Timer Boxes 30 & 50 amp

[jimbojones5678]

I'm looking for a few of these but in 240v - but I can't find any in Oz, and I have found that a 30amp in Oz is limited to 2400w.

So can anyone suggest where to look? 50amp is better, but a few 30amp boxs will do the job.

 

30 amp Timer Box

 

30 amp Timer BoxPOWER CORD: 1 - 30 Amp Dryer Cord

 

BREAKERS: 1 - 20 Amp Breaker 240 volt 1 - 10 Amp Breaker 120 volt

 

RECEPTACLES:

4 - 240 volt Receptacles (supplies up to 4 - 1000 watt light systems)

2 - 120 volt Receptacles (supplies accessories such as fans or light movers)

 

EcoPlus DIGITAL TIMER (included with system):

# 7-Day Digital Timer

# 42 Weekly ON/OFF Settings

# 6 Daily ON/OFF Settings

# Manual Override

# Battery Back-up

 

This unit allows the user to run up to 4 - 1000 watt light systems and up to 10 amps of accessories from the same timer. An inline fuse protects the timer. Internally, the timer operates a contactor to control the power supply to the receptacles.

 

http://www.ecogrow.com/images/prodlg/30amptimerbox2.jpg

 

Cheers

Jimbo

[Al B. Fuct]

I'm looking for a few of these but in 240v - but I can't find any in Oz, and I have found that a 30amp in Oz is limited to 2400w.

 

Volts x amps = watts. At 240V, if a load is drawing 10A, it's dissipating 2400W. At 240V, a 30A load is dissipating 7200W. That's a lot of watts.

 

What loads do you need to switch?

[jimbojones5678]

Coo coo clocks Al....what do you think? Ballasts ofc.

 

I don't really grasp this whole electrical thing yet...so be gentle!

I just noticed there is a few other threads on a similar topic and have been reading thm but still don't get it totally.

 

IN one Sukonmi says -

600'srun at about 3-4 amps... 2.9 I think mine is.. or around there..

1000's run at about5-6.... 4.8 I think mine is.... always allow more as there starting amps are usually quite high for the first 10-15 mins until the transformer warms up then drops down to the running amps.....

 

And I read that most houses run at 12amps????

 

What I am trying to figure out is the best way to simplify my timers and control box to run 6000W of lights (1000's - don't know whether thy are Eur or UK) plus accessories out of one room (which I am assuming is one circuit? Would a room have two circuits in it?) and a couple of 600's and a couple of 400's so total will be around 8000W of lights without accessories.

 

We want to have all the hyro stuff in our new home contained to the one room (weed/orchids/veges) as we have stumbled across a house with a 5x6meter room that is perfect. Just don' understand electricity much so I want to get some advice.

 

These just sounded like what we need - but they are USA and I can't find the equivalent in Oz.

 

Jimbo

Edited September 16, 2007 by jimbojones5678

[Al B. Fuct]

Coo coo clocks Al....what do you think? Ballasts ofc.

 

Jimbo, that's fairly obvious... I was just looking for specific info on what loads you're switching so I can give you some competent suggestions for how to switch them.

 

I don't really grasp this whole electrical thing yet...so be gentle!

I just noticed there is a few other threads on a similar topic and have been reading thm but still don't get it totally.

 

Well, it's your lucky day- I do happen to grasp the whole electrical thing- and can design wiring specifically for your application.

 

IN one Sukonmi says -

 

And I read that most houses run at 12amps????

 

Most houses in Aus have 60 amp main service fuses, some have bigger but generally not more than 100A.

 

What I am trying to figure out is the best way to simplify my timers and control box to run 6000W of lights (1000's - don't know whether thy are Eur or UK) plus accessories out of one room (which I am assuming is one circuit? Would a room have two circuits in it?) and a couple of 600's and a couple of 400's so total will be around 8000W of lights without accessories.

