Power Problems...

[New_2_Chronic]

Well Im kinda screwed. If youve seen my posts lately you will know I have been having problems with my lights on a timer.

To make a long story short my lights are very unreliable in keeping a schedule. It will stay on 24 hours just fine, it will go off with the timer at the correct time, it just wont turn back on in the morning.

I have changed the timer, the bulb, and bought a backup light set a 400 watt HPS/MH. I thought I had it licked as it has been working a few days like clockwork...Went out this morning, it was off... unplugged like i usually do for 15 minutes and it would not come back on....

Hooked up the 600 and worked fine, it is on 24 hours as it will do the same thing. I should also mention that both times it wasnt on, the bulb was alsoo burnt out, I can only assume that my power problems are causing the issue. and causing the lights to burn out.

Bottom line is I have to get a dedicated 30 amp circut run for the growroom. Im just using too many watts for my standard 15 amp circut,,It probably has alot to do ith the fact that im using a window air conditioner and there are 100ft extension cords running to the gro(buried of course).

My plants are in veg and were going to flower probably next week, now it will have to delay as I have to wait till payday to get the electrician out....

This just sucks....

 

[massproducer]

what type of ballast are you using? I am not an electrician but it sound like there could be a problem with the ballast over heating or something similar. I know that when a ballast overheats it just shuts down

The other thing... Is it possible that when you got the ballast it was rated wrong? Like they have it listed as a 400 but it is actually a 600? This will cause the problems you stated as well.

You may want to have someone look at the ballast before you pay to replace your fuse box, either way good luch with it and be careful, growing is fun but electricity hurts...lol

 

[New_2_Chronic]

No its not the ballast... I have replaced the bulb and it works fine again. After the dark period I have to unplug it for about 15 minutes, even though its off... then when I plug it in it works. I have burned out 2 different bulbs on two different ballasts...

The 400 I just bought worked on a schedule for about 5 days, then it doesnt work. I bet when I get a replacement light tomorrow it will work fine again...

The reason Im thinking power issue is that I have had the same problem with two different light setup...

Is it normal to burn 3 lights out in a month?

 

[massproducer]

no not at all, my bulbs last me about 3 grows and could probably even go longer but i like to add a new bulb every few grows just to ensure the bulb is producing what it is suppose to.

Yeah then you may want to have someone come over and look at your wiring, cause that definately should not be happening like that.

Good luck and keep us informed.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I think that it is a really good idea to have a dedicated circuit if it is possible. It shouldn't cost that much to run one, if you have an open slot in your breaker box.

However, you should be tripping breakers if you are overamping your circuit, not burning out bulbs. You indicated that you have 100' extension cords run...these may be the problem. What gauge are these?

 

[Puffin Afatty]

Well Im kinda screwed. If youve seen my posts lately you will know I have been having problems with my lights on a timer.

To make a long story short my lights are very unreliable in keeping a schedule. It will stay on 24 hours just fine, it will go off with the timer at the correct time, it just wont turn back on in the morning.

I have changed the timer, the bulb, and bought a backup light set a 400 watt HPS/MH. I thought I had it licked as it has been working a few days like clockwork...Went out this morning, it was off... unplugged like i usually do for 15 minutes and it would not come back on....

Hooked up the 600 and worked fine, it is on 24 hours as it will do the same thing. I should also mention that both times it wasnt on, the bulb was alsoo burnt out, I can only assume that my power problems are causing the issue. and causing the lights to burn out.

Bottom line is I have to get a dedicated 30 amp circut run for the growroom. Im just using too many watts for my standard 15 amp circut,,It probably has alot to do ith the fact that im using a window air conditioner and there are 100ft extension cords running to the gro(buried of course).

My plants are in veg and were going to flower probably next week, now it will have to delay as I have to wait till payday to get the electrician out....

This just sucks....

:farm: I am NOT an ELECTRICIAN I think your issue sounds like you have a considerable voltage drop over the 100ft of extension cords. Also, 15 amps sounds very low for a 600w and the AC, pumps and fans, etc.. [I run a 30 amp circuit and it barely handles the [1500w] heater, [400w] light, pump and fans]

You should go to a 30 amp circuit, and isolate the ac from the ballast on separate circuits. Also, you may want to get a bigger wire running to the grow, really big, like twice the size of romex. I rewired the springhouse to really big 4-6 gauge wires, it took care of the voltage drop, and the springhouse is 325 feet from the nearest box. I never had bulbs burn out, but I did see a little dimming when the pump or fans went on, and checked the running/starting voltages. Now with the big wire there is little to none and I see no dimming. Best Wishes :aok:

 

[Hick]

100ft extension cords running to the gro(buried of course).

..IMHO.. there's your problem, right there. I don't think your standard extension cord is capable of carrying that load for extended time. I'm not even sure that regular #10 romex (30 amp wire) would carry it sufficiently "that" far.
I'm not an 'Eellektrishon'.. so if my wire sizes or info is incorrect, I'm hoping one of the members that "IS", will correct me..

 

[Hick]

beat me to it puffin'...

 

[Growdude]

Not sure if ya have a volt meter but if you do check the voltage at the beggining of the cord or at the house then check it at the end of the cord and you will see what the voltage drop is.

 

[ruffryder777]

when i used a digital timer that always happened too me,now i use a cheap plastic timer it works fine all the time,also are you plugging the ballast into a contactor before it goes into the power supply ?

 

[Albrecht]

When I bought my AC unit and plugged it in to the same power strip my light and fans are in, it tripped the breaker and everything went dark in my bedroom. What I did was get a short extension cable that I had laying around and plug my AC unit into an outlet on the other side of my bedroom, and now everything works fine. I'm so far from an electrician it's not even funny, but that's just my experience.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Well Im kinda screwed. If youve seen my posts lately you will know I have been having problems with my lights on a timer.

To make a long story short my lights are very unreliable in keeping a schedule. It will stay on 24 hours just fine, it will go off with the timer at the correct time, it just wont turn back on in the morning.

I have changed the timer, the bulb, and bought a backup light set a 400 watt HPS/MH. I thought I had it licked as it has been working a few days like clockwork...Went out this morning, it was off... unplugged like i usually do for 15 minutes and it would not come back on....

Hooked up the 600 and worked fine, it is on 24 hours as it will do the same thing. I should also mention that both times it wasnt on, the bulb was alsoo burnt out, I can only assume that my power problems are causing the issue. and causing the lights to burn out.

Bottom line is I have to get a dedicated 30 amp circut run for the growroom. Im just using too many watts for my standard 15 amp circut,,It probably has alot to do ith the fact that im using a window air conditioner and there are 100ft extension cords running to the gro(buried of course).

My plants are in veg and were going to flower probably next week, now it will have to delay as I have to wait till payday to get the electrician out....

This just sucks....

This post is an excellent example of how important it is for the poster to try to give us ALL the information pertainent to their problem. We have been following you through your problems, N2C, but this is the first you had posted anything about the 100' extension cords. Almost immediately you had responses regarding the use of extension cords.

Any of us that use big boy tools understands voltage drop through long runs of extension cords. Had we known this when you first started having problems with your electricity, we probably could have helped you much sooner. I am pretty confident that you are simply loosing too much through those long runs of extension cords. If this is the case, the 30 amp circuit won't help unless you can put a sub box at the grow site.

Let's hope that this is the answer to your problem. It is really the only thing that makes sense. You deserve some green mojo....

 

[New_2_Chronic]

Wow... Awesome.... Thanks for all the feedback....

By process of elimination I am assuming my issues are all power related... Ill have to have that addressed then see where I am at.... Thanks everyone...