New Shop setup

[pelligrini]

Sounds like a practical plan. Make sure you have enough extra wire on your new circuits to adapt to a larger sub-panel.

[DrChas]

+1 on the electrical. For my shop I went to the BORG and bought the largest gauge armored outside wiring I could find -- it was stuff for wiring hot tubs I think, and used it to run a 30 or 50 amp sub panel (I can't remember which, I am in my office) in the shop. It was a small matter to string the cable through a buried conduit and run it to the main panel. I did it myself after doing tons of research, but it did pass inspection. You might want to hire an electrician, however.

The more outlets you have the happier you will be. I also put in a few 220 volt outlets, which over the years I have used. I have my jointer plugged into one, and my bandsaw into another. My table saw will be transferred over to one when I get around to getting the 220 box for my particular saw. I also have 115 volt sockets everywhere, and I have to say I love it. I also had the good sense to have two circuits along each wall so that alternating plugs are on different circuits. Makes it much nicer when using two machines if they are on different circuits! Finally, I was told that you should buy the most expensive sockets. They are 5 times as much as the cheap ones, but cause a lot fewer fires.

For insulation, the more the better. Insulation is a one time up front cost, heating is forever. I put in fiberglass bats, then added 1 inch of that silver faced foam to the inside. I put in a foot of insulation on the ceiling. I then put dry wall over everything, but plywood would have been great. For the floor, I would just paint it for now, and then when you have money I would put in a sub floor if you have ceiling space. I put in a subfloor by anchoring treated lumber sleepers to the concrete floor, insulating between the sleepers with expanded (blue or pink) styrofoam, putting down a layer of plastic, and then putting tongue and groove plywood over that. This really warmed up the place, and made it dry and easy on your feet. You could either paint the plywood, or if you preferred put some sort of linoleum or rubber tile on it. This kind of treatment could save you hundreds of dollars a year in heating and cooling costs. I also think that having a comfortable shop is something of a safety issue. when it is too cold your fingers get clumsy, and when it is too hot you sweat, and your safety glasses fog up.

[BigguyZ]

Well, it's still going to be 1/2 a garage, so I don't see doing the floor like that.

However, I do have a question about the electrical... The current 12/3 romex is run in a flexible 1" PVC conduit. I think it's run under the walkway, and actually cast inside some concrete steps, as I see no spont where the conduit goes into the house.

What I'm wondering is- if the conduit large enough for the 6/3 I'd need to run for the 60A sub-panel? Also, the current electrical, that was done to code (apparently), is using a NM romex 12/3 cable. I thought that long runs (this one is 50ft+) require individual conductors. Is that correct, or can I just run a single 6/3 cable? I'd really like to not run individual connectors, or have to run a new conduit line...

Thanks,
Travis

[DrChas]

I am not the one to ask. I used direct bury armored cable. I figured that was ok to run through the existing conduit since technically no conduit was required by code. The down side of that is that it severely limited the amps I could run. the up side was I didn't have to bury a new conduit. I do know that if an electrician does it they will use something less than armored cable, and they will insist that the cable gets its own conduit. You can't even run a phone line through that conduit. Its also important that my shop is a pole building, technically a temporary building without a foundation. I was told by electricians that because it was a temporary building it was technically acceptable to run extension cords over the surface of the ground, so I had a lot more leeway than you get with a building that has a foundation.

[DrChas]

By the way, the floor fix was from another project, not from my shop. It was my first house which had carpet directly laid on poorly insulated slab. I add the insulated subfloor and nailed down a beautiful recycled maple floor.

[BigguyZ]

I see. That's not a bad idea. I have a basement where I have a home theater. I'm not sure about the loss of height though. I'll have to look into all options.

[Crash2510]

does the 1" flex or sealtite run directly from the garage to the main panel?

If it is longer than 10 feet you should not use romex.
Run 6 or 8 guage thhn though the conduit and use junction boxes if it is not a continuous run. Then run from the junction boxes to your panels with romex or other another cable.
Pm me if you have any questions. I am an electrician.