 

Wiring in most Aus homes older than about 10 yrs mimics the British style of house wiring. This usually means that there is one ckt for power points (yep, for all rooms) and another for lighting. The power point ckts are usually fused (or have ckt bkrs) for 15-20A and the lighting ckts are usually fused for 8A.

 

Mr Ohm says your 8kW load on 240V needs a ckt capable of 33.3 amps.

 

If you have electric water heat, you will probably have one 30A ckt for each 4800 watt heating element in the water tank- but those ckt bkrs will be fairly busy with the water tank.

 

You will need to bring in some more runs of Romex from the bkr/fuse box and perhaps add some ckt bkrs to the box. You'll be dividing the loads across at least 2-3 ckts. You can tap off of existing bkrs which are not carrying much load, if you can't add any more bkrs to your bkr box.

 

We want to have all the hydro stuff in our new home contained to the one room (weed/orchids/veges) as we have stumbled across a house with a 5x6meter room that is perfect. Just don' understand electricity much so I want to get some advice.

 

These just sounded like what we need - but they are USA and I can't find the equivalent in Oz.

 

Sounds like a great room!

 

US homes are fed 220V from the grid and then split that down to 120V with a 'wye'. Clearly, the box intended for the US (with wye, it seems) won't be of use to you here. However, the upside is that Aus mains voltage is 240V which makes for fewer runs of Romex to the box- and also eliminates the need for a switchbox like you've found.

 

If I were wiring your op, I'd pull in 2 runs of 10ga Romex from the bkr box to the op room and fuse/breaker each run at 20A- no switchbox required. 10ga Romex is good for 30A @ 240V, giving you a good safety margin if you are fusing them at 20A.

 

If you want to talk specifically of how to pull the cabling in, which may require some detailed discussion of how your house is built, pop me a PM. You can do it yourself, but if you don't have a lot of experience with adding ckts, you may need some rather detailed instructions.

[Al B. Fuct]

For the electrical neophyte, this is a simplified block diagram of a basic breaker box.

 

 

In Australia, all the fusing and switching happens on the HOT also known as ACTIVE or LINE lead. Neutrals are bussed together, unfused and unswitched- which is not a practise this old techie likes very much.

 

I prefer ganged breakers that can trip either the HOT or NEUTRAL, but when one path trips its breaker, it switches the other one off through a mechanical connection of the breaker levers.

 

However, the Aussie method is simpler for the DIY electrician. Most breaker boxes are very simple to add breakers to if there are empty spaces. Follow the wiring for the next breaker and you'll see how to add a new one.

 

If there are no empty spaces, you can tap into other underused breakers with your new run of cable but you are limited to the trip current of the existing breaker.

 

You can replace an existing lighting or power point circuit breaker with a higher value unit to suit your current needs for the op, but that means that the existing circuit will then be protected with a much higher value breaker, allowing more current to flow before tripping. This can increase the risk of fire. You may want to move the existing lighting or power point ckt to another existing, low value bkr to maintain a lower current limit, using the larger bkr to run only your op.

 

If you don't want to tackle the job yourself, find an electrician you REALLY trust to pull a couple 20A ckts into your op.

[jimbojones5678]

Thanks a million Al.

That was a fucking good answer.

There's no way in hell I'm trying that for my first attempt at wiring - no offense but avoiding house fires is high on my priority's.

I got a decent grasp of what you said, but I might read it a few more times...

 

There's no option. We discussed it today after I did a lot of reading last night.

We will just get a sparky - no need to be careful...we run lots of stuff that chews that much and we are always doing alterations to our home..

 

What are those breaker boxes for tradies like? You know the orange ones that you plug multiple power tools into?

 

Thanks again,

 

Jimbo

[jimbojones5678]

IN one Sukonmi says -

 

And I read that most houses run at 12amps????

 

Oh and that is taken out of context - SS didn't state that, he said the stuff above it...

 

Cheers

 

Jimbo