Wiring light fittings

[Musashin]

G'day,

 

I'm in the middle of setting up a smaller grow box to house some clones while my main grow is still going in the larger one.

 

I can't seem to work out how to wire the lighting up though (or if it's even possible in the way I want). A general extension cord only has three wires (live, neutral, and ground). The light fitting seems to have four places for cable to run, the only ones marked are earth and loop (I've included an image of this).

 

I've searched around trying to find a wiring diagram or something for Australian sockets but can't seem to find anything. I know the basics but I'm no electrician, but that said I don't know of any sparkys that I trust enough to say "can you come wire up my grow box?".

 

For those that use these fittings or small CFLs in general, is there a way to do this, or am I better off buying a lamp and stripping it down to the wire and ballast? Or is there an even easier way to do this that I'm not aware of?

 

 

Thanks.

[STONEDAJ69]

tell you what I'll do, cuz no bastards pissed me off today... I'll take a few pics of how I wired up the same battens.

 

 

Gimme ten then I'll edit this post.

 

 

 

Right On, what you are seeing is the base of one them HPM bulb batten holder doohickeys.

the wire coming from the left is the input (from the mains), then the wire running off to the right powers the next bulb. In this picture, the hole on the right is the E, and the hole on the left is loop.

 

As you noticed, I did not use E or loop, simply the positive and negative. Now, I'm fairly sure it doesnt matter which hole you put in pos and neg, but if you get electricolocuted, it wasn't my fault.

 

For the record, my negative, in this picture, is the bottom hole.

Edited January 15, 2012 by STONEDAJ69

[Musashin]

Thanks AJ.

 

I don't believe it matters which way you wire for AC, as the current switches (alternates) - DC needs to be wired correctly but that's just for batteries really. I should double check that before I plug anything in.

I'd rather use the earth lead personally, one short from an ungrounded circuit is enough to kill - given that this is going to be near plants and water I'm sure you see why I choose to err on the side of caution there.

 

This is a good starting point for me though, I might try and wire this up this afternoon. Thanks.

[STONEDAJ69]

If you want to use the earth as well, simply use a wire with a 3 pronged head, just add it to the E hole as I've done with my positive and negatives.

I like 3 metre long extension cords from bigW. cost about $4,

 

and standard wiring colours for cords cables and such is

positive - brown

negative, blue,

and earth is green or yellow, or a mix

[Musashin]

Alright, got it wired up right I think, just want to get another opinion before I go plugging it into a wall to test it as I still feel quite uncomfortable. Everything is snug and screwed in tight.

[Musashin]

Well, I swallowed my fear and decided to test this (with a broom handle to switch the power on, ). It seems I didn't put enough faith in you AJ, it seems to work perfectly. Going to run it for 24 hours to make sure nothing catches fire, after that I'll clean up the leads and it should be ready for mylar, fans, and some clones.

 

I'm really glad I know how to do this now, it's a really useful skill in the world of growing. Cheers.

[STONEDAJ69]

What wattage is that bulb?

 

As you can see from your photo, the light is GREATLY reduced by the time it hits pot/plant level...

 

You either need more bulbs, or to make that one moveable... got $5? go to bunnings and get some chains, and some bolts, or screws, figure something out to make it adjustable...

 

Then again, there's always the HPS option...

[Samurai]

WTF

aj think about it ...wake up

musashin..man get a qualified sparky

if ya place burns down ya havnt got a leg to stand on...that shits not cool at all..

thread should be removed imo

[STONEDAJ69]

Dude...

 

Earth is like a car that can do 500Kph... Sure it's there, but who could be fucked.

 

There are no metal contact points for my bulb to ground themselves to, and I was saying in chat last night, there are a range of bulb holders on the market that come with no earth hole at all... Don't make me take pictures, coz I will.

Edited January 15, 2012 by STONEDAJ69

[Musashin]

more bulbs, or to make that one moveable

 

Got adjustable shelves going in, done the same thing with my main grow, it's easier than moving the light. I'm not going to fill that box, as I said it's only for clones so that light should be fine.

 

musashin..man get a qualified sparky

if ya place burns down ya havnt got a leg to stand on...that shits not cool at all..

 

Can't do it unfortunately, it's too much of a risk as I don't know any sparkies that I trust to keep their mouth shut about it, they're going to know exactly what it is when they see it.

I agree that it's not the safest thing to do, honestly I was kind of hoping there were some electricians here that could give input, as safety is a big concern of mine.