Electrical panel wiring information

[master53yoda]

http://www.woodmagazine.com/woodwork...wiring/?page=1

The above wood magazine articles do a really good job of sizing wiring and panels for those that are looking at wiring or adding panels etc. in their shops

[BobSch]

Handy article, thanks for posting.

I put a 100-amp sub-panel in the garage/shop last fall and am trying to figure out where to stick outlets now. (I suppose I should finish a shop layout first, but what's the fun in that?)

[LarryG]

... am trying to figure out where to stick outlets now.

And the answer is: EVERYWHERE.

I've read of some new-shop builders who put an outlet on every stud. That's probably excessive for most of us, but I'd put one on every third stud (4' OC) for sure. Outlets and boxes are cheap. If you have to run a piece of Romex to the far corner of a building to feed an outlet there, it costs next to nothing to insert a few extras along the way. (They'll all be on the same circuit, of course; but in a one-man shop in which only one tool is being used at a time, the need for "dedicated" outlets is often given more weight than it deserves.)

[crokett]

When I get around to outlets in my shop I am going to put in more than what he originally had, and I am going to move them up on the walls. He had them too low so they were unusable at least on 2 walls - behind cabinets. That is why I did not try very hard to save the wiring, I knew I would probably be rewiring it.

[cabinetman]

I like the charts. Outlets are a lot like clamps...you can never have enough. I've always tried to keep a compressor on a dedicated line as close to the panel as possible. Running a longer air hose is better than using an extension cord.
.

[Tom Miller]

And the answer is: EVERYWHERE.

I've read of some new-shop builders who put an outlet on every stud. That's probably excessive for most of us, but I'd put one on every third stud (4' OC) for sure. Outlets and boxes are cheap. If you have to run a piece of Romex to the far corner of a building to feed an outlet there, it costs next to nothing to insert a few extras along the way. (They'll all be on the same circuit, of course; but in a one-man shop in which only one tool is being used at a time, the need for "dedicated" outlets is often given more weight than it deserves.)

Yeah, I'd at least put a box every 4', even if you don't put outlets in all the boxes right away. Just coil up a foot of romex (uncut/unspliced) in the boxes you don't need yet.

For even more flexibility, run 3cond w/gnd, and you can have 2 separate 110's or 220 wherever you need it.

Regards,
Tom

[atgcpaul]

I forget if I put my outlets every 4 feet or every 6 feet. Either way, it works well because the tools can reach anywhere in between. I put mine up more
than 4' (like 4'6") off the ground, too, because I didn't want to have to move
a sheet of plywood to plug in a tool. No regrets.

Paul

[conwaygolfer]

Outlets

When I wired my shop, I used 4 gang boxes everywhere. That way, I have more than enough outlets. Sure beats having to unplug one item in order to plug in another one.
Glenn