DIY-Become a DIY home grower Electrical Engineers

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Myzz617

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This thread is for People who want to provide 420 Growers with some information about electrical wiring and how to customize your grow room to fit your needs. Inspired by G-Dog, we would like to ask many questions about setting up a safe grow room to grow the smoke we honor. So here we go ask away! :ganjamon::peace:
 
So here's the thing. I have two wall plugs from the same box. I want to plug in a 6 plug fused outlet strip in each. How do I figure out the max load for each outlet strip. Is there a minimum guage for both the outlet strip cord and the plugs/wires that get attached to it?
 
Usually power strips can handle about 15AMPS. So they are like the middle man before your houses circuit breaker trips, think of it as saving you a trip to the basement. So i believe the max you could do is about 12AMPS on one circuit. Meaning if those two outlets are on the same circuit you only have 12AMPS to work with regardless if you have two power strips or not. I want to say that is how it works, power strips dont add any amps they just add outlets and a "safe" checkpoint in case you overload that circuit. Someone please correct me if I am wrong. :thanks:
 
Also remember that the total you want on a strip (or any circuit) has to handle the peak amount. This is caused by starting up equipment and lights. Fans, pumps, CFL's and lots of other stuff that will consume more power (watts=Volts*amps) at start up, then they do after they are up to speed.

You would also want to find out what other outlets/appliances are on that same circuit. It is a pain to remember you can't iron your clothes while the microwave is cooking, all because your lights are on the same breaker/fuse.

Prairie
He who lives in 110 year old house.
 
Thanks Myzz617 for starting this thread. Although I am not an electrician, I have 35 years experiance in the power generation field, so electricity and it's uses are no stranger to me.

You would also want to find out what other outlets/appliances are on that same circuit.
Click to expand...

This is important! Most residential outlets are in series with other outlets or electrical loads. You need to know what other loads are on the circuit, and what the rated amperage of that circuit is. You do not want to exceed 80% of the circuit capacity. The most important thing to remember with electrical is that you may only get one chance to do it right! So plan out your system first! The last thing you want to see when you turn down your street is the Fire Dept in front of your house! :)
 
So let me see if I am absorbing all this correctly so far. Each fused circuit (110/120 volts) (breaker switch from the fuse box) is rated to deliver 15 amps across all its connected outlets (plugs) and switches (lights). These are all usually wired in series. So, if I were to stick my finger in one or both plugs on a wall plate, I will take delivery of 15 amps if nothing else was running on the circuit.

A powerstrip is nothing more than a fused method to provide more plugs, and a safeguard against exceeding the draw on the appliances plugged into the strip.

So, if I have 26 watt CFLs rated at 390 mA, I can safely plug in:
15 amps*1000 mA / 390 mA = 38 bulbs
​
But allowing a safety margin of 25% and 11.25 amps I shouldn't exceed:
11.25 * 1000 / 390 = 28 bulbs
​
Of course if I have additional equipment, I will just add up the draw of each and ensure I do not exceed th 11.25 (or 12) amps.

Just to make sure a fire truck doesn't inadvertently stop by :) while I am :smokin: in the back yard. :morenutes:
 
Circuits powering outlets are usually a 15 amp circuit. You can check the circuit breaker for the circuit in question to see what it's rating is.
 
Hey Hogdady, I am not sure I'm the one to go poking around a fuse box. Prelim poke shows some say 15 and some say 20. I'll figure which one goes to where I plan to grow. I am learning a bunch here.

BTW, the one that says 50 for the A/C ... is that 220 like the one for the stove and dryer? Don't worry, I didn't put my finger close to those :) All you guys here rock!
 
LMFAO yo u got me thinking. I actually have a built in Ac in my APT but the thing is in the living room and it dont get "cool" for nothing. The plug is one of its own as well not sure if it is a standard one or not. Deff going to have to figure out my setup I know I have 15AMPS easy for the grow room as NOTHING other than the closet light and a light i installed are on the circuit (pretty sure that is it). I got a few fuses rated 15, 20 and 40-50 AMP. Will look into it more later tonight. That AC though I am sure is 8K btu so if I unplug the AC drill a hole or buy a long enough cord I will deff have more room. And yall are welcome for making this thread, just like to spread the info as best as i can.
 
TryingOui said:
Hey Hogdady, I am not sure I'm the one to go poking around a fuse box. Prelim poke shows some say 15 and some say 20. I'll figure which one goes to where I plan to grow. I am learning a bunch here.
Click to expand...
All you need to do is shut off the breakers one by one until you find the one that kills the power to the outlet you are working with...

BTW, the one that says 50 for the A/C ... is that 220 like the one for the stove and dryer? Don't worry, I didn't put my finger close to those :) All you guys here rock!
Click to expand...

If the a/c breaker is the same width as the stove and dryer breakers, it's 220v. If its narrow like the other breakers, it's 110v.
 
Seems like my ac has its own breaker. has three prongs but the two are sideways with the one big 3rd prong. The grow room I have seems to be split between the bathroom and the room. Se there are about 3 lights being use off that breaker. I think I have about 11 AMPS to play with off that one alone plus the AC and a spare area outside my kitchen in which I can run a cord about 50-75 feet long to make use of both the AC plus in living room and spare area near kitchen. Too lazy to take pics might take later with my BB
 
Myzz617 said:
Seems like my ac has its own breaker. has three prongs but the two are sideways with the one big 3rd prong. The grow room I have seems to be split between the bathroom and the room. Se there are about 3 lights being use off that breaker. I think I have about 11 AMPS to play with off that one alone plus the AC and a spare area outside my kitchen in which I can run a cord about 50-75 feet long to make use of both the AC plus in living room and spare area near kitchen. Too lazy to take pics might take later with my BB
Click to expand...

