Do I have enough outlets?


estesbubba

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I ran Romex today and have some more left to do tomorrow. Below is my rough shop layout and outlets. Does it look like I have enough? I pretty much put circuits on each pole which is 10' apart. I want to make sure all is well before I start closing up the walls. The left side is where my TV etc. will be. 

 

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Load up one wall where small stuff will be. Think radio, battery chargers, and the like. Four gang boxes every two to four feet. I also would run oversized pipe a few locations and midpoints. Pipe is much cheaper than cable and will make changes down the road tons easier.

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I find the ones I use a lot are by the doors. As I don't have a dedicated sanding table, most of my sanding, weather permitting, is done outside the pull down door, with the ros plugged in by the door and the door closed.

Will these be GFI protected

This shop is gonna be sweet!!!

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I would also suggest another light switch near the roll up door.  This is a detail I over looked in my shop and wish I hadn't.  

 

As for the outlets, Just make sure you don't have a bunch of stuff on the same circuit.  Nothing worse that tripping a breaker when turning something on.

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I put a couple outlets on the ceiling for retractable cords I use the retractable cords a lot. Every 2 or 4 ft. seems overkill be sure to think about where you want cabinets to go and put your receptacles at 4' off the floor so they're accessible from the counter tops.

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I would also suggest another light switch near the roll up door.  This is a detail I over looked in my shop and wish I hadn't.  

 

As for the outlets, Just make sure you don't have a bunch of stuff on the same circuit.  Nothing worse that tripping a breaker when turning something on.

 

The more Circuits the better!  The guy that planed/wired my garage/shop put 8 outlets on 3 walls on 1 circuit, then 2 outlets on 1 wall on 1 circuit. Don't be that guy!  Edit : I should add I have fixed this problem.

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<don't have a bunch of stuff on the same circuit>

To take this further, in the space where you plan to use portable power tools, use 2-gang boxes with each gang on it's own 20a/115v branch... So if you happen to have the big FT router and a decent shop vac, you can use them at the same time. Same goes for vac-clamping, portable compressors, etc... Point is: many common operations require two (or more) power tools to be used simultaneously... For instance: stock is held via vacuum clamp, profile routed with the 2200 and DC is via CT26 -- that's a lot of power to pull from one branch...

 

I'm assuming this is all via a shop sub-panel, if not, then ignore the rest: Need an outlet next to the panel (in some municipalities, the inspector wants to see it -- basic safety -- don't want extension cords when working on a sub). Also: pull a second feeder from the main panel and run at least one safety light and convenience outlet near the sub so you can de-energizer the sub and still have a light and a convenience outlet (again, basic safety), some inspectors will want to see that.

 

I forget where the NEC is on 30a/115, but just say no -- folks usually do it to avoid the second pull... I've been told it's a 'red flag'. From memory (so it's probably wrong), 30a/115 is allowed for a dedicated device -- ex., fan.

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I have (2) 20a 120v circuts on one 24 ft wall. It would be be better to have the outlets alternate from one circut to the other rather than 4 boxes on one and the next 4 on the other. The ability to have 2 tools on different circuts can be nice and avoid overloading or running extension cords.

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exactly...

 

BTW: assume you're going to get this inspected... hint..hint. Actually, it's your insurance guy who wants the ticket -- especially if you file a fire claim...

 

Remember to lookup max outlet spacing, min heights, adjacent wall rules and that sort of crap. NEC for Dummies is actually a pretty good book... BTW: some inspectors [may] want twist-lock for overhead receptacles... It's not code, but it's a safety thing...

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<Make sure to check your local>

One of the easiest ways to avoid problems is to hire an electrician for a safety review prior to going for the ticket. In my limited experience, i've found that it's best to pass on the first go... Once you fail, they tend to get persinikity. A local electrician will know what your local inspector wants to see... There's code, but it's the inspector who issues the ticket...

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An electrician taught me to exceed code if you are doing your own work with out a permit . He taught me to be extremely neat inside a panel. Straighten out the wire and make neat 90 degree bends so the eye can trace a circuit from the breaker to the cable / conduit leaving the panel. Meet or exceed the wire size or device rating EVERYWHERE ! Commercial or hospital grade devices aren't cheap but they are safe and they last under heavy usage !

I was doing some woodwork when a inspector was going over a single circuit installed by another contractor who had pulled a permit. I had done some wiring in the panel several years before and it was mostly a mess, including the newest work. I overheard the inspector say well it passes code barely but someone knew what they were doing, unlike the rest of this mess ! It made me feel good, but that was in a different era. I wouldn't touch electrical work today outside of my own home or shop .

