alteredego

Here is my problem. I want to have a switch on the outside of my cab that I can flip at any time to shut down everything, in case of an unexpected guest or something of that nature. There is one outlet directly behind my cab where I have one power strip plugged in. To that power strip there is another plugged in and between the two everything in my cab is powered. Is there a way of patching a light switch in between the first power strip and the outlet?

Basically this picture is what I would like to do.

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alteredego

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afterburner

Yup, its much easier than you'd think

Just hook either one of the black or white wires up to each of the two screws on the back of your lightswitch. Leave the other two wires intact (or re-connect them via wire nut if you had to cut the whole wire..) I'd reccomend screwing the whole thing into a plastic "gangbox" to keep all the electrical components safe. Home depot stocks these things in thousands.

now your wired to kill.


-ab

Beener

I'm a little confused. Wouldn't the switch on the first power strip do this already?

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Beener

alteredego

Beener Yes it would but I forgot to mention that both power strips are inside the cab.

Afterburner Now I am confused. On the switch one screw is 120 VAC and the other says CU and CU clad wire. Then there is the green screw for the ground.
Would I need to cut the cord in half and run the white wires from both cords to the 120 and both black to the CU? So the light switch would have a female plug and a male plug coming out of it, correct?
Or I suppose I could just go out and buy another power strip for outside of the cab. I just figure since I had the materials on hand, I might as well make use of them.

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alteredego

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"I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge -- myth is more potent than history -- dreams are more powerful than facts -- hope always triumphs over experience -- laughter is the cure for grief -- love is stronger than death."

afterburner

Since its hard to strip & only cut one of the wires inside an extension chord your best bet is probably just cutting the whole thing in half.

Now both of those screws your talking about should be attached to each end of the same color wire. Lets just say the white wire.

The black wire should be connected back together again with a wire nut, to complete the circuit.

Both ends of the green wire could be screwed together using the green screw if you want to ground the lightswitch, or you could just re-attach them together as well just like the black wire.

If you think about it logically the switch "cuts" the power on only the white wire when you flip it. Breaking the circuit.

goodluck
ab

grass_hopper

DISCLAIMER: I'm no electrician, so if you use this and blow yourself up it's not my fault. But this is how I'd do it in my house

OK - so I found this picture and doctored it up a bit. Ignore the fact that wires are coming into the workbox via conduit. Yours dont' need that.

First, you want to find a switch that's rated the same amperage as your line. Most res. circuits are 15 or 20 amps. Check at the breaker box - your breaker will be marked with a little 15 or 20.

I'd recommend a heavy duty extension cord for this, which will likely have a 3rd (ground) wire. If you don't have a ground wire that's fine - just ignore that part of the drawing.

Electricity needs to make a complete loop, so putting a switch in only requires breaking one side of that loop. We'll break the "hot" side, although technically it could be either but it's bad practice and might cause problems to put the switch in the neutral wire.

If your cord has 4 wires (black, white, ground, and RED), put both black and red on one side of the switch and black coming out the other side of the switch.

Strip off only as much insulation as you need to make a contact, (3/4" inch or so is plenty), and get some wire nuts that are rated for your gauge of wire. Screw 'em on real tight.

Make sure that your workbox is mounted to something secure (like a wall or the side of your cab), and definitely use a cover plate so that nothing falls into the workbox and shorts the circuit or you'll be

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Mr Burns

You'll need to consider what are you running from your power strips. HPS? Flouro? Pumps? Have you got a mother cab in thee too?

Before choosing what fitting will break the circuit you'll need to add up the wattage your using.
If you use a fitting not up to the job, you'll make your guests aware when you flip the switch, flash the socket and bring the house into complete darkness. So much for stealth !!

If it were me I'd isolate with a 2 pole pole isolation switch. Here you can get them to handle 60AMPS and will isolate the two live and return wire feeds simultaneous. You must be able to get a similar device in whatever country? Normally for electric showers etc.

Just my worth guys.

grass_hopper

Good point, Burns... and that's a freaky avatar pic you've got going there

Altered - I looked at your current GJ and you're using a 400w HPS and some misc. spiral fluoros and a fan, right? A 400w HPS draws 4.0 amps and those little fluoros are practically nothing. The fan might draw 2-3 amps at the most. I'd definitely get the heavy duty ext cord for this project and while you're at it wire up real outlet in your box instead of using those power strips unless you can find a real heavy duty one. As long as you're not drawing more than 75% of the rated amperage of the devices you should be fine with the standard household devices, esp. if it turns out to be a 20 amp circuit.

Good luck and play safe, Sparky!

__________________
"Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk in front of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either. Just pretty much leave me the hell alone."


Ancient History:
Blueberry/Mazar (started in hydro, moved outdoors)...Skunk#1/Blueberry in Soil
Botanicare 42 Site Cloner - a Review...Grass_Hopper's Butane Honey Oil (BHO) Thread

Website goodies:
Grow Guide...Cecil_B's CO2 Enrichment Guide...Grower's Dictionary...Getting Females From Standard Seeds