electricity

[scobbie]

heres a chart that might help some people out but dont play with electricity if you are not experienced as it burns it burns as golam would say, but seriously DONT MESS WITH ELECTRICITY







Overgrow Mentor








A quick note: all of this info is for the continual US (Alaska and Hawaii I do believe are the same as US) and Canada (up north some codes may be deferent). I don't have much knowledge of code and practices in other countries.

120 volt (household)
No mater what is printed on a device, 110V, 115V, 120V, 125V, or 130V the official term is one hundred twenty volts (120V).

Note:120V, 120 with a neutral is "single phaseâ?� US.

240 volt (household) (edited)
No mater what is printed on a device, 220V, 235V, 238V, 240V or 250V the official term is two hundred forty volts (240V).

Note:240V, 120 with the other 120 with or with out neutral is also considered "single phase" in the US.

120V/240V receptacle (edited)
Similar to a regular 240V receptacle but with four slots. One is for a 120 volt load usually the top slot of the receptacle. The 240V is ran off the hots as normal with the ground wire as a ground. The 120V is maid buy â??piggybackingâ?? one of the 240V hots (usually the L2 or "red" wire hot) and using a neutral to complete the circuit as 120V (the neutral is not connected to the other hot!). Its common for things such as driers to have 120V/240V outlets. 240V for the turning motor and heater, 120V for the timer and squirrel cage extractor fan.
(Note: ALL 240V and 120V/240V receptacles SHOULD be and most of the time under code MUST be dedicated)


4-level voltage tester
It is used test for current at 120, 240, 277 and 480 volts (can not detect voltage). They are cheap, hard to break and last for a long time, a smart investment.
(Note: even though it says 110 and 220 it will still work )

***A***

Aluminum wire (AL)
A standard or solid wire made of aluminum (usually marked as AL). Just about all HID systems have AL leads for the ballast and socket. All the more resin to use an antioxidant or sealer on wire nuts. Fluoro's just about always have copper leads.
Amp
A the amount of electrical current in a circuit at any giving moment.
Antioxidant
A paste applied to aluminum wires to stop corrosion and maintain a good safe connection.
Amered cable
See also, cable
Two or more insulated wires wrapped in a protective metal sheeting. This is used when wires or cable are ran out in the open (when there is no wall martial or where it could be easily damaged).
Arc-Fault-Circuit-Interrupter (AFCI) PIC
Protects when arcing occurs because of damaged, frayed, over heated cords or impaired wire insulation (usually used on an electric device when the upped voltage exceeds 1080 volts and or where there are high amounts of humidity or dust)
American Wire Gauge (AWG) CHART
A scale used to judge wire thickness
(Note: The chart describes 100% of what is considered "safeâ??. The NEC recommends, and most local codes will only allow putting no more than 75% to 90% of maximum allowable current in amps or watts on a circuit)

***B***

Ballast
A transformer that regulates the voltage in a florescent or HID lamp (Usally only HID ballast have componates other than the transfomer and lamp holder).

Typical HID ballast
MH ballast usually look like this minus the igniter
(Note: load should be line in this pic )

Typical â??tube or shop lightâ?�, florescent ballast PIC
As a side note the wires on the inside represent the wires on the bottom (right side where the red and blue leads are).

Bare wire
See also, cable
A wire that has no insulation (almost always a ground).
Bell wire
A thin, typically 18 gauge standard wire normally used for door bells and relays.
Box (PIC Plastic)
A metal or plastic enclosure within witch electrical connections are made.
Breaker
A safety device designed to stop electrical flow in part of a circuit if it shorts or is over loaded. It helps privent fire due to over heated wiring.
Bus bar
A main power terminal to witch circuits are attached in a fuse or breaker box. One bus bar serves the circuits hot side; the other, the neutral side. Some service panels and all sub panels have separate neutral and ground bud bars.
BX
See aslo, cable
Armored cable containing insulated wires but no ground wire, usually used for short runs two feet or less.