Given the lobbyists and imported crap that meets code strongly consider the code to be a minimum requirement ! Bigger and better might not be cheap but it's safer and worth the effort !

Even if you can legally do your own work consider the code to be a minimum !

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<He taught me to be extremely neat inside a panel. Straighten out the wire and make neat 90 degree bends so the eye can trace a circuit from the breaker to the cable / conduit leaving the pane>

Exactly... I had that same lesson many moons ago... I just kind of dogged him when I got my service upgraded --- probably made a nuisance of myself...

 

Some more for you: Label unused branches 'MT' and put electrical tape over it... There's a bunch of little tricks used by the pros...

 

One final thing: You want to balance the legs... A pro will have decent clamp-on meter and can do it for you...

 

BTW: a fluke clamp-on is a great addition to any DIY toolkit: http://www.amazon.com/Fluke-323-True-RMS-Clamp-Meter/dp/B00AQKIEXY/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1409366649&sr=8-4&keywords=fluke... Actually, you'll have to spend a bit more for one that captures in-rush: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0086963VC/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1...

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Thanks for all the tips and I'm going to put more circuits in. I have 200 amps directly from the transformer and I think I have 40 sockets in my panel so no problem there. An electrician did the trenching, panel, and minimum circuits for the county to pass inspection before the power company could make it live.

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<An electrician did the trenching, panel, and minimum circuits for the county to pass inspection before the power company could make it live.>

That's the smart path... The electrician doing the heavy-lifting makes all the difference... You could save a few $$ and do the trenching yourself, but I'm not sure how much you actually save. Did you use a separate conduit for teleco in the same trench?

 

So you have a separate meter-pan and service disconnect for your shop? That's the route I'm taking...

 

The other big item is grounding/bonding... Again, there's NEC, then what the Inspector wants and, finally, what the Utility wants...

 

BTW: went to your blog -- my shop has never been as clean as yours... I hope that blade storage rack is properly bolted to the wall.. :)

 

PPS: Those are great looking puppies... Which one did you keep?

 

PPPS: I covet your owl... I had a bit of down-time a couple of years ago and built some nice owl houses (well, I think they're nice), but so far no takers (I guess I like them more than the owls)... I've read that it takes an average of five years for owls to find/inhabit new houses -- of course I discovered that AFTER I built the houses... :)

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When I ran the last set of wires in my shop, I put it in conduit.  Every so often, I'd add a box to the line for the 'just in case' down the road.  When I ran the wire through it and I'd get to the box, I'd just make a couple of coils that stay inside the box before running it on down the line and just put a solid cover over it.  That way, if I ever decide I want a receptacle in a place where I don't CURRENTLY have a tool or a need, I'm already set.  Now, in doing this, I may be adding a receptacle to a circuit that already has a tool on it.  In my case, that's fine because I'm a one man shop and only one tool runs at the time.  Case in point, I wouldn't have a problem wiring the table saw and band saw on the same 220V circuit because only one of them is running at the time. 

On yours i think I'd add a couple of 110V receptacles on the wall between the roll up door and the dust collector, add one also on the south wall (just using north as the top of the photo) close to the work bench, and a few down the north wall - particularly beside the dust collector.  That wall looks a little starved for 110V.  This is the time to do it and adding receptacles is cheap and I've said it a dozen times on this forum....this is the way you want to arrange your shop...NOW.....but a shop evolves and it's a nest that you will make over time and like my wiener dog scratching at the blanket in her bed, you'll scratch around and arrange and re-arrange your shop over the years.

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<I will have a 120 VAC power strip all the way around. :)>

 

I actually did this in a former shop. I purchased 150ft of lab-grade electric utility channel, ran single strand for two branches (including the extra neutral) and used color-coded hospital-grade outlets. It was a thing of beauty..... and obscenely expensive... and I never did it again...

 

But I agree with you 100%... Just learn from my mistake and don't go hog-wild... :)

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Definitely electrician nerdy, but things like this thread is getting me excited for the future as I'm looking to get my first house and currently studying electric wiring, exceeding codes, etc. I've always been behind the curve when it comes to electric, moving to a place that had three prong outlets instead of two was a big deal for me once. These days, basements at my current/previous rental places never have enough outlets, I've had to get creative on cords and I'm tired of sharing / swapping my jointer cord with a dryer cord. Feel like when I finally get my new house and start planning the shop, the sky's the limit. I'm getting more comfortable with planning and installing outlets, but I think I will do a dry run/install and have an electrician check the work and do the final connections.

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