Shop wiring

[poolhound]

Fully understand.

I have been looking for such a cord and no luck yet. Best I have found so far is like the one below. Interesting that its 12-3 but they say its only rated at 15A?


http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...296&lpage=none

[LCHIEN]

Fully understand.

I have been looking for such a cord and no luck yet. Best I have found so far is like the one below. Interesting that its 12-3 but they say its only rated at 15A?


http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...296&lpage=none

probably because of the plugs.. the plugs being rated for 15A, the cord can't be rated any higher than the weakest component in the chain.

that plug you show ,ight work.. if you have an 8-ft ceiling then the plugs would be at 6 ft, you should be able to reach. You'll have to rig a strain relief that wraps to the cord and ties to a rafter.

[eccentrictinkerer]

When I remodeled our catering kitchen, 12 years ago, I added three power drops using the wire mesh strain relief device as shown below.

When used with 12-3 heavy-duty rubber cord and a good female cord-end socket, you can almost suspend your body weight.

I put the sockets at about head height. This arrangement allowed us to plug in our Robot Coupes and 50 qt. mixers anywhere we could find space.

I'm planning on doing this in my new shop this summer.

BTW, some of the larger electrical supply houses stock a cord-end female connector that locks onto the plug. You have to press a button to release the plug. No accidental disconnects in the middle of a rip. DAMHIKT


http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/6C092

[poolhound]

Will be off to HD tomorrow to get boxes, cable and outlets. Even though the new circuits will have 12-2 and 20A breakers I am not sure you necessarily need the "T" style 20A outlets unless you have a specific tool that only has that type of plug. I have yet to see one like this.

What have others done?

[LCHIEN]

Will be off to HD tomorrow to get boxes, cable and outlets. Even though the new circuits will have 12-2 and 20A breakers I am not sure you necessarily need the "T" style 20A outlets unless you have a specific tool that only has that type of plug. I have yet to see one like this.

What have others done?

that's right. unless you have a specific tool that draws more than 15A but less than 20 you don't need the "T" receptacle NEMA 5-20R. If you use equipment drawing less than 15A each and totalling less than 20 you can use the regular 15A receptacles NEMA 5-15R.

REF:
http://www.nooutage.com/nema_configurations.htm

[poolhound]

that's right. unless you have a specific tool that draws more than 15A but less than 20 you don't need the "T" receptacle NEMA 5-20R. If you use equipment drawing less than 15A each and totalling less than 20 you can use the regular 15A receptacles NEMA 5-15R.

REF:
http://www.nooutage.com/nema_configurations.htm

Given how much I am spending on this rewire project I paid the extra few bucks and got the 20A recepticles. I didnt find anything for the overhead extension yet but that can wait for now.

[poolhound]

My shop is now powered up and ready to go.

New sub panel with 4 20A circuits. They are wired to 4 double duplex outlets each of the doubles has access to 2 independant circuits. I located them so in any of the main working areas I am in proximity to 3 of the 4 circuits. I still have the old 15A circuits available in 2 other locations and have 220 in the subpanle if I ever need it.

I also added 4 shop lights wired into ceiling outlets.

[LCHIEN]

you'll be so happy!

[poolhound]

you'll be so happy!

I already am. Just the thought of not having to worry about tripping a breaker as I frequently did before while trying to work with the single 15A circuit.

It will be interesting to see if my BT3 performs better with its own dedicated circuit. It kind of makes me want to try and rip a 12/4 piece of maple just for the heck of it Maybe not, but I will be working on some new cabinets this weekend so most of my bigger tools will get a test.

[rnelson0]

I still have the old 15A circuits available in 2 other locations

I have my battery chargers, desk lamp, and stereo plugged into the 15A circuit. It's not good for much else!


Congrats on finishing up. It's nice to have a place where you feel you can set up and work instead of "do just a few things".