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Input power question


bdwillie

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First year doing this so have an input power question.  I have three controllers and they all have the two input power cords.  First off, so far I will be nowhere close to 80% power on any channel so total current will not be a problem.  Question being,  I have several quad outlet power drops in the yard from years past.  The main wiring was run as 220 Volt, with the two outlets on the left side of the enclosure being phase A of the 220, and the two right outlets being phase B of the 220.  I know if I plug both input plugs into the upper and lower of the same socket they will be on same phase at 120V.  but is there anything tied internally between the two banks of the controller that would cause a problem if one input plug was connected to phase A and the other plug is connected to phase B?  Don't want to fry these little devils so thought I would ask before plugging up.

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Are the receptacles standard 120 volt NEMA 5-15 or 5-20?

http://www.stayonline.com/reference-nema-straight-blade.aspx

The typical residential electric panel in the US is fed with 240 volts across 2 hot wires that each measure 120 volts from the hot wire to the neutral (or 240 volts across both hot wires).  You should be running your 120 volt LOR controllers on a standard NEMA 5-15 or 5-20 receptacle (wired between one hot wire and the neutral wire).  You can have receptacles wired on one side of the panel (Leg 1) and receptacles wired on the other side of the panel (Leg 2), and they will work fine with LOR controllers plugged in....I hope this helps.... 

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Randy yes they are.  Picture attached as I should have done earlier.  Sockets 1 & 2 are on phase A (Leg 1) of the 220,  and sockets 3 & 4 are on phase B (leg 2).  I know if I plug both power inputs to 1 & 2 I will be fine, but if I have a helper and plugs the input power into 1 and 3, that's what I am worried about..  I have no idea why the photo uploaded sideways

 

1031160704_resized_1.jpg

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In answer to your question, you should be fine.  The two neutral inputs are *not* bonded internally, which in your case wouldn't matter since those two outlets are on two circuits with a shared neutral.  The two hots obviously aren't either.  You can tell this for yourself with a multimeter on resistance or continuity setting...  Unplug the inputs, and check for continuity between the two neutral inputs and the two hot inputs.

 

I use CTB16PC controllers -- I bought complete-kits and put them together (including soldering the board).  I don't know what the pre-built boards or boxes look like, but I would assume they are similar.  The kit comes with two input cords, but like you I'm not using anywhere near the full capacity of one, let alone both, and I wanted to simplify.  It turns out to be pretty easy.  If you look at the board there are two extra neutral spade-lugs, and the right side has a lug in the bottom right corner labeled "HOT JUMP".  I took this to be an invitation to remove the left side power cord, and make up a black jumper wire about 6" long to go from "HOT JUMP" on the right side to "HOT INPUT" on the left, and a second smaller jumper between the two neutral areas.  This means the entire board is running on the right-side fuse - the left-side of the board still goes through the left side fuse, but the left side fuse is after the right-side fuse.  So your total input can only be 15 amps.  See the photo below - in the middle, right over the transformer, you can see the white loop, below that the black wire running from one side to the other.  These wires both have spade-lug crimps on both ends.

 

I built all of my controllers this way, and haven't had any issues.

IMG_20161102_190721771.jpg

Edited by msturtz
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awesome MSTURTZ!  Will look into doing that. Will be nowhere near 15 amps per controller.  (I Hope)  Wattmeter is my best friend to make sure!  And thanks for ALL the input guys!

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Bdwillie, should be no problem. Your photo makes me wonder what you do for a living. Very few people use steel electrical boxes mounted to unistrut at home! The P-Touch label is a nice touch.

Sent from my Droid Turbo via Tapatalk, so blame any typos or spelling errors on Android

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On ‎11‎/‎3‎/‎2016 at 9:54 AM, k6ccc said:

Bdwillie, should be no problem. Your photo makes me wonder what you do for a living. Very few people use steel electrical boxes mounted to unistrut at home! The P-Touch label is a nice touch.

Sent from my Droid Turbo via Tapatalk, so blame any typos or spelling errors on Android

LOL  Took that picture at work as a reference  Aircraft electronics Mechanic Work Leader by trade,   Figured I was safe, but not having a schematic wasn't sure so figured best was to ask. 

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  • 2 months later...

You would be fine plugging one controller into two different circuits. The controllers are set up so you can wire them in separate.circuits and not overload just one phase of your branch circuits. 

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