Guest friendly electrician Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 No offence to you electrically minded ppl. BUT... Wouldn't it be much easier and less hassle (and peace of mind that your house wont burn down whilst your out) to just buy one already made that meats british safety standards ??? Toke They are only about 30-40 quid anyway (I know I'd rather pay this price than risk an electrical fire). unfortunatly there are no £30-£40 ones that meet british safety standards. many have type approval based on the parts contained but it does not extend to this useage. there rarely fit for a grow room environment, and almost never upto spec. building them for shops is a nightmare for me, as to compete i had to use the same sub standard parts to make a profit. I know better though, so now i leave the £50 market well alone. i supply someone else the parts and he does the assembly work and sells that rubbish in his name. i only make real switchgear that 'is' upto british standards for use in the growroom environment, and is upto spec. That is what ive outlined here. tbh though, two lights should be ok on a relay. but for another £7 you can do so much better 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toke-toke Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 Sorry F.E but you're WRONG.... I know this to be true cos my mate bought one with a 4 way plug adapter on it for 40 quid (it could handle massive amounts of surge like up to 4 x 600 watter bulbs) It was legit, it was from a shop too. Toke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest friendly electrician Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 Sorry F.E but you're WRONG.... I know this to be true cos my mate bought one with a 4 way plug adapter on it for 40 quid (it could handle massive amounts of surge like up to 4 x 600 watter bulbs) It was legit, it was from a shop too. Toke me? wrong? sorry, thats just never gonna happen i have made batchs of them. some will do 6 lights, others fail on two. ring up the relay manufacturer and ask. your not seeing the whole picture you see. that unit may of worked at your friends house, but may not of worked at yours. the contact rateing and number of lights tells you only half the story. the biggest resistance in the circuit is the wires from your house to the substation. There is more to this than meets the eye. much more infact, but perhaps your seeing a bigger picture now. your comment about one box in one house, don't say a lot really. If you want to spend £40 on something that may or may not handle 4 lights then its up to you. however, if you follow my post, £40 will make a box that does 4 lights, 4 times over. Thats what reliability is all about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toke-toke Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 No offence mate, but I'd rather purchase the unit already built that meets british standards for our current UK voltages. And, for the sake of around 40 quid is it really worth the hassle of getting out the soldering iron? Toke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest friendly electrician Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 (edited) No offence mate, but I'd rather purchase the unit already built that meets british standards for our current UK voltages. And, for the sake of around 40 quid is it really worth the hassle of getting out the soldering iron? Toke the approvals on shop relay units are gained by proving approved parts are used in an approved fashion using proven methods. They get approval as 3000w lighting contactors, based on 3000w of halogen floodlight, not discharge lights. they cant possibly be approved for discharge lighting as finders dont even make a relay for discharge lamps. there not approved for growroom use either as the encloseures rarely meet the required ingress protection (ip) rating. ring finders and ask. the md there is on the european board that decides on the cirtification requirements and testing of relays and 'real' contactors. my design however, IS upto european standards to switch discharge lighting in a greenhouse situation. to do this ive had to miss out mounting screws and select a contactor that can just rattle about happily in the weather proof box. i didnt just forget the screws. It does not take long to cut an extension lead in half and strip the 6 ends. then theres a few screws to do up. thats it, job done, sit back and roll. i could go out now and build one about as quick as i could go and buy one. only building it makes a good one and saves going 'shop' as most people dont like to go to ofton Edited September 7, 2006 by friendly electrician Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Necronomicon Posted October 27, 2006 Share Posted October 27, 2006 One thing about this guide puzzles me, why use the chocolate block (terminal block) at all, can I not just wire Relay terminals 6 and 8 straight to my socket? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scribb|e Posted October 27, 2006 Share Posted October 27, 2006 One thing about this guide puzzles me, why use the chocolate block (terminal block) at all, can I not just wire Relay terminals 6 and 8 straight to my socket? Is it maybe to stop the danger of the wires being pulled straight out of the relay terminals? Some kind of protection against this happening? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Necronomicon Posted October 28, 2006 Share Posted October 28, 2006 I have done mine into a dual socket and mounted it all on MDF with cable clips etc, works a treat. Although the wiring for the relays I got was different. Total cost for.. 2 x 230vac 10Amp Relays (RL01C) off the shelf at my local Elec trade store 2 x Relay Bases (BA01C) As above, manufactured by IMO www.imopc.com 2 x Dual socket back box (B&Q) 2 x Dual Socket (B&Q) 3 x Mech Timer (B&Q on offer in a 3 pack for a tenner) Plugs and cables came from my stockpile of PC Power leads (10 years in the trade's worth) 30 quid for 2 complete setups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LOCUSTY Posted December 6, 2006 Share Posted December 6, 2006 Can someone point me in the direction of one to buy complete as my electronics is very bad and im totally confused buy this whole thread. is the uk420 shop 1 suitable for a 400w hps ? says it is but need some confirmation ta loc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adddw Posted December 6, 2006 Share Posted December 6, 2006 you can get a double contactor for 35 notes that will power 2 600s ye Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damnation Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 been reading this unfortunatly a bunch of images have gone, and arguements on how things are done, i am not an electrictian, so i have no idea how to do any of this and was wondering if anyone was going to redo this thread with the earth etc added on. i only ask because next year i will be growing again, and i want to run: 1 4-600W hps (thats either a 400 or 600) 3 125w blue enviro 3 200w red enviro these will be hopefully attached to one timer. but obviously i will need to use a contactor. but i am not sure this one in this topic is suitable because i've read other topics that state you need a contactor not a relay. and that these relay parts are like £70. but i saw this: JCO TR4 Contactor (google will give results) now that is a 4 way contactor, i know not enough for the lighting i want to use, although i feel i may be OTT'in it. but thats £51 yet other topics say the contactor part is £70. so i am confused! can anyone shed light, and is there a full tutorial, with links to like maplins, or all parts including the waterproof casing, and fully earthed etc? (sorry to post this on the bottom of here thought somone who wrote it might know more or want to help : o) ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gom Jibbar Posted January 8, 2007 Share Posted January 8, 2007 Can someone point me in the direction of one to buy complete as my electronics is very bad and im totally confused buy this whole thread. is the uk420 shop 1 suitable for a 400w hps ? says it is but need some confirmation ta loc It's one of those threads where you seem to know less and be more confused the more you read 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyberpunx Posted March 2, 2007 Share Posted March 2, 2007 so can you please send me a list of where you got the items you listed and how much they cost plus any photo's or diagrams you may have? regards cyberpunx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burstbud Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 U can not run 30amps from UK mains plugs. if u think u can u must be barking mad. look inside a UK mains plug it has 13amp fuse. even if you could run 30amps from it you would need at leist 6mm twin and earth cable. this is why electric cookers and showers have big f***n cables atached to them an wired direct to a separate MCB or consumer unit. the biggest and easiest realay to get a hold of is 15amp which is the most i would draw from a plug. if you try to draw more than this the fuse in the plug will blow. 3 x 600watt lamps is the most strain you should be putting on your house wiring. your house plugs are on a 30amp MCB this has to run ALL of your houshold items inc fridge, washing machine, computers, tellys ect ect. if you need more juce then get a qualified spark to install a seperate consumer unit preferably one for a shower or garage which has a built in RCD with at leist 6mm twin and earth then run everthing off that. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED regards burstbud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzz_ock Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 Ive gone out and bought a relay from maplins it is model no JG60Q, i have followed the instructions from this article however my lights stay on regardless to which postion the timer is. The picture is from the relay does anyone know which wires should go where on the relay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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