Just wondering if I am doing anything dangerous. I have two 1000 watters in mylar tents. The equipment for each tent is connected to its own power bar. Each power bar is connected to its own 50-foot extension cord. Both cords run to the same socket (which has 2 plugs; 1 used by each extension cord). This wall outlet is on a 15 amp fuse and nothing but the light, ballast and fans run on the circuit/fuse. The extension cords I have are rated for around 1700 watts (can't remember the exact number but it was up there) and have a gauge that is somewhere in between medium and large. As the two 1000 watter tents are only ever on 12/12, I run them alternately. 130 watts in fans are on 24/7 in each tent. So basically, I have each extension cord drawing 1130 watts for twelve hours and 130 watts for another 12; the two extension cords swap this arrangement every 12 hours, meaning the 15 amp fuse is seeing a constant draw of 1260 watts. I've had this setup going for months without any issues. But I'm wondering if there are risks long term. I want this in place for the foreseeable future. Years probably. Is it only a matter of time until I have some kind of problem with this setup (i.e., a melted wire and potential fire). The extension cord feels pretty warm to the touch for maybe the first two feet from the socket and then it feels normal temperature. It also feels warm at the end of the extension cord where my power bar connects. Should I be worried about anything? Will I risk damage over time? Thanks
I'm totally not an expert on electrical stuff, but I have always heard to avoid running extension cords long-term, and to avoid plugging extension cords into one another (does plugging a power strip into an extension cord count? I don't know, I can tell you that I do try to avoid it). I would like to know the answer to this as well, hopefully we can get somebody more knowledgeable in here to help.
I've done it; definetly NOT the best way, but a 50' cord isn't "too" long. My concern is that you have both thousand watters plugged into the same outlet. You need to come up with a way to get them on separate circuits - that's what's going to give you issues. I'm surprised you're not blowing breakers/fuses. Seperate the 2 lights to different circuits, so that they are on separate breakers. J
if you're running 2 1000 watt ballasts at the same time, you're looking for trouble. to figure it out, you add the total watts of your ballasts (2000,) and divide that by the 110 outlet. as you see, that gets you 18 plus amps. your circuit is 15 amps, so you're over, and are risking a fire.
...He's only running one at a time and running 1260watts.. so 1260/120=10.5 amps. However, much depends on other conditions such as ambient temperature.. the fact that he is running continuously.. the added connections (power bar).. My advice would be to wire a 20 amp outlet using size 12awg romex, then depending on where your grow is with respect to the building that you are getting power from, either run the new circuit directly to it or buy a couple of 50 foot extension cords that are size 12 awg. Short term: shut off your circuit breaker and open up your outlet to inspect the connections. If anything looks like it is getting hot or arcing, rewire it and make sure that you have good connections.