***C***

CaBLE
Two or more insulated wires in a plastic or metal sheeting.
(Note: xx/2 refers NM with a black and white wire with a ground. xx/3 refers to NM with a black, red and white wire with a ground. xx/3 is typically used for split receptacles or 120V/240V receptacles. The red wire is the other hot, nomally the 120V for 120V/240V receptacles)
Cable connectors (NM) (PIC Flat) (PIC Round) (PIC Demonstration)
Used to safely connect NM cable to metal and some plastic boxes (as well as some devices). There is actually two deferent kinds, one is for regular flat xx/2 NM cable. The other is for round NM cable, Exp: xx/3 or "extension cord" type cable. There are also "pop in" connectors for flat and round NM as well as built in and push in ones made into the box/device.
(PIC Push in) (PIC Built in) (PIC Pop in)
Captive load
Anything that stores and electric charge Exp: capacitor and battery
Circuit PIC (How a circuit works)
The path of electrical flow from a power source thought an outlet and back to ground
Circuit breaker PIC
A "switch" that automatically interrupts electrical flow of the entire circuit in case of an overload or short (normally in service and sub-panels) Also see, breaker .
Common
A path to a neutral line or load (COM wire, terminal, bar Etc: ).
Common wire
A lead marked COM, on a ballast COM is where the neutral wires load is attached to the ballast, the hot goes to the one marked for voltage (Exp: 120V, 208V ,240V ,277 and so on).
Conducutor
A wire or anything else that carries electricity.
Conduit
See also, cable
Strong (metal or PVC) or flexible plastic/metal tubing (or pipe) though witch wires are run. With metal (pipe) conduit the conduit itâ??s self is used as the ground.
Conduit connector
Similar to a round NM cable connector, but the clamp part is larger so as to fit the conduits outer diameter. PVC unless going into a metal box, PVC conduit is usually done the same way as PVC piping. It is joined ether buy a bonding agent or treads, sometimes rubber grommets are allowed (mainly for neatness and good looks as well as keeping moister out).
Continuity tester PIC
An instrument that tells weather a device a is capable of carrying electricity.

***D***

Dedicated circuit
A circuit that has one and only one outlet.
Dimmer
A rotary or sliding switch used to control the speed or light of a resistive load, a dimmer CAN NOT be safely used for an inductive load of any kind.
Double pole breaker
(See also, circuit breaker)
Mainly used for 240Vcircuits drawing power from two hots, but sometimes are used for split receptacles.
Duplex receptacle
A device that includes two female plug style outlets.

***E***

Electrical metallic tubing (EMT)
Thin-walled, rigid conduit suitable for indoor use (the sheeting can not be used for a ground as with conduit).
End-of-the-run
A device located at the end of a circuit. No wires continue from itâ??s box to other devices.

***F***

Feed wire
A wire that brings household current to a device
Fishing PIC
The act of pulling wires/cable though finished walls, ceilings or conduit.
Fish tape PIC
A hooked strip of spring steel used to correctly perform the act of fishing.
Fixture
An electrical device attached directly to a homes wiring.
Flexible metal conduit (More commonly known as Greenfield) PIC
Metal tubing with no wires already in it that can be easily bent buy hand. It is usually used in tight places where conduit would be hard to install, or in locations where vibration/movement is necessary (large ventilation fan mounting).
Florescent light
A light source that uses an ionized processes to produce ultraviolet radiation. This radiation becomes visible light (white light) when it hitâ??s the coated inner surface of the tube.
Florescent tube
A fluorescent light in the shape of a long strait tube.
Florescent compact (Also known as compact fluorescent or CF)
A florescent light that has a self contained ballast, witch simply screws into a regular lamp socket.
Four way switch
A type of switch used to control a small device (usually a light) from three or more locations.
Fuse PIC
See, breaker/circuit breaker
(Note: A fuse will not protect against over heated wires, use correct amp ratings for your circuit)
Fuse puller
Used to pull the large main canister type fuses from the clip terminals (besides electrocution they are mainly used because the main fuses metal parts can get quite hot and there is a possibility of burning your self).

***G***

Ganging PIC
Assembling two or more electrical components into a single unit; boxes, switches and receptacles are often ganged.
Greenfield
See, flexible metal conduct
Ground or earth
Refers to the fact that electricity always seeks the shortest possible path to the earth. Neutral wires carry electricity to ground in all circuits. An additional grounding wire, sheeting of MC cable or conduct protects against shock from a defective device.
Ground fault
When the normal flow from hot to neutral, flows through a ground do to a defective device. Remember electricity flows though the shortist possible path with the least resistanct (a water droplet from a blade of grass or you)
Ground-Fault-Circuit-Interrupter (GFCI)
A safety device that senses a shock hazard and shuts off a circuit or receptacle (Usually used in wet areas)

