# 28000 watts of madness



## NorCalHal (Nov 12, 2013)

It's been a while since I posted any of my projects, so I thought I would share my new adventure.
Long story short, I inherited this room from a cat that just couldn't quite pull it off. 
What I inherited are 2, 12' x 30 rooms side by side, shotgun style. Both rooms have their own 5 ton ac and 180 pint dehu's for each room. When he left, he took almost everything except the hoods, ac's and dehu's. I had to replace everything else pretty much.

First, I will start out with the electrical. The main panel is a 200 amp 3 phase panel. This gives me PLENTY of amperage to play with. The electrical had to be redone as I just didn't trust his wiring for such a big show. I went with 14 lights in each room fired by a 3phase contactor, with a 110 trigger. I could have went with a flip box, but I really wasn't sure how I was going to run the rooms as far as timing. Being such a big elec panel, it didn't matter, the whole show can run at anytime I choose.
The AC units are also 3phase, ran on 3 phase breakers.
3 phase rocks!

The outlet bank for the lights are wired so you know exactally what "phase" each and every light is pulling from. Any electricians reading this will appreciate this. The main panel is PERFECTLY balanced!

I replaced all his ballasts with Nanolux Digi's. I have been running these for a bit and they have given me no problems, so I went with them. Love my digi's!

The dehu's are Idealair's, which are what I would not have chosen. I prefer Santa Fe's line of dehu's, as they run much more efficient, but that was the card I was dealt. Down the road, I may change them over, but they work for now.

So, in each room are 2 strings of 7 lights, being air cooled by a 10" max fan. Each light string has it's own max fan cooling 7 lights. Works great.
He had 8 lights per string, but I found that way overkill and took 1 light out of each string, as they were just not needed.

The rooms are completely sealed. Dude went crazy when he built the room and must have used cases of spray foam to seal it up. All good.

The tables are custom made. They are built on castors, so I can move the whole table around while I do work as needed. With the rooms so narrow, being able to move the tables around a bit is a huge help.
The top of the tables are corrugated plastic, built with a slight downward slope to direct all runoff into a drain bucket. I like to get  around %20 runoff when I feed.

a 1000 gpd RO fills a 300 gallon container for all the water I could ever need.

CO2 burners are set up and controlled by a Sentinel Controller.

It's been a long 5-6 weeks, but everything is up and runnin'. 

Enjoy!


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## ozzydiodude (Nov 12, 2013)

Wow Great looking set up nice work NCH


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## Rosebud (Nov 12, 2013)

i want to be you in my next life...OMG, this is wonderful...tables slanting, on coasters...heaven!


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## Hushpuppy (Nov 12, 2013)

Dude that's sick  I would love to be a tender for you if I was anywhere near you. 

Do you have the timers triggering those ABB relays, or that something else?


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## ShOrTbUs (Nov 12, 2013)

:48: wow


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## 4u2sm0ke (Nov 12, 2013)

MAd Man  ...Showing the Skills my friend

:48:


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## ShOrTbUs (Nov 12, 2013)

the only thing i know about phase 3 is that trucks that have refrigeration units use it


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## Locked (Nov 12, 2013)

Well how the hell do I go home tonight and look in my 4x4x6.5 flowering tent after seeing this?   Nice job.. Looks like a pro show for sure.


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## sunakard2000 (Nov 12, 2013)

man your lucky, granted it took some cash to get the remained of the items and get things rollin, but wow what a heck of a setup to just have dropped in your lap, lookin great cant wait to see them all in full flower, i bet it will reek to high heaven in there XD


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## Growdude (Nov 12, 2013)

F'n sweet, some day, some day............


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## trillions of atoms (Nov 12, 2013)

Beautiful as always hal....


thank you for sharing


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## nouvellechef (Nov 12, 2013)




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## The Old Stoner (Nov 12, 2013)

Really great set up ,you now how to do it right  NCH.


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## pcduck (Nov 13, 2013)

Stellar rooms, Hal, you da man.

Now I have to go to my 4x4 tent and cry


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## ziggyross (Nov 13, 2013)

Wow is this for a legal MMJ grow? I would not have the nerve to run something like this unless I was legal. Very impressive.


