Red-Eye Jedi said:
I am curious as to how one would go about wiring up an HID light. I have never really done any electrical work other than wiring a lamp and have no clue how to do this. any help?
I would have responded to this sooner, but I'm just now seeing it.
I'm assuming that you have a fixture without a power cord, or are you trying to build a light out of parts?
If you just need to connect a powercord:
what you will need:
"romex" type wire connector (size 3/8)
15 feet of 12/3 (twelve is the wire guage and three is the number of conductors: black, white and green) type SJ rubbercoated wire (types SO and SJO will work also)
A male cord cap (the plug) that is rated for 20 amps.
A few wirenuts
Strip about 8 inches of the insulate off one end of your cord and about an inch and a half off the other. Put the romex connector in the half inch hole on your fixture and add the cord (the end stripped 8 inches). Complete HID fixtures usually have three main components: the socket, the ballast and the transformer. The socket is probably already wired to the ballast (black to black, white to white) and the ballast to the transformer but you must connect to the transformer using the appropriate lead for the voltage you are using. Typically the there will be a 120, 208, 277 and a lead labeled "common" or "nuetral". Connect your black wire to the 120 lead and your white wire to the common/nuetral lead. The green wire goes to the green screw, if your unit is missing the green screw look for a hole with the symbol for ground next to it.....it looks like a mini antennae sorta and insert any metal screw that you have that fixs snuggly and tightens down. If you want exact they any fine thread machine screw size 8/24 will work, only needs to be 1/2 inch long.
Now take the other end of your cord and slide the base of your plug over it. Put the black wire under the copper screw the white wire under the silver screw and the green wire under the green screw. Some plugs don't have the different color screws (except for the green) so be sure to always make sure that your white and black wires are under the correct screw. When looking at an outlet head on, the nuetral wire (white) is always connected to the left side of the outlet and the live wire (black) to the right side. You could put a screwdriver into the left slot of an outlet and nothing would happen, stick it in the right slot and you'll need a new screwdriver. Point is to make sure the wires match up in your plug if the screws are not color coded. Screw the base back to the rest of the cap, and be sure that you push all exposed wiring into the plug before tightening the wire support screws.
Plug it in and you are off
IMPORTANT NOTE:
When buying your wire be sure that it is 90 degree rated cord and not 60 degree.
Homes built before 1985 were wired mostly with wire rated at 60 degrees and I do not suggest having too many fixtures with 90 degree wiring inside of these dwellings. If this is your situation I suggest installing a 15 amp GFCI outlet where you need it (simply replace the outlet you are already using) and change the breaker to an arc fault breaker.
I read that someone still has the twist fuses at their main service and this bothers me. Is it possible for you to get a new wire into your electrical panel and get it to your grow area?
