Ok, I have a 250w hps right now, a cfl and a fan. All hooked up into my grow area. I went to plug in the 400w hps and it cut out all the power! I had to go push the button in on an outlet, so that it would come back on. I know the wiring was done right. We even checked them all with the little do-hickey and its all right. Why is my 400w not turning on, and killing all the power in the area that its in?? Its a brand new everything, light, ballast, everything... If its something about power... What can I do??? I cant have someone like an electrician come here, and I dont know anyone... Please someone tell me Im not stuck with growing with a 250w
Your house or apartment has breakers for each room, or for each couple of rooms. I grew in a building that was about 100 years old, and if I plugged everything into the same power strip, then it was all on the same breaker, and it would cut off. I solved the problem by running an extension cord down the edge of the hallway so I could plug some stuff into the breaker in the grow room, and some stuff in the breaker in the next bedroom and then everything was fine. Use 2 breakers. You'll be fine. Extension cord is your friend.
Ok well. I dont get this. The growroom itself, is on its own breaker... So, if I unplug EVERYTHING, and plug the 400w in, and it doesnt work... and its the ONLY thing on... then what is it!?! Im not too good at circuits and breakers and all this...
if the 400 wont turn on and its tripping whatever breaker it gets put on, something in the ballast is fucked up and shorting out. is there a fuse on the ballast? i know mine has one. check and see if its blown. if its not, theres a good chance you have a bad ballast
OK! So, this EXACT thing happened last week, and I thought it was my ballast. I sent it back, and got another BRAND NEW one today... and its still doing it. 2 shit ballasts in a row? I doubt its that... should I really open up the casing to look for a fuse?
the ballast i have is digital and by where the power cord plugs into the ballast there is place to access the fuse, you dont have to open it up, i dont know if they are all the same. and if your ballast isnt working on any outlet/breaker and is popping the breakers when you plug it in, then there is a short SOMEWHERE without a doubt. and if whatever breaker that you plug into pops, then the short is in the ballast. unless theres an extension cord or power strip that you use, then the problem might be in there edit- if the circuit you're plugging into has a GFCI breaker (like what you find in a bathroom or kitchen that has the 'test' and 'reset' button on it and are designed to trip A LOT faster than a normal breaker) on it then theres possibility the GFCI is messed up. but a 400watt light at 120volts is only drawing around 3 amps, it alone shouldnt trip any GFCI
tK IT TO THE WASHING MACHINE... UPLUG THE WASHING MACHINE AND PLUG IT IN THERE.... DOES IT WORK THERE>>>
No extension/power cord. If something was wrong with the ballast, wouldnt the little fan on it NOT spin? If i just plug in the ballast, it sounds like its on, and the fan spins slowly... I will go see if I see a fuse on the ballast... So, it could be some wiring in the socket of the hps or somthing doing it also?? Dont really know what im looking for, a burnt fuse I guess, be right back...
lol, well... I cant really do this at the moment... I suppose I could try it later, but wouldnt be able to do that for a while... Are you trying to go the whole 240 vs 120 or whatever it is route? Its not the bigger one...
If it kicked your power, all you should have to do is split your room load on two different surge protectors running to two separate circuits. I had the same problem you are and it fixed it. I don't know why it's not turning on in another room though, sure your bulb is good?
Yeah, the ballast turns on, on its own... I havnt tried having the ballast on, and plugging in the bulb, I didnt know if that would blow the bulb or not!?!? I dont know... lol. On the fuse situation... Cool! There is a little slot right by the plug in... the fuse looks good, its all clear. And theres even an extra one in there! Theres like a little storage compartment, and theres another little fuse thing... but theres just plastic around it, no metal looking things... so im guessing its extra? I also went and looked at the volts on it.. It says both 120 and 240, but nowhere does it say either or... hmm?? So if it IS 240, and it DOES work when I plug it into the washing machine one... Theres no way to fucking fix that right? Someone would have to come out and do that? -edit for KK- The bulb is brand new! and the filament or whatever is in it, theres no black/dark spots!?!? I unplugged EVERYTHING from my growroom, its on its own circuit (ive been told, i have no clue) and plugged the 400w in, and nothing happened... the ballast kicked off...
dude i bet thats your problem and you need to switch it, i did the same damn thing!!!! You can switch the ballast from 240/120 just by flipping the socket around on the ballast.
by flipping the socket around on the ballast??? So, take the cover off and flip it? I dont get it really sounds like you know how to fix my problem tho... keep going lol
Man.. im about to go crap this baby open and see whats if theres both wirings in there I googled it, and it said if both wires are in there (should be labeled) then it can be switched... Will post pics too... but dont know how much thatll help right now lol... be right back!
not necessarily. a lot of appliances that have any sort of power supply (like a laptop), the power supply senses what the voltage is automatically and switches for you. its a lot more common then you'd think