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## NorCalHal (Nov 13, 2013)

Hushpuppy said:
			
		

> Dude that's sick  I would love to be a tender for you if I was anywhere near you.
> 
> Do you have the timers triggering those ABB relays, or that something else?


 
Yes, the timers you see there fire the contactors which in turn fire up the lights. 1 timer for each room, firing 14 lights. Much more reliable then any light timer system I have ever used from a grow store.


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## NorCalHal (Nov 13, 2013)

Legal...Yes, with room to grow...haha. I have had a legal Collective filed with the state for quite a few years now. We all know it's only legal in the eyes of the State, the Feds can still choose to do what they want.
 Federal interdiction has been calm here in Cali for a while now. I do not know of any recent cases that involved the Feds actually doing the investigation and arrests. I do know that the Feds have picked up cases that local LEO have passed on to them for various reasons, such as growing near a school or stealing power.
Cali Legal collectives and Dispensaries have been left alone...for know. I know they are waiting for a couple of cases to go through the court system, such as the one against Harborside.
For know, I feel cool about it. I am Lawyered up and believe what you see here is small, VERY small compared to what is really going on in other collective grows I have seen. Shoot man, I am just catching up to the real players. I pay my Electric Bills, and pay my taxes on the income gained from my time operating the collective grow. My State loves me.

The main concern isn't LEO, it is thievery. I run multiple scrubbers in each room, to keep the smell under control during flower, so out side the rooms, you smell nothing. Alarm systems and cameras help with security also.

3 Phase power is really simple, if you understand regular house power at all. Basically, 3 phase just gives you 1 more "hot" leg in the panel. This in turn gives you more amperage. Balancing the panel is the trick with 3 phase.


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## orangesunshine (Nov 13, 2013)

Hamster Lewis said:
			
		

> Well how the hell do I go home tonight and look in my 4x4x6.5 flowering tent after seeing this?   Nice job.. Looks like a pro show for sure.




LMFAO


well done NCH :clap: :clap: :clap: ---an inspiration indeed


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## trillions of atoms (Nov 13, 2013)

Lol my grow is tiny too.....but I WANTED to give hal a hard time and say :    that it?

Lmao


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## HighBrixMMJ (Nov 13, 2013)

Hey Hal, how do you raise and lower the lights in that beautiful setup? I'm soo jealous!


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## ShOrTbUs (Nov 13, 2013)

HighBrixMMJ said:
			
		

> Hey Hal, how do you raise and lower the lights in that beautiful setup? I'm soo jealous!




most likely they are in a fixed position. raising and lowering the plants actually proves to be much simpler. provided you don't shell out the cash for a custom automated system. i doubt it would be cost effective anyway.


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## NorCalHal (Nov 14, 2013)

If you look close at the pics, you can see the light "ratchets" holding the lights up. I can move them if I need to, but I put them up pretty high and have not yet had to move them. It is SO bright in the rooms, I don't think I will have to move them at all.
The last couple of days, I have been staking up the plants to help them as they start to put weight on. 
There are 4 strains I am running on this run. 2 rooms, 4 rows total, growing 1 strain per room.
Room 1 has Cataract Kush and Alien OG. These are shorter strains, more Indica dominant, so they will grow nicely together in the same room.

Room 2 is Larry OG and Holy Grail OG. Both Sativa dom and really stretch. The Indy dom strains don't really need stakes till close to the end of the cycle, but the OG's need help right away, as they stretch crazy.


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## trillions of atoms (Nov 14, 2013)

: props :


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## YYZ Skinhead (Nov 15, 2013)

:holysheep:  Wow, you got balls that CLANK.  I would *love* to grow on that scale but around here there are way too many herd animals who would be willing to kill me for it.  :angrywife:


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## Sin inc (Nov 17, 2013)

wow @%$%`


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## Hushpuppy (Nov 17, 2013)

Hey Hal; I would like to pic your brain a little if you don't mind  My Bro has a building that is exactly like this setup that you have here and he wants to do some serious growing. He will start off smaller and work up. I am curious about how much room you have between the plants(the spacing) and how tall you will let them(or expect them to) get. How deep are the rows of plant pictured? it appears to be about 4'. Do you think you get a better yield having that many plants closely packed versus fewer plants(like 1 plant in a 3x3' space)? The reason I ask that is because his building has very high ceilings. Thanks man


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## NorCalHal (Nov 17, 2013)

HaHa YYZ...I just believe in my rights and am following the California Attorney Generals guidelines on cultivation.
As far as thievery, plans and measures are in place, well in place.