***H***

Half sized breaker
(See also, circuit breaker)
Controls one 120V circuit, if you have room install a single pole as half size can sometimes trip for no resin (local codes sometimes donâ??t allow them).
Hard wired
See, fixture This usually reefers to a large appliance, like a hot water heater or an out door AC unit that can not be easily removed.
High-intensity-discharge-lighting (HIDL or HID)
A type of VARY bright lighting, includes mercury vapor (MV), metal halide (MH), high and low presser sodium (HPS/LPS) and high output ultraviolet (HOUV)
High resistance short (sometimes called a walking short)
When an appliances wires heat up due to inadequate wire gauge or a weak connection at the receptacle. This is the most dangerous kind, because the heat is at the connection not the breaker/fuse. Nether circuit breaker nor fuse will protect against this type of overload, all the more resin to use a GFCI receptacle.
Hot wire (black wire)
The sending of the currant, where the electrical currant comes from.

***I***

Incandescent bulb
A light source witch uses a resistive form load of charged metal filament that burns at white heat (useless for growing).
Inductive load
Anything that does not have a direct electrical connection (The most common is 1 and 3 phase motors and transformers, especially transformers).
Insulation/insulator
A nonconductive covering or material the prevents the flow of electricity (makes the electricity go where you want it to go in other words).

***J***

Junction box PIC
An enclosure used for splitting a circuit into branches, wires inside a junction box are never used for or as an outlet.

***K***

Kilowatt (KW or kw)
One thousand watts, energy usage is measured buy each kilowatt.
Knockouts
See aslo, box
Round tabs in metal boxes that can be removed for NM cable or conduct connectors.

***L***

LB connector or fitting
A reinforced 90° elbow for use with conduit, LB can not be attached to a box there must be conduit between the box and elbow.
Lead
A short power input wire attcahed to and coming from a fixture or device, this is most commonly used for hard wiring or pig tailing instead of using a terminal, the short wires on a ballast, mogule base wire, fan motor wires ect:
Line
This usually refers to the first power source in the series of outlets on a circuit (in the house hold).
Load
The resistive component on the end of a voltage feed ie. transformers, fan's, light rail.
Local codes
Local laws governing safe wiring practices.

***M***

MC cable (Metal Clad)
See also, cable
Armored cable with two or more wires with an insulated ground wire.
Metallic (M) cable (this is mainly just a saying or phrasing of cretin types of conduit)
Two or more insulated wires with an insulated ground in metal sheeting or pipeing.
Middle-of-the-run
A device in between the power source and other devices. The wires go to it then leave the box and go to other devices.
Monoplex receptacle
A device that includes one female plug style outlet.
Multitester PIC
Can perform tests on and for pretty much anything, including voltage, capistance and Ohm's. But can not detected voltage.
(Some of the more popular styles have dials instead of buttons)

***N***

National Electric Code (NEC)
A set of rules governing safe wiring practices and methods, drafted from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) for the entire country. Local codes sometimes differ from and take procedure over the NEC (I.E. sometimes itâ??s much stricter).
Neutral wire (white wire)
The receiver of the current (120V US), where the electrical current goes (it also go back to the main ground or earth). It is indeed posible to be shocked from a nuetral. If you are working with live power (Wich you should never ever do!!!) turn every thing off in your home (lamps, tv's radios, etc) and also make sure no light switches are on (or better yet just turn off the power!). If the hot is complet all you need is a brige (your fingers) to complet the curcuit = an unexpected ouch!.
New-work box
See also, box
A metal or plastic box attached to framing members (another word for studs or beams) before the wall or ceiling material is put up/on.
Nonmetallic (NM) cable
See also, cable
Two or more insulated wires with a bear ground in a nonmetal sheeting.

***O***

Outlet (sometimes referred to as a taped power soucre)
Any potential for the use of a circuit, includes fixtures, receptacles, switches, hard wired devices and any where that wires would go to send/receive electrical power.
Overload
When there is to much electrical flow for the circuit to handle. Overload is when wires heat up or begin to carry to much current, a safety device (breaker/fuse/GFCI/ARCI) senses danger and stops the electric flow to the device.
(Note: this only works correctly if done properly with sufficient wire gauge for you needs)

***P***

Pigtail PIC
A length of wire striped at both ends, spliced with one or more wires.
Polarized plugs
A receptacle specifically designed so that the hot and neutral wires canâ??t be reversed (Note: usually only needed for resistive loads such as specialty electrical equipment. Also is needed for 2 & 3 stage motors).

