Why is my power tripping? Pictures inside.

[smokditup]

Okay guys so heres the situation.

 

I have 12 double powerpoints in my shed. Its a big workshop.

I have 2 x 15amp circuits on fusebox for power.

My tent is situated in the back part of my shed. Theres like 4 double powerpoints down there. So...

 

I have a 6 outlet growlush 600w box timer with two cords comin off it. I plugged one powercord into one powersocket. And the other cord into other socket.

 

Okay ? So....

 

I ran 3 x 600 ballasts from the growlush timerbox last night for the tent and that was fine. I come in this morning and unplug 1 ballast only leaving two running in the tent. Adelaide was stinkin bloody hot today.

 

I decided to plug the third ballast back in this arvo when the weathere cooled down and it tripped one of my 15amp circuits. Its done it twice now. And ive also swapped ballasts too.... so its not that.

 

So it seems my power is overloading? Ive only got an intake and outtake hyperfans running... so why is my power been tripped with a 15amp circuit with 3x600 ballasts powered?

 

I must also mention 1 of the ballasts wont power up with an ballast extension cord on it either. But it will power up a globe no problem without the extension cord on it. Very odd.

 

This is the nanolux digi brand of ballast.

 

3 x 600w. 2 fans. 1 pump on a 15amp circuit is tripping my power.

 

So why didint it trip for a full 12hrs running the night before? And then it trips 15 mins after i plug the third ballast in. ?? Im stumpt. I should be able to run everything shouldnt i?

 

Are you confused yet? I am.

 

Smoky.

 

I

Edited January 4, 2019 by smokditup

[papasmurf999]

Bad ballast maybe? How many running off a single powerpoint? 1 plug take 10A. I think.

[smokditup]

Well its a 15amp circuit.

 

The 6 outlet timerbox I have has two powercords coming off it. One cord into one PowerPoint and the other cord into another.

 

Then i have 3 ballasts plugged into the timerbox.

And its tripping it. And ive tried a new ballast too.

 

So 2 ballasts are faulty?? Possibly

[pedro de pacas]

Your overloading something, you need to run things different circuit's, lights on one, everything else on another one

[pedro de pacas]

I'd fuck ya timerbox off meself, never seen one with two leads for power in

[brick]

Pictures of your cabling set up might help get an answer that will lead (pardon the pun) to a few ideas from peeps in here. You have to remember that due to the hot weather all house holds are turning on their air cons if they have one. Big power fluctuations could also be a cause for tripping breakers. You just might be asking too much from your equipment during the heat waves. As pedro wrote the timer box would be the first thing to look at. Try running them all together without the timer box and see if the power trips the breaker off.

[smokditup]

Okay heres the update.

 

So i have a total of four ballasts.

 

Two ballasts i have are complelty fine running off my timerbox. As soon as a third one is added (sometimes) thr power will trip.

 

I decided to run the third ballast (not plugged into the timerbox) on a spare powerpoint which is on the same 16 amp circuit and it triggered the breaker which concludes my growlush timerbox is not the issue.

 

Now.... there is like, 6 double powerpoints on this single 16amp circuit. On a 16amp circuit I can have a total of 3600 watts (as far as google tells me). I am not even NEAR 3600 watts....

 

1 x pump is 15 watts

8 inch intake hyperfan is 75 watt

10inch exhaust hyperfan is 120 watt.

Three ballasts is 1200watts.

 

I am not even near maximum capacity.

 

Im starting to think I have two dodgy and faulty brand new ballasts.

Not happy. I should of stuck with my old magnetics for piece of mind.

 

I also mention one particular ballast doesnt like a ballast extension cord on it. It will not power up the globe. As soon as its removed, the globe will power up.

 

Go figure? The brand is NANOLUX OG SERIES 600w

 

Im now going to try removing my two working fine ballasts and plug in the two (what i think faulty) ballasts in and see if it trips.

 

If it trips, its the two ballasts themselves.

[smokditup]

Here is my breakerbox. Can someone tell me why there is two switches on each breaker? Never seen that before.

 

Its the black button that keeps tripping.

And i do indeed have 16 amps right?

Edited January 4, 2019 by smokditup

[itchybromusic]

no pic of breaker box  

 

just for the testing i would still remove the time box completely & see what happens

growlush were never the bee's knees of quality grow gear in the past , might be diff now maybe 

 

try a diff extension cord on that nanolux ballast to see if any extension cord stops it from lighting the lamp 

 

also have you looked into the Nanolux NCCS controller system , only works with nanolux ballasts though 

i looked into it a while ago when looking at getting some nanolux gear but went a diff direction 

[ZEN2U]

For a start worry more about amp draw, not watts. On an 240V circuit you have approx 30 amps draw power to play with. Digital ballasts draw less amps than old magnetic ballasts. Peak draw is at start up.

 

Have you swapped out and tested every single individual ballast and light combination? Test every individual set by itself. If the lights all work individually then you can rule out ballasts and lights.

 

I don't know how you would test you timer box, some one else may know. What specs does it have?

 

In the past I have come across the problem of a phase dropping out about a Km from home on a pole in the middle of a paddock. Doesn't sound like you have this problem, it causes brown outs.

 

Have you or can you identify the 2 separate circuits to your shed? Have you tried to run your lights on 1 individual circuit and the rest of your equipment on the other separate circuit?

 

Have you checked all equipment for any signs of cracks or breakage that may be causing an earth leakage which will trip your RCD?

 

If everything tests out alright then you are going to have to talk to a sparkie, it may well go back to your power box or further.