Ok, so this is for all you electrical wizards. My closet pulls about 550 watts, including the 400w light. Unfortunately, the outlet that its on is ungrounded. Its the only outlet I can use without having to run an extension cord, so I have no choice. Ive been researching what to do about this, and it seems that the best thing to do would be install a gfci ( ground fault circit interuptor ). I also plan on installing an afci ( arc fault circit interuptor ) at the box, incase any arcing happens. Im just wondering what some of you guys would do in this situation? Also, what you guys do for electrical safety, as well as any problems that you may have had, or any advice. Thanks, fellas!
I made everything in my grow box GFCI protected. ypu should invest in a grounded extention cord so you won't have to worry about issues reguarding the ground
Dont all extension cords have a ground wire? That doesnt fix the fact that its ungrounded at the outlet. Im mostly concerned about a fire. Anyone else have any recomendations?
As long as your outlet and breaker are rated for that many amps, you'll be fine. I ran 800+ watts on a 15 amp circuit without any issues. 400 watt ballasts only pull about 4 amps a piece.
an ungrounded outlet only has 2 prongs correct. so i you were to install a grounded outlet wouldnt the wiring to that old outlet be outdated could you still use that old wiring to install a grounded outlet? ive seen those 3 prong to 2 prong adapters. are those safe?
It just depends. I have seen non grounded outlets that had the proper wiring, the ground wire just isn't utilized, and I have seen two wire power wire ran as well. The adapters are better than nothing. They utilize the center screw on the outlet cover for grounding. As long as you have metal gang boxes it should be fine but I doubt the effective ness on a plastic gang box.
Cut that fucker off! Electrician of 25 years who is here to tell you grounding is overrated. Depending on the age of your home, you may not have a grounded system but have receptacles with grounds. Grounds are intended for personal protection not fire prevention. Fire issues due to electricity are: Undersized conductors coupled with over sized or faulty over current protection. Overloaded extension cords. Loose electrical connections. No thermal over load protection on motors. NONE OF THESE HAS SHIT TO DO WITH GROUNDING!
We have a veg room and a flower room and each room has its own smoke alarm inside and a fire exstinguisher outside the door.
Cut what off? The outlet is a 3 prong, just not grounded. Ive been using it for about 2 weeks now with no problems, just want to be as safe as possible. I know grounding has nothing to with fires, just want to have things done properly. It is a metal box, so im going to check out the adapter with the screw that gounds it. I bought the house a year ago, and had it inspected. He said the electrical system is fine. I checked the wires myself, ( the ones in the attic, not walls) and they looked ok. Only one of them that I saw was barely starting to crack when you flexed it. All the other ones were fine. None of them felt hot. The house itself is grounded, for some reason only a few of the outlets arent. As for fire protection, what do you think of an afci?