The tables are 26 feet long and 4 feet wide. Each table has around 30 or so plants, so pot to pot, they are a foot or so apart. 
Some of the Indy strains will only reach about 2.5-3 feet tall, where the Sativa's will hit from 3.5-4.6 feet tall.
The picture shown is right before I ditched a few plants that were runts, and really pruned them up. This is the first run at this place, so I packed them in there a little tighter then I normally would, to ensure I hit mad weight. 
Strain dictates how many and how close I get the plants. 
Knowing your strains are KEY in achieving max yield.


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## akhockey (Nov 20, 2013)

Big props my man. I would love to do this some day.


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## cmd420 (Nov 21, 2013)

nice.. are you doing all your own electrical?


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## NorCalHal (Nov 24, 2013)

cmd420 said:
			
		

> nice.. are you doing all your own electrical?


 
Yes Sir, well, myself and a friend. I am not an "electrician" per say, but I understand it well.


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## Hushpuppy (Nov 24, 2013)

Keep us updated with some bud porn Brother Hal :hubba: These should have some killer bud porn


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## xoddah (Nov 27, 2013)

awesome, ab so lutely
I have a carbon copy, size room, in the process of adding another 24x24 within the same building.  carpenter and electrician here today, talking with them
then after reading "this" post. 
i decided to finish the room with electrical 100amps each room, then up-grade the first room, before I outfit the second
...that's a lot of money honey...  i will replace all hoods and window style A/C's with mini-split heat pumps, I was smart enough to put my ceiling at 10ft
insulated with 2" 4x8 Styrofoam panels, push up and move around with 2 fingers. in the "attic" i installed a 14" max fan to remove hot air, too much fan, it will suck the panda film right off the walls and spin the 2 unused 8" intake fans like a jet engine   i am working on that, gable fans might be the answer
I have 2 grows on existing room, learning curve, went from 2oz per to 3.5 per and current grow, week 5, i am confident i will have 4 oz/plant.
  what i am shooting for is, more watts, more plants, shorter rotation, uniform
growth 2 strains instead of 4 or 5 ...  i learned all about LST the hard way
sativa next to indica
  I wanna be Nor Cal Hal


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## NorCalHal (Mar 11, 2014)

Been a while. I see MP is going to be around, so I thought I would post a few pics of the room right before I cut it.
 Did well. 
 First pic is Cataract Kush, the 2nd is Alien OG, the third is an over shot of 2 rows, which are Holy Grail OG on the left, and Larry OG on the right. Pic 4 is the Holy Grail OG.
 Holy Grail and Larry are the clear winners for best dank, with Cataract coming in 3rd, but she made up for in yield, and the Alien is last for sure, OK herb, not super, but put on the most yield of all. Still got kicked out of the stable though. 

View attachment IMG_1475.jpg


View attachment IMG_1476.jpg


View attachment IMG_1498.jpg


View attachment IMG_1499.jpg


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## Locked (Mar 11, 2014)

Damn brosef....nice way to bring this thread back....with straight porn. 

Looking great, man that's a lot of smoke. 

Glad to see you back here, MP is alive and kicking.


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## trillions of atoms (Mar 12, 2014)

Schweeeeet!!!


Thanks for the update hal! Beautiful as always!!

:48:


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## robertr (Mar 12, 2014)

Real nice.


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## Rosebud (Mar 12, 2014)

WOW, wonder how it smells in there. Thanks for the update, Like Hammy said we are really glad you are here.  I am in awe of that room up there... speechless almost... 

Thanks Hal!


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## NorCalHal (Mar 12, 2014)

Thanks for the comments! It was a great run.
Rose...it smells dank! I just had to replace and add a bunch of filters, so now I am running 5 filters in each room. 
This run I am just running GSC and Holy Grail, and they both reek big time, so the extra filters were needed.
Ihave a camera, so I just need to get it dialed and take some newer pics.


