Hey y’all. I’m having an electrical issue and I’m unsure how to proceed. I currently live in a condo and haven’t experienced power issues until now.
I’ve got my main 4x8 tent hooked up and ready to go. I moved my plants, and turned everything on. Within 5 seconds of having both 715 watt LED lights on, everything shuts off BUT the circuit doesn’t pop. After a few seconds everything turns back on. If I use only one light, everything works. However, the light isn’t giving the correct PPFD output at max power. If I turn the light off, the fans get more juice and blow harder.
What am I looking at here repair wise? Do I need to contact an electrician and if so, what do I even say is my issue? I’m confused that the breaker isn’t blowing too, what’s up with that?
Is everything plugged into one receptacle? This is typical of a bad connection somewhere (voltage drop). If it were an over current, you would be tripping the breaker. Is everything plugged into a receptacle strip? A little more info would help.
Everything is hooked up to a surge protector that’s connected to a single outlet. On the surge protector, I have the blower, two fans, a humidifier, and the two lights connected. The CB the outlet is linked to is rated at 20 AMPs.
Your pulling a little over 11.5 amps just from the two lights alone (assuming USA circuit). The blower, two fans and a humidifier are really pushing the envelope. My real concern though is that if it were too much current and the breaker was functioning correctly, it would trip. You seem to have a large voltage drop. That usually comes from wire that’s not sized correctly (possibly the receptacle strip) for the load. I doubt that the condo wiring isn’t sized correctly. That is inspected. Try bypassing the receptacle strip and going straight to the wall.
I think the easiest course of action is to run a new circuit for the grow alone since a lot of shit is connected to that one CB… hopefully it ain’t nothing crazy…
Have you tried plugging other high wattage appliances into that outlet? Hair dryer, heater, etc?
Odd that it shuts off and doesn’t trip the circuit yet comes back on. Is it some sort of like modern smart home electric thing I’m not familiar with?
Have you ruled out the LED lights doing some sort of “soft start” thing where they test the power? I’m not super familiar with the latest light tech but it seems like a lead worth chasing down. Everything is “smart” now for better and worse. Does the circuit/plug/strip feel especially warm running I assume 13-14 amps at 120/110 ish? Obviously if it’s a 15 amp outlet you’re running too much for constant use. Split the circuits if you don’t wanna run a new one and run an extension cord to a different less used one.
Odd issue, when it doubt always call an electrician (they’re usuallly 100% cool and familiar with grows just FYI).
Damn $500 just for a new circuit? I was expecting more in the $250-$300 range but of…well electricians don’t come cheap (guy I went to school with does VERY well…wish I went to trade school haha) but peace of mind is priceless and if you think you have an actual electric issue it may be worth it. Just saying. But don’t worry about the grow…trust me they’re pretty much all “cool”. I have never had a tradesperson be weird about the plants and usually I give them weed lol.
Just might be worth troubleshooting first all I’m saying but never fuck around with safety. I can fuck up a landscaping project and nothing gets hurt but electric and gas…always be careful and be ready to call a pro.
My 2 cents…
Grow room electrical circuits need to be carefully looked at. I went through ‘contortions’ to get a second circuit in my grow to use because I maxed out.
Have a close look at what else might be on a grow circuit.
Do not exceed 80% maximum circuit loading. (don’t count on getting 15A from a 15A circuit, it will work for a while then Murphy will get you).
Use larger gauge extension cords (14AWG+) or the copper losses will start to add up. I like two circuits per tent (one for the lights, one for everything else)
A Kill-O-watt meter is a good device to have.
Think about a smoke detector and fire extinguisher as well.
I agree. My room is setup with both my lights on 1 circuit, then everything else is on another. Since my room didn’t have any power, I did it all myself, and was verified correct by a certified electrical contractor.
I’ve had to learn over the years how to do a ton of low voltage entrance door stuff because of all the modernization going into school doors.
The government has released a whole slew of money again for “feel good” upgrades.
Electrified panics, mag locks, card readers, push to enter buttons, IR sensors, automatic doors, power transfers, whole school lockdown at the push of a button, etc.
Simple house wiring, especially just a dedicated circuit is just on a higher voltage scale, so it wasn’t difficult for me.
Thank you all for the help. It’s real easy to get tunnel vision with simple issues like this. I’ve split up the grow room into all different outlets now.
I was looking at videos on how to add a new circuit to a house and it seemed pretty straight forward. I eventually want to do this, but money’s kind of tight now with all these garden upgrades I’ve done lol.
Safety first, Gpaw. I’ve always been told that safety manuals were written in blood. How metal is that!
Same here brother…
I have my lights exclusively for 1 outlet and the rest on another…
Since I grow in rented apartments, I make sure the master bedroom has atleast 4-6 outlets…
just an fyi, usually they’re all on the same circuit and splitting them into other outlets doesn’t split the load over more than one circuit. if it were me, i’d plug a lamp into each one and trip the breaker to check. newer construction (newer than 2000 or so) usually uses more circuits than older ones, but mostly one room - one circuit, except they may put lights on one, outlets on another. i’m not a licensed electrician, but am a general contractor who had 2 years of electrical in vocational school, but that was decades ago.
I’m fairly certain those outlets aren’t connected to the same circuit. I had an electrical problem once which involved just that one circuit falling short…
There’s a tool (or instrument if you like) called a Fox and Hound.
Now they mostly seem to be geared for computer cabling but there are a few such as: Klein Tools ET310 AC Circuit Breaker Finder that works.
There are two modules, one you stick into the AC duplex wall receptacle and the other you scan the breaker panel with. Always a good idea to map out your house circuits.
in the UK the maximum wattage you can use on a single wall outlet is 3000 Watts…I’ve never once gone near exceeding that or even half that on a single socket,I always split my lights (on circuit breakers) and rest of growroom wattage to 2 separate outlets and I don’t need to really even do it but with hps the amps you draw turning on alone with other wattages on a single outlet can cause a fire if not careful…always split your wattage total for the room over at least 2 outlets…standard procedure for medium sized set ups…
that’s not me 
aloha 
