hi alll, thanks in advance to answer my question i was sure i had a problem with my 1000watt hps ballast when i plug them into the wall , in about 2-3 hour, the plug that you plug into the 120volt outlet wall from the ballast became a bit hot. so i was wondering if it was normal... the guy ar the hydro store told me its normal. and he said i can take a 220 wire ( a wire that come from a heat-conveying ) and put a 120volt electrical plug on it, and just switch my ballast from 120 to 220 inside.... IS THAT TRUE ???????? because actually my 1000watt hps run 9.5 amp on a 15 amp breaker. if i can set ti on a 220 wire with a 120v plug, i can make it to 5 amp per 1000watt PLEASE HELP ME, I DONT WANT A PUT THE FIRE IN MY HOUSE.... DAMN IT THANK A LOT IN ADVANCE
120v pulls a lot more amperage, don't overload the circuit. Cords and ballasts getting warm is normal though. To get 220v you'd need to do it properly. Straight 220/240v from the panel, ran directly to the plug you are using. A 240v plug aswell. Because the circuit you want to swap out is 120v, it has a hot and a neutral conductor. To obtain 240v you need 2 hot conductors, and no neutral, so you would need a whole new circuit. Idk what the fuck the guy at the hydro store was telling you, but I wire electrical panels for growops all the time and that's not how it's done
thank a lot for the repply man i really appreaciate it,, i called different store and they tell me different storys.... i dont kno who to trust, i would trust you better than those guys i dont kno why anyway... and well you say i need to start straight from the panel, on a 220/240v breaker, ok,but how i will plug my ballast into those new 220/240 plug ? my ballast only have a normal plug with 3 connection, positif, negative, and the neutral. there something i dont understand is this..... do you speek french by the way chronic ? i mean, i take a wire from my panel that are already on the 220/240 a wire from a heater, i have some heater in my basement that i dont use them, so i just deplug them, and i can use this wire its 220/240 volt . can i do that ? if yes, i dont understand how you put 2 hot and no neutral, that the part i dont understand. please help me i really apreaciate it
I'm not too sure how to explain it, even though I went to school for this shit Say there is 3 lines, one line is 120v, the middle line is the neutral, and the 3rd line is also 120v. Between the lines with the neutral there, there is only 120v, but as soon as you break the neutral out you get 240v between them when both lines are used. But yes, you can use the old heater's wire. Just flip the breaker off, and make sure there is a 240v plug on there, if not, put one on. They look like a chinese guys face I do not speak french sorry.
oh ok, but do i need to change the wire of my ballast for the 240v plug ? i mean the wire who plug into the 240volt plug, is it the same 3 pin plug ? thank a lot man i really apreraciate it
yeah i just seen them, they looks like chinesse, but i need to change the connection of the wire of the ballast right ? then i buy a 240 v outlet to go in the wall, but last thing i dont understand, if i remember good, the wire of my heater was a 3 wire cable, is it ok ?,. anyway i will look at this when i get at home in about 1 hour, i going to buy a 240v plug,and a 240v outlet to try to fit at least on 1 ballast, i have 3x1000 so that why im tryng to switch to 240 to gain less amp
What size wire was feeding the heater? You only need 14/2 or 12/2 And when you say 3 wire, you mean there is a black, red, and neutral? I'm a little confused. PM me a couple pictures and I'll get you set up.
so just let me resume before i go home, i looked on how to wire a 240v on a 30amp breaker they say : ground neutral bar into pannel, then take the neutral to the 240v plug that are in the wall. take the 2 wire of the 30 amp breaker to the 240v plug , 1 wire on each side, then i got my 240v plug working and ready ? in my case i just put a 240v plug into the heater wire bercause its already wired, and i change the wire inside the ballast from 120 to 220 or 240 ? then i change the plug of my ballast for a chinesse plus also to fit in the 240v plug, IS THAT ALLRIGHT????????? lol thank a lot il try to do this in about 1 hour
yes, there is 3 wire there i think il be good with the size of the wire i think they are fine like 12 or 14 they are big enough i think ok let me back home, i will take some picture and post them to you. i really apreaciate your help, its pretty confusing for me also, and sorry for my poor english
I third wire must be a ground... because there is no where on a 240v receptacle for a neutral, I wired one yesterday tbh, ran the circuit for 2 of them, under the stairs in this growop, to run all of the pumps for the reservoirs.
there they are http://s1353.beta.photobucket.com/user/newthumbgreen/media/IMAG0230.jpg.html http://s1353.beta.photobucket.com/user/newthumbgreen/media/IMAG0227.jpg.html there is only 3 wire that came out of the heater wire, 1 black, 1 white,, and the ground, so i just put the blavk and white into the plug, then i internal switch the ballast and i plug in that with the chinesse plug that i brought appart is it gonna work ? well its not working... omg im desesparated
You sure that those both (white & black wires) have 120v on them? Usually if that is 240v the white wire is to be taped or colored black as well. But lazy electricians can neglect to do this. Because at 1st glance I'd say you got a neutral there not two hots. But a meter would tell for sure. Sisce you can't see electricity a meter would be handy to have
yeah, i have a good fluke meter, im tryng to use it right now.electricity is a pain . my house was build in 1970 so, not a big deal on that, those electrician in the past was a real joke... anyway to come back to my problem.... there nothing happen when i plug that, its fucking killing me because i know im able to solve the problem, anyway, i will come back soon to see what i can do, im probably gonna call an electrician to see what happen there, i dont want a put the fire in my house im still woprking until 5 today , and last night i worked until 21;30 in my grow room to arrange those problem, anyway, i really apprecithe the help of everyone here there is no one who live near montreal, that want a make a bit of money, to make a service to me, and come to my house and solve the problem with me,, i need some one who really know 1000w ballast ( LOL ) im desesperated (kinda)
Wish I could help you in person bro. But like hemi said, make sure you actually have 240v there, because white is always a neutral unless said otherwise.
If you were in Toronto I'd sooo do this for you. Have you seen this? [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et6YEAQNhzs&feature=youtube_gdata_player]Marijuana Growing: How To:120/240v Ballast conversion - YouTube[/ame]
I'm not sure if anyone answered this since I didn't read every post, but please do not do this. The outlet on your wall has a 120 V output with a 0V neutral wire. That guy from the store told you to put a 220V on your ballast to the outlet, or something like that, connect it to a plug, and you will have 220V (this makes no sense). There is no such thing as a '220V wire' because it all depends on your source. The wire size only tells you how many amps that wire can handle and has nothing to do with how much voltage you will pull. If you are not sourcing 220V, then no wire is going to give you 220V. Not to be rude, but for the novice or anyone for that matter, please get a ballast that works at 120V without overheating. This will simplify everything and reduce any unnecessary risks that come with wiring. I apologize now, but I am not going to tell you how to connect 220V to your home because you don't know how to do it safely. Not that there is anything wrong with you or that you are stupid, it's just that you haven't learned it. I would feel terrible if I gave you advice, knowing in advance that you are pretty new to this kind of work, and something bad happened to you. Since you even asked this question, I know that you are a novice because this is a question one might learn in elementary circuit theory. Please do a little more research on this subject and I will gladly answer any questions you have along the way. Good luck and be careful.