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    Glad I discovered this before the flip...

    So we moved about a month ago, and I finally have space to set my tent up BUT...the grow light (300W equivalent LED;150W wall draw) seems to trip the breaker for my bedroom.

    It was temporarily plugged into a wall outlet that is connected to a wall switch; the other outlet in that plate is always-on and has the surge protector with my computer and printer on it. I have a floor lamp plugged in to that switch-controlled outlet now with a max draw of 25w which seems to be fine. I have another outlet on another wall that I can plug the grow light into...I'm hoping that the switch was the only problem (the breaker was tripped after ~30 seconds of the grow light). Reconfiguring my tent location is gonna be a PITA, but I refuse to allow my mom to stunt this plant as well (my first perfectly-topped Surfer didn't do well at all in a windowsill, and I lost most of it due to bud rot).

    Her view: the original seedling was free and I had the soil and supplies already, so I'm not out any $$ if things go sideways.
    My reply: you'd be pissed if I said the same thing about your plants, why are mine any different? (she caused the bud rot by incorrect use of a sprayer)
    ****tent (2x4) and large light (Relassy 300W LED) is in storage for now until I can solve some household electrical issues****

    CoM Stonington Blend soil, distilled water; Liquid Squid amendment if needed, molasses for flowering

    "I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up."

    #2
    Is there any chance that other outlet is on the same circuit breaker as your computer and lamp? You might want to try a test run with that LED plugged in and at maximum power there and in an outlet on a circuit in another room that doesn't have much drawing on it. An extra 1.36 amps shouldn't trip a (likely) 15 amp breaker unless that computer and accessories are already pushing its limit (not likely). If it trips other circuits as easily as it did that switched one, you may want to make sure that LED isn't defective.
    Coconut Grove
    4x4 tent, Platinum LED P4-XML2, four Patio Pickers. Vegging Liberty Haze, Acapulco Gold, Lavender and Sweet Amnesia Haze.

    3x3 tent, Platinum P300 LED. Flowering two Tangies.

    Flower tent:
    4x4 tent, Platinum LED P4-XML2, four Patio Pickers. Vegging Super Lemon Haze, Durban Poison and two Tangie x Blueberry crosses.

    Nursery:
    32"x32" tent with Feit white LED. Vegging four Mother's Finest.

    Coco/Perlite/worm castings/mycorrhizae living soil mix.
    Down-To-Earth dry amendments. Gnarly Barley added weekly. Eisenia fetida.

    On deck: Winter indicas.

    Comment


    • golfnrl
      golfnrl commented
      Editing a comment
      Hello Weirdwiredwolf UndergroundFarmer is spot on. That light should not cause a power over load. Even if it was connected to an overloaded circuit the light should not trip a breaker unless everything on the circuit was trying to draw power at the same time.

    #3
    One of the tests I ran was with the computer turned off and it still tripped. The non-switched outlet on that wall plate has a surge strip with my desktop, a set of speakers (cheap Logitech), the cable modem and the telephone. The only variable has been the grow light.

    In addition to my bedroom, that breaker controls an outlet in the hallway (which is only powering a radio and Dustbuster right now) as well as the ceiling light in the kitchen. When I first set my tent up and had the light on, the radio would fuzz out when it was running. It worked fine for about two days before this...which probably means I shouldn't do it anymore. We could call the super and have that outlet looked at, but that would mean taking my tent and everything down and hiding the plant so I'd like to avoid doing that until it's been harvested.

    ETA: It looks like that one outlet is the problem. I now have my tent plugged in to an outlet on another wall, and it's been 2 days with no issues. The static on the hallway radio was probably unrelated as that's been fixed by taping the radio cord up on the wall (the antenna is in the cord). The only thing on the wonky outlet is my floor lamp...but I've found that if I keep the tent open during lights-on that's more than enough light in the room.
    Last edited by WeirdWiredWolf; 01-01-2021, 07:24 PM.
    ****tent (2x4) and large light (Relassy 300W LED) is in storage for now until I can solve some household electrical issues****

    CoM Stonington Blend soil, distilled water; Liquid Squid amendment if needed, molasses for flowering

    "I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up."

    Comment


    • UndergroundFarmer
      UndergroundFarmer commented
      Editing a comment
      That makes sense. I should have known you were in an apartment because I never seem to see those switched outlets anywhere else! My work takes me into all kinds of people's living spaces and trashed outlets not getting replaced is so very common in apartments. Often, the plugs just fall out of the sockets because the contacts are so worn out. I'd advise you to not use that switched outlet for anything until you can have it replaced. Looks like that's gonna hafta wait until after harvest.

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