***Q***

Quad breaker
(See also, circuit breaker)
Used to control 4 120V circuits two for each hot or two 240V circuits. As with tandem and half sized they can sometimes trip for no resin (local codes sometimes donâ??t allow them).
Quadplex receptacle
A device that includes four female plug style outlets.

***R***

Radix wire
A special double insulation type of wire made for extremely high temps. Radix has melt resistant ratings from 180C° (aprox 350F°) to 230C°(aprox 445F°) and is virtually flam proof (almost never catches fire from radiant heat or direct flames). It has silicon (kind of like permatex) insulation and a fire retardant (fabric like) outer insulation. Mainly used for HID sockets and furnace wiring.
Receptacle PIC (All pics are of a duplex receptacle)
An outlet for lamps, power tools and any other plug-in devices.
Remodel box (sometimes called an â??old workâ?� box) PIC
The rounds boxes are most communally used for light weight devices like smoke, CO, CO2, radon detectors and recessed lighting in the ceiling. The rectangle ones are used for receptacles, switches and other small wall mounted devices. Similar to a new-work box, only it is attached to the ceiling/wall martial itâ??s self. They use tabs that flip out automatically when you start to tighten the mounting screws.
Resistive load
Anything that has a direct electrical connection of the hot and neutral wires (such as a drill motor, oven, light bulb Ect: )
Rigid conduit (usually refers to the thick metal pipe kind)
Wire carrying metal tubing that is vary difficult to correctly bend with out a special tool (itâ??s usually called an Conduit Bending Clamp {CBC} or a â??pipe benderâ??).
Romex
A trade name for NM cable.

***S***

Service entrance
Where the power comes to the home (usually right befor and after the meter).
Service head
Where the power come from the MAIN main line out in the street from the telephone poll.
(Note: There are two separate 120V feeds and 0V (neutral) that comes in not a 120V wire and a 240V wire.
"I personally don't know the exact science behind 1 phase 240V. Think of it as one 120 volts pushing another 120 volts that is pulling (180º out of phase from one another) That gives you 240 volts of force� get it"???
Service panle PIC
The main fuse or breaker box inside the home.
Short circuit (AC)
When the hot and neutral wires touch one another, or a hot wire touches a ground.
Single pole breaker
(See also, circuit breaker)
Controls one 120V circuit, more dependable than half sized.
Split receptacle
A plane duplex receptacle with the conecting tab removed. It allows two circuts to be ran off the same outlet.
Standard wire
Actually dozens of (at least seven or more) smaller individual wires rotated around one another to make one.
Stripping
The act of removing insulation from wires or sheeting from NM cable.
Solid wire
A solid metal (copper or aluminum) wire.
Subpanel
A subsidiary (or secondary) fuse or breaker box with little or no room fore adding new circuits. It draws itâ??s power from the main service panel though thick normally 10 gauge or bigger wires. They are most often used when many outlets or a large remote appliance is needing (such as a house AC unit or lighting and receptacles for a garage).
System ground
The main ground to earth for service panels (they are some times installed for subpanels that wonder to fare from the houseâ??s main ground).

***T***

Tandem breaker
(See also, circuit breaker)
Controls two 120V circuits off the same hot bar with individual cut off switches. Basically a two in one half sized. As with half sized one or the other can sometimes trip for no resin (local codes sometimes donâ??t allow them).
Telephone cable
See also, cable
Basically the same thing as xx/3 but a much smaller gauge and for low voltage, it is mostly used for running telephone cable outlets and thermostats.
Three way switch
A type of switch used to control a small device (usually a light) from two locations.
Time-delay fuse
See also, fuse
A fuse that will allow a brief overload of approximately 300% to 500% of 1 to 3 seconds. If the over load continues the fuse will blow (these are vary common with large appliances or machinery, and perfect for the HPS startup loads, see I didnâ??t forget about weed)
Transformer
A device witch increases or decreases the voltage of the household current. Decrease is know as â??step downâ?� and increase is known as â??step upâ?�. Step downs are commonly used for tract lighting, door bells and thermostats. Step upsâ?¦ well you know

***U***

Underground feed cable (UFC or UF)
NM cable specifically designed to be berried directly with out the use of conduit in the ground (mostly used for irrigation systems and landscaping)
Underwriters knot
A strain relief for the power cord (typically "lamp" cord), most commonly used for hanging and sitting medium (type as in sized) lamp sockets.
Underwriters Laboratories (UL)
They are the ones that test stuff for safety hazards.

