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Building out a shipping container

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dmcintosh

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Ok, so I have project underway at work. We are converting a shipping container into a ‘portable’ Aquaponics farm. We’ve got the doors installed and have a question about running electric. Planning on running surface mounted PVC conduit, but how do we mount this to the inside of the container? Weld on some sort of tabs? Drill holes through the wall?
 
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mike93lx

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some unistrut/super strut welded on would give you a lot of freedom to mount stuff where desired, even beyond the conduit. maybe a row at the ceiling and another 3ish feet down.
 
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dmcintosh

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Was thinking about that. This would be a good option for the main runs of conduit, but what about drops for switches and outlets? Just a short piece mounted lower down? Sorry, I am new to unistrut. I know of it, but haven’t ever used it.
 
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mike93lx

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dmcintosh said:
Was thinking about that. This would be a good option for the main runs of conduit, but what about drops for switches and outlets? Just a short piece mounted lower down? Sorry, I am new to unistrut. I know of it, but haven’t ever used it.
Click to expand...

you can mount anything to it.

if you just ran a continuous length, you'd have the flexibility to do whatever you need in the future.

just make sure you grind off the coating before welding it.
 
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nadogail

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An electric stud welding gun should be suitable for your needs. I used one in the Shipyard in the '80s. It was a Spot Welder that welded 3/8" studs to bulkheads and overheads to attach wiring and small electrical boxes.

I have no idea who made it or where to get one.
 
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machsnell

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Why not just use conduit clamps with self tappers? Whatever goes through the container just grind off and hit w primer. You would have e to prime if you weld anyway. Screenshot_20210307-131759_Chrome.jpg

Sent from my SM-G981V using Tapatalk
 
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dmcintosh

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Was hoping to not make a bunch of extra holes through the side, but this would be an easy solution.
 
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dmcintosh

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That’s an idea I’d not thought of, thanks. Would make it hard to move stuff down the line, but that’d be tomorrow’s problem.
 
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K13

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Don't forget that all these supplies that are being suggested to weld to the box have zinc coatings and welding and zinc are not a great health combo especially in a enclosed area.
 
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dmcintosh

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K13 said:
Don't forget that all these supplies that are being suggested to weld to the box have zinc coatings and welding and zinc are not a great health combo especially in a enclosed area.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reminder. Easy to overlook when thinking about other things.
 
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samss

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You could attach unistrut with the hardware that Renegade1LI recommended. Unistrut can be bought in 20' length. so two sticks would cover a 40' container.
 
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Hunt2871

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dmcintosh said:
Was thinking about that. This would be a good option for the main runs of conduit, but what about drops for switches and outlets? Just a short piece mounted lower down? Sorry, I am new to unistrut. I know of it, but haven’t ever used it.
Click to expand...

Use 7/8 or 3/4 inch strut for outlets and switches and mount the box on the same. Then its just a box offset from the last piece of strut to the top of the box or, in the case of pvc just swag it it. I would probably through bolt one hole straps through the wall though, grind off the ends and use some caulk around the nut and washer....but drilling through those walls is a pain.
 
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Hunt2871

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dmcintosh said:
Was thinking about that. This would be a good option for the main runs of conduit, but what about drops for switches and outlets? Just a short piece mounted lower down? Sorry, I am new to unistrut. I know of it, but haven’t ever used it.
Click to expand...



Is it going to be inspected or otherwise subject to any kind of oversight? If not I wouldn't be overly concerned with strapping much of anything. I'd use romex and some magnets to hold it off the floor LOL.
 
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dmcintosh

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Thanks for all of the insights. We’ve decided to weld in metal strapping and attaché our outlet boxes to it with self tappers. Plan is to run the main conduit at the inside top corner, and attached this directly to the inside of the square ‘header.’

Working on my layout and parts list. Had a question about providing power to the container. The general plan is to use an RV style, shore power inlet (already have this set up for another project, so the permanent side of the infrastructure is already in place.

Here’s the new question. Can/should I install the inlet (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000AXYL6/?tag=atomicindus08-20 or similar) through the wall, and into an enclosure that I can attached to the panel with conduit and #6 THHN? Or is there a better way to get the power to my panel?
 
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dmcintosh

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So...making decisions and have my electric all mapped out. Working on the power inlet. Planning to use a 50 amp shore power inlet similar to this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MZ9EESI/?tag=atomicindus08-20
Anyone have experience installing one of these? Curious about how to deal with the ‘inside’ Do I mount a bow behind this and then run conduit up to the breaker panel? Do I just run an exposed cord to the panel? Trying to ensure this it safe first and foremost. It will not likely be inspected, but want to do it correctly.
 
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mike93lx

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dmcintosh said:
So...making decisions and have my electric all mapped out. Working on the power inlet. Planning to use a 50 amp shore power inlet similar to this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MZ9EESI/?tag=atomicindus08-20
Anyone have experience installing one of these? Curious about how to deal with the ‘inside’ Do I mount a bow behind this and then run conduit up to the breaker panel? Do I just run an exposed cord to the panel? Trying to ensure this it safe first and foremost. It will not likely be inspected, but want to do it correctly.
Click to expand...

You could just use a generator inlet box. They are much cheaper and provide an enclosure to terminate the wires.

Best is to run conduit between the box and breaker panel, particularly if it is an area that could be subject to damage
 
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dcg9381

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dmcintosh said:
So...making decisions and have my electric all mapped out. Working on the power inlet. Planning to use a 50 amp shore power inlet similar to this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MZ9EESI/?tag=atomicindus08-20
Click to expand...

I don't have experience with that one, but the marine inlets are better than the RV inlets.. Both are probably way overkill for a container, so you could go either way. RV stuff is probably more available and more options.
 
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