator from honda, or at least one with a reputable AMERICAN brand-name motor such as briggs and stratton. The cheap generators you can buy out there are just that- cheap. They break. You'll see them blown up for cheap on craigslist all the time, but you never see the good ones for sale broken. That should also tell you something...


    as a final note- if you go ahead and do this, I suggest you stick to fluorescent lighting only. Also, be mindful that all lamps, both HID and Fluoro alike need to use more power than their rated wattages for the first few seconds to a minute or so when starting up. So: make sure your generator has more power than you need. I can't tell you how much more, but study the specific needs of your lamps first and do the best you can. Ask the manufacturer what the "starting current" or "starting watts" of the lamp is, if it's not already listed. I'm guessing it's 25-30% more then the normal operating current/wattage of the lamp, so plan on accomodating that.

    Some generators will list 2 wattages: continuous and peak. This makes your calculations easier because you would only need to omake sure the "peak" wattage of the generator was the same or greater than the starting combined starting wattage of your lighting setup.

    My suspicion is that you'll come to find you're going to spend more money on gasoline than the herb you get would cost you to simply "buy" :( that's why I never did it that way.

    Generating power is a costly venture no matter what your needs are. The cheapest way to buy anything is in bulk, and power is no different. If you price out all the different ways to get your hands on usable electricity the local power co. is always king because they can generate megawatts of power in a system designed to do so with overwhelming efficiency (nuclear power I assume) and sell you what you need. I know people bitch about the power companies rates no matter where they live, but compare it to the alternative and you're forced to concede that they most assuredly are, still passing the savinbgs on to you....

    I face a similar dilemna and had to find my own way out, but it didn't involve a generator, I simply bought a new lcd tv for way less than a generator. The electricity I calculated I was saving was almost enough to run a 150W HPS with no overall change in the monthly utility biull. If your real issue is keeping the bill exactly the sae from momth to month after you kickoff a small grow, I'd recommend you check ts one out?:

    http://forum.grasscity.com/general-...offsetting-your-electric-bill-save-money.html

    CHEERS!

    -Weasel
     
  13. thanks for all the info weasel. i was going to go with a generator but like you said i figured it would cost be about 3 grand to run it for 3 months. i'm planning on using just plain old deep cycle batteries. 2 of them hooked up with a parallel to get me about 280 AH. then i will swap them with the two i have charging inside every 2-3 days. it doesnt seem that bad, but then again i havent done it yet. im sure it will have its own set of problems
     
  14. I am building a room in my garage...there are 3 (possibly 4) 3 prong outlets. I'm wondering:

    How do I figure out what circuit each individual outlet is on (I'm assuming all on the same. One?)

    Second if I'm going to be running either 3 600w or 4 400w lights/ballasts. What am ik going to need to do to make sure they all work and I don't short the place out? (Have an electrician come out and add/ change outlets?)

    Sorry if this is a rookie ?, I really am clueless here. Thank you!
     
  15. I am building a room in my garage...there are 3 (possibly 4) 3 prong outlets. I'm wondering:

    How do I figure out what circuit each individual outlet is on (I'm assuming all on the same. One?)

    Second if I'm going to be running either 3 600w or 4 400w lights/ballasts (total in the vegging and flowering room combined...) . What am I going to need to do to make sure they all work and I don't short the place out? (Have an electrician come out and add/ change outlets?)

    Sorry if this is a rookie ?, I really am clueless here. Thank you!
     
  16. The best thing to do is get a lamp and plug it into each outlet, then flick the breakers one by one and get a buddie to yell over to you when the light goes out. Or use a radio and turn it up loud, and when you here it go off you know you found the right circuit. You can run 4 400w lights on a 15amp circuit and it will only draw a bit over 13 amps. With 3 600w your right smack on 15 amps so 2 circuits would be a must. If you had 2, 15 amp circuits you could run all your lights and any fans you might need without problems or worrying about breakers popping.
     
  17. #18 BrodMan Organics, Apr 13, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 13, 2010


    Thank You!!! That's very interesting to know I can run all that off 2 circuits.

    Now I just have to figure that out, and if there's not one am I sol? Or is there a way to add a 2nd circuitor in the garage, or is there a way to add a higher amp circuit?
     
  18. Adding another circuit would involve running another wire over to the garage from your breaker panel. You can put a higher amp circuit in there but I doubt the wire is the corrrect guage to handle the amps. I personaly would run a 10/2 guage wire over there and have it hooked up to a 30amp breaker so I could run my whole room off the one circuit. Another option would be buying a 240V ballast instead of a 120v. Reason being they draw 1/2 the amps and you could run it all off the 15, only thing is you need a 240v outlet. To add another circuit in there you could always run an extension cord from another room.
     
  19. im doing something similar. So do we need to have an electrian come out to put in multiple circuits? Is there no plug in with built in circuit breakers that i could buy? I will be running 3 600W lights, some cfl lights for my clones, and 3 intake fans. Lots of power so i dont want to short everything. Theres nothing i can buy to plug into my wall outlet that will do what im looking for? or i NEED to get an electrician?

    thanks a lot for the help everyone!
     

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