***V***

Volt
A measure of electrical presser. Volts x Amps = Watts (this is the preferred method for calculating power usage)
Voltage

scobbie Reviewed by scobbie on 01-25-2006. electricity heres a chart that might help some people out but dont play with electricity if you are not experienced as it burns it burns as golam would say, but seriously DONT MESS WITH ELECTRICITY Overgrow Mentor Rating: 5

[Mrs.WeedChick]

What no W,X,Y or Z? My hubby is an EE and would enjoy that but it's way over my head!

[turtle420]

Scoobie, I vouch for this becoming a sticky. It has my vote.

Nice work.

Scoob, can I post an electrical question? I've got doubts regarding my timers, wiring, "bridging", and burning my room dowm.

Please do let me know,
Thanks...

-turtle420
.

[scobbie]

this chart came of overgrow but i am not an electrician but i come from an electrical family buzzzzzzzzzzz,lol, yeh turtle fire away and if i can help i will but always remember ,it burns it burns and if i cant answer it my son will so carry on turtle

[LOC NAR1958]

Good info scoobie, Yes this should be a sticky.Remember it only burns for a few seconds . Me I stick with 220 / 221 whatever it takes. LOL. If I had a dime for every time I got shocked I would just buy all the weed I need .LOL. The most I been hit with is 750, lucky not many amp. It will knock you down and ruin your day much less your buzz. Seen a man hit with 1250, knocked him off a 10 foot ladder. I swear he was dead, not breathing. When I got back with rescue he was somking a cig and went to the truck to get a drink of liqure. Go figure.

[scobbie]

MY DAD TELLS ME LOADS OF STORIES LIKE THAT SPARKS SEE IT ALL . LOL.

[BkSkillz]

could it be scoobie pulling another trichome manouver...jumping johova jacks batman!

[SittinStoney420]

What's a sticky?

[scobbie]

could it be scoobie pulling another trichome manouver...jumping johova jacks batman!

why dont you stop with holding back and say what you want to say ,you seem to have more of a problem with trichome creator than anyone else that were scammed do so say your piece and then drop it ,if you or others dont want read his posts they dont have to but its getting old ,and if you are claming i am a scammer or have anything to do with scamming then say that or accuse me straight out if not then go back to school and pick on the kids son because you are acting like one.lol:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: lol and trich could be here under another name or he could be coming back on his old user name thats up to the mods and know one else,most people wont agree with that and thet is totaly understandable but as i said they dont have to speak to him but i have got over it mate and know more about the situation than most do , be more straight forward with what you have to say .

ask yourself, did he scam me?
did he scam anyone that i know personaly ? what i was scammed for was returned to me within one week of it coming out.and i presume others were recompensated in other ways so i have no problem as he went out his way to make sure he sorted it out pronto

[turtle420]

What's a sticky?

When a moderator "sticks" this thread @ the top of this forum... Stickies don't go down when people don't reply to them... they're um, "stuck" to the top of the page... thus, "stickies".

yeh turtle fire away and if i can help i will but always remember ,it burns it burns and if i cant answer it my son will so carry on turtle

Thanks scoBBie!!
Ok my friend, here's my situation...
For timers, I'm using X10 timers. (www.x10.com). These timers (primer, sorry if you know already), communicate through the electrical wiring of the house.

So, I've got my "controller" timer, which turns ON/OFF all the other ones by sending the signals INTO the electrical wiring. Fine, the timers per se do as the "controller" tells them.

Ok, my problem: My growroom has 2 circuit breakers. One is for 15A and the other for 20A. Why? I have no fucking clue... but half of the room is in one breaker and the other one on the other.
Because of these two circuits, when I plug a timer into the breaker that does NOT contain the "X10 controller", the timer doesn't always "receive" the ON/OFF signals. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't.

If I switch the timer back over to the circuit of the "controller", it works flawlessly.

So, I was wondering.... is there some kind of "bridge" I can do between circuits? Bridge over @ wall-socket area?

I don't know if this is plain stupid, but, can I plug one end of an electrical cable into the wall (15A) then plug another cable into the other side of the room (20A), and "bridge" those cords?

Ok, don't worry, I haven't done it and I won't until you say what to do... so I still haven't burned my house down... But, ideas?

I know the X10 industry sells "filters" and "boosters" and "repeaters", but I'm trying to ... you know... be a grower.

Thanks a million scoBBie, thanks :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

-turtle420
.