[BigguyZ]

You know, I was looking at sheet good prices, and drywall would actually be less expensive than particleboard or OSB. I think I'll go with that when I'm ready to pull the trigger on that. In the meantime, I'm looking at running some 6awg THHN from my old panel to my new panel. I don't think I can use the current conduit run, as I'm not even 100% sure it's continuous. AS I want power out there until I'm ready to upgrade, it looks like I'll have to run it separately. Not a huge deal, just more $ and more hassle to dig the trench...

So, looking at sub panels, it seems to me that the type without a main breaker build into the sub panel don't come with a cover door, and typically stagger the breakers so you don't have two spots nest to eachother. Since I'd need that to do a 220 circuit, am I correct in thinking I'll have to have a panel just like the main- with it's own shutoff at the box?

Thanks,
Travis

[pelligrini]

I put in this 125A panel I got at home depot. http://www.homedepot.com/Electrical-...atalogId=10053 It was more capacity than I really needed, but the price was right.

[SteveR]

I might have missed this, but whatever you go with as far as wall covering, try to paint it prior to moving tools in. I had no choice and had to do it vice-versa, PITA. Go with a white, it bounces the light around the shop like crazy. Literally a night and day difference. I kept checking the borg for 5 gal Oopps paint in light colors and got a decent deal with a very close white color.

When I moved in, the garage already had drywall, and came across a bunch of pegboard for free. Placed some 3/4" shims between drywall and pegbd, in order to use those hanger deals. Really like it. Heating? if you need that, start checking out Craigslist now, ran across a great deal for a modine "hotdawg" low profile ceiling mount. Options for NG or propane on those.

Good luck!
Steve

[cork58]

I would give up on the epoxy floor! It is much to hard to do if you haven't done its before, and dangerous to do.

I would have the project table as big as you can, mine is 4X8 and the same height as my out feed from my saw to I can outfeed to the table for those long cuts.

I went with the cleat system for everything on the walls, and glad I did as I moved things around as I grew with the shop. Link: http://www.woodmagazine.com/ideas/wo...e/idea-shop-5/

I was I had put more 220v outlets in as well. I have one and need 3! Will have 2 more put in very soon.

Just my thoughts. Cork

[BigguyZ]

Ok, so I have the conduit ready to run from the house to the garage. Quick question- if I'm running 6awg THHN in 1" conduit between the house and the garage, do I need to go into the garage right where I plan to have the panel? I'm thinking yes, as I'd have to change to another type of conduit or romex otherwise...

Also, I think I have the moisture issue kicked. Or mostly kicked. I patched, caulked, and used WaterTite on the cinder block. YET, this morning there was moisture in the garage. I think it's actually coming in from the outside at the door. So, I can add a garage door dam to fix that. I looked at prices, and the kits run about $100! Does anyone know of a cheaper solution?

Thanks!
Travis

[Crash2510]

Go into your garage wherever you want. If for some reason you can't go in right by the panel put a junction box in and change to romex. Do whatever is easier for you.

[BigguyZ]

Ok, update time. I got a garage door seal from menards. It was only 30 or 40 dollars. I need to do a second coat of the water tite, but it's definitely good as far as water goes.

I also ran the conduit. 1" rigid metal about 10" deep. Code is 6", but I had to dig deeper to get beneath some tree roots. I asked an electrician friend of my dad's, and he said 6/3 romex was fine for the conduit. I had to get a longer and heavier-duty fish tape, but it wasn't much of a problem.

So next step is to mount the panel, and connect the line to the main panel. Quick question: I know I needs to disconnect the bonding strap with the ground bus and neutral bus. But where do I connect the ground wire from the main panel? Some directions online say to connect it to the case only. Some say to connect ot to the sub's ground bus. Either way, I have an 8' grounding rod and bare copper I'll be using to ground the new panel.

Thanks!

[Eric]

I'm not an electrician by any means, but it seems to me, if you're adding a grounding rod then you shouldn't need to connect the ground from the main panel to the sub panel. But I don't think it would hurt to have it wired into the sub's ground bus.

When I wired my shop I believe that I just ran the two hots from the pedestal to the panel in the shop. It's been 3 years since I ran the wire.

Here you're to use two 8' grounding that are wired together so far apart and so far from the panel.

I've got grounding rods at my pump house, shop, and at the pedestal.