Electrical Question (Yes Again...for the first time for me...)

[Guest guest]

Hi, I have searched in the forum and didn't find the infos.

I want to use some receptacles for the output from my LOR (Not the same but like in the picture below) and install it in the basement. I want to use a 14/3 solid wire for the output from the LOR, 2 Hot and 1 Neutral (like in the next pictures).


Is there a problem for the board if I only use 1 neutral for 2 channels?

Thanks for your support.


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[Guest guest]

1 White...

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[Guest guest]

2 Black

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[Guest guest]

couack2006 wrote:

Is there a problem for the board if I only use 1 neutral for 2 channels?

This is fine, with two caveats:

1) The neutral must be sized for the combined load of both channels (e.g. if you can pull 8 amps from both channels at the same time, it must be sized for a 16-amp load).

2) Both channels sharing the neutral should come from the same 'bank' of 8 channels. Each 8-channel bank shares a neutral internally anyway, but different banks can have different neutrals, depending on how things are wired.

-Tim

[Guest guest]

Sorry, I didn't mentionned, it's a CTB16D Board, and that was in my plan to use 4 neutral on the left side for channels 1 to 8 and 4 neutral on the right side for channels 9 to 16. I'm not sure yet if i'm gone need 1 or 2 power feed. I must check the Amps for each cord with the Clamp Meter that I just received from http://www.fcsurplus.ca/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=7810 for only 29.95$ + TX + S/H. Good enough for me. I just split an electric cord for testing the light.

By the way, I bought 3 enclosures at Home Depot for 25$ each(Canadian Dollars), 10 X 10 X 4 , only good for inside, not water resistant.




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[Guest guest]

Box-1

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[Guest guest]

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't each 8 channel bank (of the 16 channel LOR) sourced seperately? Since you can potentially draw 20 amps from each bank you need to feed the LOR from two breakers. Preferably, each of those breakers would be from the top and the bottom line off your transformer (220V between the two and 110V from each of those lines to neutral). You would have the two lines and one neutral feeding the LOR. Since you will balance the load between the two lines in, you can use a smaller guage neutral (smaller than the line size) if you wanted to. However, if you only ever have just one bank in use at a time then the neutral should be of the same size as the line to ensure you can carry the 20 amps. This is true because each line is the negative of the other and so if your draw 40 amps total from both banks the neutral adds to zero and carries nothing (this would be difficult to accomplish in real life). With it wired this way, the neutral will never carry more than 20 amps and will usually be much less.

Out of the LOR, since each bank is sourced from a different line this means that each bank is negative of the other (means nothing unless you touch two of those blacks from different banks together..then you get 220V across them).

[Guest guest]

kb9nvh wrote:

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't each 8 channel bank (of the 16 channel LOR) sourced seperately? Since you can potentially draw 20 amps from each bank you need to feed the LOR from two breakers. Preferably, each of those breakers would be from the top and the bottom line off your transformer (220V between the two and 110V from each of those lines to neutral). You would have the two lines and one neutral feeding the LOR. Since you will balance the load between the two lines in, you can use a smaller guage neutral (smaller than the line size) if you wanted to. However, if you only ever have just one bank in use at a time then the neutral should be of the same size as the line to ensure you can carry the 20 amps. This is true because each line is the negative of the other and so if your draw 40 amps total from both banks the neutral adds to zero and carries nothing (this would be difficult to accomplish in real life). With it wired this way, the neutral will never carry more than 20 amps and will usually be much less.

Out of the LOR, since each bank is sourced from a different line this means that each bank is negative of the other (means nothing unless you touch two of those blacks from different banks together..then you get 220V across them).

If I understand you correctly, you are correct -- but it would be dangerous to make the assumption that the 2 LOR cords would be plugged into outlets on opposite phases. If they weren't you could have a dangerous overload condition on the shared neutral.

For non-permanant wiring, it's best to size the neutral so that it can carry the combined load.

-Tim

[Guest guest]

OH, I see what youre saying...if you plug your two plugs into two different wall outlets then you would need two neutrals (or a double sized one) because one would not cancel the other as they would if you took them from both sides of the transformer.

I think, in that case, where you have two "source" plugs going TOO the LOR you should just always use 2 wire plus ground for each treating each bank as its own circuit.


In any case, I think couack2006 would be OK as long as his two blacks were from the same bank (say channel 1 and 2). The most current that neutral would need to support is 16 amps (8 amps max per channel) and usually much less than that if the bank is only running 20 amps total.

[Guest guest]

Any advise Dan or from anybody else who already tried that method

( 1 neutral for 2 channels )??

[Guest guest]

couack2006 wrote:

Is there a problem for the board if I only use 1 neutral for 2 channels?

Thanks for your support.

I do it. Don't see a problem unless both channels draw over 7.5A, which is unlikely.

[Guest guest]

couack2006 wrote:

Any advise Dan or from anybody else who already tried that method

( 1 neutral for 2 channels )??

Yes I've done it as well. I use a 3-prong grounded extension cord to carry 2 channels for longer distances from my boxes (although I try to keep my boxes very close to the lights, sometimes it just doesn't work out).

-Tim