nakes Posted December 4, 2019 Share Posted December 4, 2019 Hi everyone what is the maximum length I can make my his bulbs cord from the ballast? I will need it to be 7-10m is that fine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aeradix Posted December 4, 2019 Share Posted December 4, 2019 1 minute ago, nakes said: Hi everyone what is the maximum length I can make my his bulbs cord from the ballast? I will need it to be 7-10m is that fine? As long as the wire being used is thick enough you should be fine. You could do some calculations, what is the wattage of the ballast and bulb? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nakes Posted December 4, 2019 Author Share Posted December 4, 2019 600w digital ballast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsyCLown Posted December 4, 2019 Share Posted December 4, 2019 600w isn't all that much, 3A roughly. Standard 1mm wire will be sufficient for that length. Generally 1mm copper cable is rated at 10a or 16a I think - a few things which come into play but 1mm is more than sufficient. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nakes Posted December 4, 2019 Author Share Posted December 4, 2019 Thanks clown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreX Posted December 4, 2019 Share Posted December 4, 2019 So I saw the topic and something similar, with much greater consequences, popped into my mind. Not that many, or any one, is growing with flourecent tubes on this site, but if you were to wire an electronic flourecent ballast, the wire length must be adhered to otherwise you will pop the ballast. The warning is written on the ballast and I did not adhere to the warning... Popped 4 ballasts before I stopped myself to figure out what the fuck is wrong. So with your ballast being electronic aswell, I would maybe just check online for a spec sheet... It might give you more info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsyCLown Posted December 4, 2019 Share Posted December 4, 2019 2 minutes ago, CreX said: So I saw the topic and something similar, with much greater consequences, popped into my mind. Not that many, or any one, is growing with flourecent tubes on this site, but if you were to wire an electronic flourecent ballast, the wire length must be adhered to otherwise you will pop the ballast. The warning is written on the ballast and I did not adhere to the warning... Popped 4 ballasts before I stopped myself to figure out what the fuck is wrong. So with your ballast being electronic aswell, I would maybe just check online for a spec sheet... It might give you more info. I wonder what the issue is with the longer runs of cable? I don't imagine the runs to be particularly long? Probably under 5m? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreX Posted December 4, 2019 Share Posted December 4, 2019 1 minute ago, PsyCLown said: I wonder what the issue is with the longer runs of cable? I don't imagine the runs to be particularly long? Probably under 5m? 3m max.... Max max max.... And I couldn't figure it out either... I could probably................ Okay so I did some reading. And the reason you can't have very long cables is because of an increase in capacitance of the wire which can lead to excessive capacitive leakage and shut down the ballast. @nakes, I took a quick look for you, and it seems 25' or 7.62m... Quite a bit short of your 17m. Also, another site said not a fuck... 2ft max... So there is some controversy on what is acceptable... I think your electronic ballast also works with capacitance and a similar principle might apply. Cant you mount it closer? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nakes Posted December 4, 2019 Author Share Posted December 4, 2019 My grow space is in my yard so I want to put the ballast inside the house. At the moment the ballast is inside the grow space. Running a bit extra hot some days. I have a Intake that bring fresh air to the ballast. Will have to make or buy a waterproof box to keep the ballast outside the grow space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsyCLown Posted December 4, 2019 Share Posted December 4, 2019 1 hour ago, CreX said: 3m max.... Max max max.... And I couldn't figure it out either... I could probably................ Okay so I did some reading. And the reason you can't have very long cables is because of an increase in capacitance of the wire which can lead to excessive capacitive leakage and shut down the ballast. @nakes, I took a quick look for you, and it seems 25' or 7.62m... Quite a bit short of your 17m. Also, another site said not a fuck... 2ft max... So there is some controversy on what is acceptable... I think your electronic ballast also works with capacitance and a similar principle might apply. Cant you mount it closer? Interesting, I wouldn't have thought the extra capacitance would have caused any issues. Good to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1000Hills Nursery Posted December 4, 2019 Share Posted December 4, 2019 @nakes My ballasts are about 8m's from the lamps. I've 1000W hps lights. Best to just test it on the floor. And to make sure it's fine in all scenarios wait for the lamp to fully heat up. And then switch it off and on again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nakes Posted December 5, 2019 Author Share Posted December 5, 2019 Mambawana how should I test it and what do I look out for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1000Hills Nursery Posted December 5, 2019 Share Posted December 5, 2019 4 hours ago, nakes said: Mambawana how should I test it and what do I look out for? You should test it with the maximum length of cable you going to use. Then set up another ballast with a short piece of cable to lamp. Then check response times between the 2 when switching off and on when the lamps have reached full temperature. If they both respond the same then you should be fine. It you had a tong tester it would have been good to check how many amps each of the 2 are drawing. If there is a noticeable difference, then it could mean that one is working harder due to the extra cable length. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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