Hydroponics Marijuana Fire Safety Tips
You never want to see this happen to your hydroponics marijuana grow room.
(Click to enlarge)
Fire and electrical problems are some of the scariest things that can happen in your hydroponics marijuana garden! 
One of the worst things that can happen to you as a hydroponics marijuana grower is fire. Flame is your friend when you’re lighting a bowl or joint of your favorite Kush, but it’s your terrible enemy when it happens in your hydroponics grow room.
As more and more people discover the joys of medical marijuana and hydroponics indoor growing, there are more and more worries about fire dangers.
So this is the first in an ongoing series of articles about hydroponics fire dangers and electrical safety, and it can be a matter of life and death, and your freedom, to pay close attention to this topic.
The fundamental concerns here are how you source and use electricity for your grow room equipment, and how you protect your hydroponics grow room from heat, sparks and other things that can cause fire.
Start with the fact that many growers set up their indoor garden in a closet or bedroom. They plug lights, fans, light movers, chillers, air conditioners and other high-load electrical devices into a wall outlet.
But in most cases, the wall outlet is ill-equipped to handle the electrical load. There are many things that can be problematic. The wiring and/or outlet might be old, damaged, frayed, shorted, or otherwise compromised. The circuit box and breaker that supports the outlet may be inadequate to handle the increased electrical load.
Most wall outlets are on a 15-amp, 120 volt circuit. There are several outlets loaded into that one circuit. One 1,000 watt metal halide or high pressure sodium light draws 9 amps at 120 volts. So just by using one of those plugged into a wall outlet, you have already significantly maxed your circuit.
When you max a circuit you create big problems. Your circuit breaker (if it’s working properly) may shut down your circuit because you’ve overloaded it. Your wiring may heat up, flame up, short out or otherwise fail.
The results can range from the inconvenience of having your hydroponics gear shut down intermittently, which damages your equipment and interrupts the orderly provision of light, water and other factors to your plants.
Or a fire will start. If a fire starts, the local fire department is likely to visit your hydroponics grow room. I don’t need to tell you how bad that can turn out for you.
In future articles we will discuss detailed interventions that involve your electrical system and other factors, but there are two quick and easy safety interventions that can give you hydroponics peace of mind right now.
One intervention is to invest in a Flame Defender automatic fire extinguisher. This is not a regular fire extinguisher: you don’t have to be there for it to work. It’s a self-contained, stand-alone unit that automatically sends a dry chemical onto a fire when the unit’s built-in temperature regulator senses temperatures above 155F.
You put Flame Defender units above areas where fire could start, most obviously where you have HID lights, electrical grids and other potential hot spots. Of course, using Flame Defender is not meant to relieve us of the responsibility to troubleshoot hydroponics marijuana grow room electrical safety and fire risk so that there's no chance of a fire ever startring.
To prevent electrical fires and electrocution risk, you should also invest in a hydroponics electrical interface device such as those made by Powerbox. These devices include a GFCI circuit breaker that shuts down your electrical flow when conditions are likely to cause electrocution or fire.
Powerbox makes a variety of hydroponics electrical interface devices that provide safety while also enhancing the longevity and usability of hydroponics lights, ballasts and other hydroponics gear.
Just by installing these two pieces of hardware, you can begin to install the peace of mind you need when you’re growing hydroponics marijuana indoors. And stay tuned to Big Buds for our ongoing series of articles on hydroponics safety and security. You owe it to yourself, your plants and your family to make your hydroponics garden as safe as possible.
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Friday, 22 July 2011