If there is a question here, I must be missin' it....:)
 
Thanks for the thread Myzz617. When I first mentioned this idea I was surprised that you didn't tell me one already exist. Good move getting it going.

Looking at grows around the world wide web I see a couple problems from people that do concern me.

One, heat removal. Not just for the plants, but for fire safety. Please please please make sure you remove your heat and do not let flammable material make contact with hot surfaces. If you are on the margins... You have a really hot place that could ignite if your cooling system fails you need to make sure that a failure in that will shut down your heat. This can be a complex problem but it is definitely a problem that can be solved. Most people die in fire from smoke inhalation and we have a responsibility to insure that our grow ops are safe. If you live in an apartment or other dwelling that other people and animals live you need to be especially careful to not start a fire.

Another concern of mine is hydroponics. If you are in a basement and your reservoir leaks you could be setting yourself up for electrocution in the event of a short. Do not interrupt any ground circuits. The green or bare wire on fixtures and the third prong on a plug have to be used and functional. Even better would be a GFI (Ground Fault Interrupt) outlet or circuit breaker.

I know a lot of us are on a low budget, but do not risk your life or others. If you are in over your head, have any doubts, or think you are designing too close to the margins please come in and ask or PM me. If I see any smart asses or someone making fun of another here because they asked a stupid question I would hope that admin would step in and fix that quick.

I am the first to admit that a lot of electrical codes are over kill. A lot of what we do is not exactly code. However, there are certain things we must all do.

1. do not overload a circuit. If something says it has a max wattage of xx do not exceed xx.

2. Do not interrupt a safety ground. Everything that is metal, fans, light fixtures etc. should be grounded. What that means is if a hot wire touches say a metal housing that metal housing has a direct connection to earth ground and that should not be interrupted or ignored. It could save your life.

It only takes a fraction of an amp to kill you and you have 15 amps available to you at every outlet
 
G-Dog said:
The green or bare wire on fixtures and the third prong on a plug have to be used and functional. Even better would be a GFI (Ground Fault Interrupt) outlet or circuit breaker.
Click to expand...

Bare in mind that even when your ground circuit is in good shape, you can be electrocuted! The ONLY thing that will save you from electrocution is a GFCI. Every growroom should have all power GFCI protected!
 
About heat I have a grow help thread my room in 11 feet wide by 16 feet long. I have a 8X6 closet in the same room. Venting the hot air seems to be my issue and getting fresh air. I was thinking of buying some panda film or some Poly and turning my room into a 10X10. Then vent out that hot air into the space im not using for growing or vent the hot air direscly outside of the room which would be into the rest of the house. I have thought of buying a portable AC (Which is a lot of $) venting it out the window via a coupling that splits into two so i can have the hot air from my tents connected to the coupling and the hot air from the portable AC connected and push all that out the window. That is kind of a risky setup so the best i could think of is to either vent the air into the rest of the apt or buy a window AC and put plywood on top of the rest of the window since I have a sliding window. I have 38gal totes I could possibly rig something up but have not thought of anything. Like vent the hot air into there then have a fan blow that air around or out into the rest of the house? I will have carbon filters of course and some ozium things on a time release so the smell dont stank the apt up. Other than getting some beans, venting the hot air seems to be my biggest issue from preventing me from getting going.
 
Hogdady said:
Bare in mind that even when your ground circuit is in good shape, you can be electrocuted! The ONLY thing that will save you from electrocution is a GFCI. Every growroom should have all power GFCI protected!
Click to expand...


I am pretty sure mine are not GFCI. Is it as simple as going and buying the right GFCI outlets then shutting down your home power and installing the outlets?

Would this work rather than manually installing outlets in the grow room? Not sure how it connects to a power source
 
Myzz617 said:
Seems like my ac has its own breaker. has three prongs but the two are sideways with the one big 3rd prong. The grow room I have seems to be split between the bathroom and the room. Se there are about 3 lights being use off that breaker. I think I have about 11 AMPS to play with off that one alone plus the AC and a spare area outside my kitchen in which I can run a cord about 50-75 feet long to make use of both the AC plus in living room and spare area near kitchen. Too lazy to take pics might take later with my BB
Click to expand...

hey Myzz,

That A/C recepticle that looks kinda like this -.- is a 240 volt recepticle, you prolly know that already but just wanted to point that out, if you have to use extension cords, make sure they are 12 AWG for a 20 amp breaker or 14 AWG for a 15 amp breaker. Hogdady is spot on with loading the circuit to 80% max as per the NEC art. 210.23(A)(1)
 
Myzz617 said:
I am pretty sure mine are not GFCI. Is it as simple as going and buying the right GFCI outlets then shutting down your home power and installing the outlets?
Click to expand...

For installation of GFCI outlets, it is simply remove the old and install the new. For a complete circuit GFCI, the breaker at the panel can be replaced with a GFCI breaker. This would have to be done with the main power turned off.

Would this work rather than manually installing outlets in the grow room? Not sure how it connects to a power source GE Power Outlet with 24 Hour Timer and 15 Amp GFCI - T4010GRP at The Home Depot
Click to expand...

That box has to be hard wired.....
 

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