240 Volt Line

[Royal Smoke]

My guess would be you plugged in a 220 ballast into 110 or vice versa. 220 plug ends are different than 110 so you can't mix them up. If your ballasts still have a "normal" plug then they are running on 110. The controller should have 220 sockets that look something like this http://t3.gstatic.co...aXNTseRAR62YLM: Note the sideways blades. Electronic ballasts sense the input voltage and adjust accordingly, coil and core ballasts either need to be wired differently internally or have separate 110 and 220 plugs on the outside. To run your ballasts at 220 you need to replace the power cords with 220 cords. Cords are about $7 each at the grow store, I would switch over to 220 if it was up to me.

 

I found that the biggest energy cost saving was running lights at night and getting time of day electric service. I'm running about 3000 watts and pay less a month than I did before I had the lights running, of course I have 3 kids that don't know how to turn off anything and probably 6 computers running 24/7 so my bill was always way too high.

 

Mike

 

Thanks Mike! That must be the problem.

 

I was under the impression that the electronic ballasts were still running on 240 even though I'm using the 120 plugs. Is this what you meant by sensing the input voltage and adjusting accordingly?

 

Or do I need to go buy 240 cords for all the lights? I guess I was under the impression that the controller worked it out. There is no switch on the electronic ballasts to switch from 120 to 240. So is it just what plug you put in?

[Dilligaf]

The controller takes its 220 input and splits it into 110 for the 110 outlets and sends 220 directly to the 220 outlets. You need to plug in to a 220 outlet to run your ballast at 220 so, yes, you need 220 cords. The electronics will adjust automatically as long as they are 110/220 ballasts. Conventional ballasts need to be rewired or plugged in to the correct port on the ballast.

 

FORGET WHAT I WROTE ABOVE!!!. After researching the CAP controller it outputs 220 on all outlets regardless of plug configuration so you don't need to replace your cords. What happened is you plugged a 110 ballast into it and fried it immediately. In my opinion that controller is a SEVERE safety hazard. Any outlet that outputs 220 and accepts a 110 plug is hazardous and shouldn't be legal. Here http://www.randmsupply.com/images/link/MLC-8XInstructions.pdf is a link to the instructions. Any company that would put the consumer at risk to make their product appear more marketable is despicable and doesn't have your best interest in mind.

 

Mike

[Royal Smoke]

The controller takes its 220 input and splits it into 110 for the 110 outlets and sends 220 directly to the 220 outlets. You need to plug in to a 220 outlet to run your ballast at 220 so, yes, you need 220 cords. The electronics will adjust automatically as long as they are 110/220 ballasts. Conventional ballasts need to be rewired or plugged in to the correct port on the ballast.

 

FORGET WHAT I WROTE ABOVE!!!. After researching the CAP controller it outputs 220 on all outlets regardless of plug configuration so you don't need to replace your cords. What happened is you plugged a 110 ballast into it and fried it immediately. In my opinion that controller is a SEVERE safety hazard. Any outlet that outputs 220 and accepts a 110 plug is hazardous and shouldn't be legal. Here http://www.randmsupp...nstructions.pdf is a link to the instructions. Any company that would put the consumer at risk to make their product appear more marketable is despicable and doesn't have your best interest in mind.

 

Mike

 

Thanks for doing that research. A lot of people say one thing and they don't know about some of this 'new technology' or whatever you want to call it.

 

So on the back of the ballast it has a receptacle for the cord. I can either put it in the 120 spot or the 240. The other end is still a 120 end.

 

I think I had the cord plugged into the back of the 120 receptacle to begin with......it's the controller that's confusing me..... should I have it in the 240 receptacle? I don't want to go get another ballast and fry it again because I don't understand the controller. LOL

[Dilligaf]

Put it in the 220 receptacle on the ballast, all outlets on that controller are 220, there are NO 110 outlets.

[Royal Smoke]

Put it in the 220 receptacle on the ballast, all outlets on that controller are 220, there are NO 110 outlets.

 

Thank you. Now I understand.

 

Even though my plug end is a 120, modern technology (CAP light controller) has made it so that I can plug the 120 into the controller and still have it run off the 240. So long as I've got the cord plugged into the 240 receptacle and not the 120 on my ballast.

 

 

Got it.

[Dilligaf]

The way I see it they made it really easy to start a fire.

 

Mike

[DayTripper]

The plugs are that way in Europe for 220 so they make them controller with the same ones we use only for 110.

 

As far as why to run equipment on the 220 versus the 110 - efficiency rating from the manufactuer is almost almost higher on 220 than 110; so that is where the true savings are. Because the ballast runs more efficient at 220 it actually draws less power while running because it is not wasting as much power that is converted to heat.

 

As an example: Let's say your 1KW ballast needs 1150 watts to run once started at 110VAC; it might very well only draw 1080 watts at 220.

So less than 8% in most cases; but it pays to do your homework when researching the ballast.

 

Doing the ohms law math is very deceptive because it does not account for the research done at the manufactuer on the specific materials and design model used to construct the circuitry; so you just can't say 220 VAC consumes half the amps but the same power as 110 VAC without considering this important reason why to run a ballast at the higher voltage.

 

Another Very important part of 220 loading of ballasts is that it automatically equalizes the load over both legs of the drop.

[Royal Smoke]

Thanks guys. I got the new ballast, plugged it into the 240 receptacle on the back of the ballast and plugged it into the controller while it was still off. It fired up just fine this time.

 

I'm pretty sure I plugged it into the 120 receptacle the first time and blew it. Dammn CAP controller! How am I supposed to know this stuff!

 

Thanks again!

[MrShpongle]

Don't feel too bad about what happened. I did the *exact* same thing a year ago. Plugged a 1000 watt Sunlight Supply SS-1 ballast into my new MLC-4 and pffffftttt! Smoke everywhere. And I had no excuse - my 3 years of electrical engineering at U-M doesn't matter for squat when you are rushing things and make a stupid mistake.

 

One suggestion: use an electronic timer rather than mechanical. If you ever have a power outage, the timer has a battery backup, so when the power comes back on you'll still be on the same schedule. With a mechanical one, you'll be time-shifted and your lighting schedule will be off. Say hello to hermies!