Light rack Wiring question

[banin1636]

i have a question about wiring my metal light rack
my set up is basically 9 sockets with Y adapters in each socket, with a total of 18 CFL's
6 PC fans

what i've read is, the green wire is the ground, which attaches to the appliance ie light rack, so if the light rack becomes electrically charged the lights will shut off. my question is, can i hook up 3 green/ground wires to one appliance? the paint shop photo pretty much explains it all. am i wiring this right?

banin1636 Reviewed by banin1636 on 12-29-2007. Light rack Wiring question i have a question about wiring my metal light rack my set up is basically 9 sockets with Y adapters in each socket, with a total of 18 CFL's 6 PC fans what i've read is, the green wire is the ground, which attaches to the appliance ie light rack, so if the light rack becomes electrically charged the lights will shut off. my question is, can i hook up 3 green/ground wires to one appliance? the paint shop photo pretty much explains it all. am i wiring this right? Rating: 5

[klondike_bar]

the lights dont have a ground, its the house that does. its probably asking for problems to try grounding a metal board for no apparent reason.

example: theres a pair of scissors on the table, would you attach a ground line to it?

the lights only need a pos and negative. grounds are used in appliances that carry large loads.

[PharmaCan]

First of all, don't listen to anything Klondike bar says. He's just a troll and not a very bright one at that.

The simple answer to your question is that yes, you can hook as many grounds as you want to the metal frame. Unfortunately, what you are calling grounds are in fact the neutral wires on your sketch - so it's hard to tell exactly what the hell you want to do.

You seem to be on the right track with your thinking, but not with your drawing. Any fixture that has a green wire should also have a black and a white wire. Hook those to your power cord and hook all the greens together then out thru the power cord or hook the greens to the metal frame and the power cord green to the frame and you'll be good to go.

And you don't run lights in a series like that. You hook the lights up to the power cord - exactly the same way as if you were only going to hook up one light, except you've added a couple more fixtures.

PC :smokin:

[FakeBoobsRule]

Yes here is Klondike giving incomplete/inaccurate information. I don't know much about wiring so I turned to "How stuff works" and found this answer. Although it too is incomplete, it does answer some questions about grounding. There are more links in the question and answer on howstuffworks that you might find useful. I don't know how to actually set up the wires either.

Why do the plugs on some appliances have two prongs and others have three prongs?


Let's start with what the holes in an outlet do. When you look at a normal 120-volt outlet in the United States, there are two vertical slots and then a round hole centered below them. The left slot is slightly larger than the right. The left slot is called "neutral," the right slot is called "hot" and the hole below them is called "ground." The prongs on a plug fit into these slots in the outlet.
If you have read How Batteries Work, you know that electricity must flow in a circuit. In a battery, electricity flows from one terminal of the battery to the other. In a house outlet, power flows from hot to neutral. The appliance you plug into an outlet completes the circuit from the hot slot to the neutral slot, and electricity flows through the appliance to run a motor, heat some coils or whatever. Let's say you plug a light bulb into the outlet. The power will flow from the hot prong, through the filament and back to the neutral prong, creating light in the process.

What if you were to plug a thick strand of wire straight from the hot slot to the neutral slot of an outlet? Unlike an appliance, which limits the amount of electricity that can flow to 60 watts (for a light bulb) or 500 watts (for a toaster), the wire would let an incredible amount of electricity flow through it. Back in the fuse box, the fuse or circuit breaker for the outlet would detect this huge surge and it would cut off the flow of electricity. The fuse prevents the wires in the wall or the outlet itself from overheating and starting a fire.

The ground slot and the neutral slot of an outlet are identical. That is, if you go back to the fuse box, you will find that the neutral and ground wires from all of the outlets go to the same place. They all connect to ground (see How Power Distribution Grids Work for details on grounding). Since they both go to the same place, why do you need both?

If you look around your house, what you will find is that just about every appliance with a metal case has a three-prong outlet. This may also include some things, like your computer, that have a metal-encased power supply inside even if the device itself comes in a plastic case. The idea behind grounding is to protect the people who use metal-encased appliances from electric shock. The casing is connected directly to the ground prong.

Let's say that a wire comes loose inside an ungrounded metal case, and the loose wire touches the metal case. If the loose wire is hot, then the metal case is now hot, and anyone who touches it will get a potentially fatal shock. With the case grounded, the electricity from the hot wire flows straight to ground, and this trips the fuse in the fuse box. Now the appliance won't work, but it won't kill you either.

What happens if you cut off the ground prong or use a cheater plug so you can plug a three-prong appliance into a two-prong outlet? Nothing really -- the appliance will still operate. What you have done, however, is disable an important safety feature that protects you from electric shock if a wire comes loose.

[stinkyattic]

I must say I didn't make it in time to drop the guillotine on that one personally.
Klondike Bar is NOT qualified to advise a mung bean how to sprout, much less give poor advice that could burn your house down.
This is the third strike giving repeated crappy advice after repeated warnings from both members and mods. I'm going to look now, but if this ban wasn't permanent before, it is now. Advising people how to kill their plants is one thing. Giving advice that could cause property damage and personal injury or even death to self and neighbors is the absolute final straw.
Bye kid. Stay in school.

[texas grass]

Wiring

hope this helps, but as stated be verry carefull

[banin1636]

this is confusing me now, mybe im trying to make it more complicated then what it is.

is this how i should be wiring it exactly? if not could some one draw me a diagram on exactly how to? this is the one part of my grow i don't want to get wrong.

[PharmaCan]

You're not confused - that's exactly how you should be wiring it! :thumbsup:

PC :smokin:

[banin1636]

thanks :-) i'll post pics of the finished product in a few days.