CrazyA's 150 gallon project

well i changed my mind about location of ballast from under the house to an electrical panel. Ya, i was really tired that night. Picking up an electrical box tomorrow to host the ballast, capacitors and relay. The 240v wire is fed through to its destination. Hopefully within the next few days i'll have it all wired up. I'll keep you posted on the progress.

 

Well as promised here are some pics of a used electrical box i picked up. This bad boy will host 3 ballast and a relay for the timer . Its got a good weather seal, a place to put a lock so the little one doesn't play in it. 20" x 24" x 8.5" I hope to have all the parts by tomorrow afternoon so i can get this thing wired in. I'm getting too excited though....,,,, i dont have the 14,000K bulbs yet.. Oh well..

 

good work with the lock, nothing is worse than kids and electricity...

 

Yup I agree 100%

 

Plus looks like you will have to keep the dog out too

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Alright so good news, there is a possibility I may be able to finish the wiring in the electrical panel and hang in place. I do plan to have a friend inspect it prior to introducing the supply power line though. As of now it looks like a spaghetti mess, once all wires are connected (correctly) then i will tidy up the wires and route accordingly.

 

Haha...Ya thats no joke too, the pug would not let me work on that box without jumping in and out of it a few times.
The panel has me nervous even with a double locking system, I've gotta play it safe with a 5 year old and a baby on the way.

 

That is a great idea. I will have to try something like that in the future.

Is that your timer in there? What kind is it? I don't recognize it.

 

Very excited today when the UPS delivery guy showed up..... Got to check out the new ReeFlo pump.. Wow this thing sure is bigger than the Iwaki I was running. I plan to drill a couple more holes in the DT for pump return tomorrow morning.

 

Its a Fuji electronic relay. Otty pointed me in the direction a while back ago that there is a way to activate on/off 240V systems by utilizing a 110v power source. This way i can plug it into a controller. The relay has a built in device that you can program, this one is programmed so when the Aqua Jr controller (when I get it ) activates power to the recepticle, it will power the relay on turning one leg of the 240v to the metal halides, it will turn one on ballast at a time every 30 seconds until they are all 3 on. I'll put better pics or a video when its all wired up..