T5 lighting hempy buckets

[Raisin Jackson]

Im definately not a complete beginner, but never grown with t5s, and after hearing (obviously not here) that t5s work great I thought hmm maybe I could better utilize my crawlspace, u know. I'm sometimes, well almost always goofed up on something, including madness, so i don't always make sense. I'm pretty straight right now, I guess. I am "lucid" I love that word. I have a grow log on here with my ~325 watt box, 16 plants in hempy buckets, first hempy grow, I've made a few mistakes, but from what it looks like, I can hope for maybe not suspect to get more than 325 grams. But I may be really dissapointed with the led/cfl. Same space with a 600 watt hps has givin me a half pound, organic, not going for yeild, but just quality, I grew cheese and white Russian. I've grown under 1k bulbs and was just getting it dialed in, when things kinda went bad.. I grew the Jack in there and it was a decent yeilder, actually pretty good, about 3/4oz per plant vegged 10 days, then 55 days flower. 50 plants x 3/4oz= about 2 pounds under 2k. That's what about .5 g/p/watt I think but that was dirt. Hydro is supposed to kill dirt for yeilds.

What would you guys recommend for 1 outlet of power, 4.5' ceiling. I don't know what 1 outlet can supply, but I'm sure 400 watts plus a fan should be good. I can add juice later, but my hands are full enough at the moment.

[DonJones]

Right now I'm running 1600 watts (4 each 400 MHs) of old commercial magnetic ballasted MHs, and a 16" oscillating room fan all through one Harbor Freight digital timer on one 15 AMP circuit. Thant seems like a lot for a 15 amp circuit but the wiring doesn't seem to be getting hot and the circuit breaker doesn't trip so it must be working okay.

Theoretically, 400 watts of 120 volt AC requires 3.33.... and the fan doesn't draw much more than 2 AMPS either so it's really not that much over loaded at 15.32 amps.

If on the other hand you use the 110V designation for a household plug in the amperage rises to 3.64 amps per light and 2 amps for the fan equals 16.5 amps total, which is theoretically overloaded.

One of the most important things is to use heavy extension cords of at least 14 gauge and preferable 12 gauge so that the cords don't over heat! Remember you have to account for every thing that draws through that circuit, not just what you plug into that outlet, unless it is dedicated circuit that feeds only that one outlet. You should also install or have it installed if you're not sure that you can install it, a GFI (Ground Fault Interrupt) outlet any time you are using the power in a potentially wet or damp environment! They can be a pain in the *** but they will also saveyour life and maybe even prevent a fire.

[JBonez]

don, you may be on a 20amp circuit, and if you are on a 15amp circuit, well my friend, wise up, not worth the risk.

You really shouldnt run more than a 12 amp draw on a 15amp circuit. Its not the extension cord you should worry about getting hot, its the wiring in your house. Just went over this with a contractor as i was thinking about wiring up another 15amp circuit to my grow room, he just laughed at me and couldnt imagine why i wanted so much power.

[Growdude]

The rule of thumb is don't go over 80% of the circuit breakers rating.

[The Hemp Goddess]

Growdude are you say THG is old?



I am thinking that like... her kids are like 20 or so... so she is like 39 or so....right?

Yeah, I wish. My "kids" are 38 and 35.

Raisin--325 grams from 325W of CFLs and LEDs just ain't going to happen...

[MeNtAlPaTiEnT]

Yeah, I wish. My "kids" are 38 and 35.

Raisin--325 grams from 325W of CFLs and LEDs just ain't going to happen...

325 grams is a highball estimate indeed! Unless the LEDS push the plant(s) past anyones expectations and wows the community with a never-seen before rate of growth that expands those buds into long green, resin-oozing grinch dicks. You would probably have a higher rate of success with one big old mature plant.

[Raisin Jackson]

Yeah I do plan on surprising some people, but not really me, cuz there are successful led grows out there, believe it or not, they aren't all posted on the Internet.. A 125 watt Procyon can get 125+ grams? I think so. I'm actually thinking of using ufos down there. Can a 90 watt UFO get 90 grams? Yes. And I can run 5 of em.

[Raisin Jackson]

I think I'm going to start with the UFO, get one, see how it goes, buy another as I can afford it, I really think 5x 90 watt LEDs is gonna whip the piddle out of one 400 watt hps or a 450 watt t5. And at about 200 bucks I can build as I go, I'm broke as a joke at the moment, still paying back that 600$ Procyon. But my closet doesn't get hot, it runs about a steady 78 with the lights on.

[DonJones]

For your own safety, read, understand and follow the requirements in the National Electrical code. You have to base your safe load on the weakest part of the circuit. Normally if the circuit was wired to code originally and not altered, you do not have to worry about the house wiring because the code already builds in a large safety margin. HOWEVER IF SOMEONE HAS UPGRADED THE CIRCUIT BREAKER TO A LARGE RATING THAN THE WIRE IS RATED TO HANDLE, THEN YOU ARE IN TROUBLE. Even worse is if you are unfortunate enough to have aluminum wiring! If that is the case, don't run any where near the rated load for the circuit! You should be safe at 80% or less of the rating to allow for surges when things are first turned on or for electric motors to start up.

On the other hand, the most common cause of electrical overload fires start out side of the house wiring in what is plugged into the outlet. That means the misuse of multiple outlet adapters and most commonly using the smaller 18 or 20 gauge extension cords. When ever you start needing to use more than 4 cords per outlet, you really need to get a new circuit ran if at all possible.

Yes, a good practice is to only used about 80% of the rated load for the circuit to allow for concealed high resistance splices in the wall or less than efficient connections between the different outlets on the circuit. Make sure that your timers, switches, power strips and the extension cords are rated at least the same as your total load and preferably higher. What is in the wall already isn't something you are going to have control over but you can control what you plug in to the circuit. Personally regardless of how light of a load I'm putting in the end of an extension cord, I use at least 14 gauge for short runs or light loads and then I jump to 12 for longer runs and if I have either a heavy load or a run of over 60', I go to 10 gauge wire -- for the electrically challenged the current carrying capacity of a wire increases as the gauge number decreases or in other words a 14 gauge wire is physically smaller in diameter than a 12 gauge wire and the lower the number the more current the wire can safely handle.

Also, if I'm running a new circuit I always use at least 12 gauge wire and a 20 amp breaker, and on runs of over 60' I usually jump to 10 gauge with a 20 amp circuit. The cost of running a 20 amp circuit versus a 15 amp circuit is negligible in comparison with having too small a circuit and having to run a second one later or causing a fire.

Be safe! Good smoking.

[joseaf]

there is a video on YouTube in which the grower is using T5s only for everything. check out the video using keywords "T5 grow room." I have a 6 lamp unit the I will try on my next grow. currently using 400w HPS.