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## bwanabud (Mar 12, 2014)

Wow NCH, my idol 

Very nice professional work = great yields & safe growing environment.


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## Hushpuppy (Mar 14, 2014)

With all that you should eventually be able to sell the filters to people so that they can smoke the carbon and get stoned


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## NorCalHal (Mar 14, 2014)

Haha Hush...I just changed out the filters in 2 of the rooms, 8 10" and 3 12". I gotta change them every year or so. You can sure tell when they start to go out


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## robertr (Mar 14, 2014)

Hal, what does a room like that give you after harvest?


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## robertr (Mar 14, 2014)

Those timers you have , they look like standard timers. I guess you don't need heavy duty timers because of the relays right?


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## NorCalHal (Mar 14, 2014)

robertr said:


> Hal, what does a room like that give you after harvest?


 A lot. Quite a lot.


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## NorCalHal (Mar 14, 2014)

robertr said:


> Those timers you have , they look like standard timers. I guess you don't need heavy duty timers because of the relays right?



Yes, those timers are just the "trigger" for the contactor. The load of the lights goes thru the contactor, so I just needed a 120 trigger to fire the contactor.


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## Hushpuppy (Mar 14, 2014)

Its like having a relay to drive a relay. The difference is the first relay is a low current relay and the second relay is the high current relay. I see this in electronics a lot. If you don't have the little one to drive the big one, you will cook one.


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## robertr (Mar 14, 2014)

Yeah I dealt with them a bit. Electrical is interesting.


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## NorCalHal (Mar 14, 2014)

I love electrical. Bigger the show, the more challenging for sure. Easy to max out. Most bug shows I see are all 3phase.


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## Hushpuppy (Mar 15, 2014)

Just remember that all the wires are filled with smoke. That smoke is what makes them work, and if you do something to let the smoke out of the wires :doh: they won't work anymore :hubba:


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## ShecallshimThor (Apr 26, 2014)

Hey Hal 
I got a question for you, why do you vent if you have the co2 burners up and running?
Just curious as it was my understanding one doesn't need to change air when using co2....


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## lyfespan (Apr 27, 2014)

Hey there Hal, killer looking set up...I am an electrician, love the use of contactors, and higher voltage fixtures.


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## NorCalHal (Apr 27, 2014)

Hello Shecallshimthor..I actually do not vent the rooms at all. Venting is set up in case the AC goes down, but it is controlled by a separate thermostat to kick on if the temps get to 90. So, you are correct, you do not need to vent if you are controlling the temps/RH and co2 ppm.

Thanks lifespan, the electrical is the fun part...very important. I am usuing major juice, so it has to be done right.


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## lyfespan (Apr 27, 2014)

NorCalHal said:


> Hello Shecallshimthor..I actually do not vent the rooms at all. Venting is set up in case the AC goes down, but it is controlled by a separate thermostat to kick on if the temps get to 90. So, you are correct, you do not need to vent if you are controlling the temps/RH and co2 ppm.
> 
> Thanks lifespan, the electrical is the fun part...very important. I am usuing major juice, so it has to be done right.



The 3 phase panel will carry plenty and allow you to drop the power consumption when using the higher voltage taps on the lights. And of course it dropped the 5 ton ac unit's sla's from around 70 amps to 50 amps, as well as decreasing the rla' s too. You are probably close to using about half of the capability of panel.


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## NorCalHal (May 23, 2014)

Yes lyfespan..I am under utilizing that panel...and it is killing me. I think this winter I will shut it down for a couple of weeks and redesign the rooms and make them bigger. I have space to fit maybe 2 rooms of 25 lights each. That will max the panel out pretty good.
Right now, I need all the production I can as demand is HIGH. Once the outdoor harvest hits and the market slows down, I can take the downtime and rebuild the rooms. Taking down the AC's air handlers will be the biggest pain.


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## greenfriend (May 23, 2014)

Man NCH, I can't even fathom what your PGE bill is. Insane! If you spent that sorta cash at a vegas casino they'd be comping the presidential suite for you


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## yumyumbubblegum (Jun 1, 2014)

Very nice NCH

:48:


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