Chris Adams
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2007
- Messages
- 2,117
Got the final on the 19th, so I set out to improve my new shops electric. 24x28 shop.
From the builder it had an 80 amp panel, one inside light, one porch light (required by code) and three inside sockets.
My additional requirements were for more sockets, with 20 amp capability (drill press, grinder) lots of lights in the rafters, move the garage door power closer to the door, for the Liftmaster 3800, and a couple of 220 outlets.
I really wanted three 220 outlets but the box doesn’t have the room for that many circuits.
It is an 8 breaker box.
I considered putting in a bigger box, but found only 8 breaker types in four brands at my local big box stores.
Local supply house wanted six times as much and would have to order it get two more breakers.
Can’t wait because I must get on with the other upgrades I need, so I decided to live with two 220 plugs.
Rather than use a 220 whip for the compressor I will just plug it in to one of the 220 30 amp plugs. That way if I need to plug in my welder at in that area I can just pull the compressor loose and use that socket.
I put a second 220 socket on the opposite wall, to power a lift if I get one that needs 220, or the welder if I need to weld on that end of the shop.
I put 6 double plugs along the center of the rafters, using the ‘runway’ the builder put in for their wiring. That gives me places for 12 lights in a row down the center.
I added another plug in what will be the work bench area, giving me 7 double plugs in the ceiling split between three switches. This is in addition to the already installed single light fixture with a single CFL bulb.
I put the cheap 10 buck Wal-Mart T8 lights in 10 places, used the expensive Lowes double T8 over the work bench… First one has failed already. So much for paying 4 times as much at Lowes. I will probably replace those two with the cheaper Wal-Mart lights.
Bulbs I got from HD for 15 bucks for ten. Phillips brand. 15% defect rate from the box, three dead bulbs in 20. Picked up some cheap, cheap, (99 cents apiece) builder T8 bulbs at Lowes. These boxes hold 30, so I presently have 29 spares.
With 23 32 watt T8 bulbs the shop is almost daylight bright.
Some thoughts on anyone doing the wiring themselves;
I used more wire than I expected. Measure and then add extra. Lots of extra.
I wasted almost no wire. Less than 10 feet of left over cut wire in 340 feet of wire.
Still took lots of wire.
I had a 40 foot length of 12 left over from a project, and I bought a 250 foot roll, since I needed the 12 for the one run of 3 20 amp sockets. Since I needed the 250 foot role I used the 12 for all the lights/etc. because it would have cost more to buy 14.
The way Romex is marketed it is way cheaper to buy 250 foot and use the heavier wire even if you don’t need it. But it is a pain to use the heavy wire when you don’t need it.
So 12 gauge is HARD to work with in a regular switch box, or in a regular small socket box.
If you don’t NEED 12, use the 14. It is that much easier to work with.
I used 50 feet of 10 gauge for the two 220 sockets. 45 feet is what it takes to go 28 foot of building and up/down the wall.
The remaining 5 foot of ten gauge worked great to put the second plug near the breaker box.
Murray boxes have WAY TO FEW ground/common terminals. With the way it was designed and equipped it is as if they figure most people don’t use the ground, or combine grounds or common in the same terminal.
I had to buy a longer ground strip and fabricate it into the box. I didn’t want to share grounds/share commons. Still ended up sharing two grounds on one end.
Wire stripping tool, for stripping Romex (the yellow plastic tube) is worth its weight in gold.
A must have tool.
For years I stripped Romex with razors, dikes, pocket knife, etc. DUMB cut my fingers, nicked the wires, etc. Too much work. The cheap little tube does it all, in seconds, neatly. Cost a few bucks. Best money I spent on this job.
I used a cheap staple gun for many of the Romex staples. It works. Don’t drop it.
After it hit the concrete the fifth or sixth time, from eight feet up, it got hard to pull loose from the staples.
For the 10 gauge I used conventional staples with hammer.
The staple gun lists 12-2 x 2 as maximum.
I ran the wires separately, didn’t double more than a couple places.
The gun works, and can make a huge difference if you are running a lot of wires, working one handed, or just get tired of banging your thumb with a hammer.
I would recommend using a few hammer in staples in strategic places, and not doubling 12 gauge wire with the gun. You could double 14 gauge with no problems I am sure.
I used a platform rather than a ladder and step ladder.
I used my dogs agility course beam, but it would be easy to fabricate a platform eight feet long to do the wire runs. Cuts the labor to about a quarter of moving a step ladder every couple feet. Much safer with a platform.
The screwdriver with the little wire twisting pin (I used a Kline) is worth having.
Much faster than using needle-nose pliers to bend the wire.
I did use heavy needle-nose pliers to work the heavy wire inside the boxes, etc.
Bend with the pin screwdriver, pinch tight with the needle-nose.
The ‘spin’ handle electrical screwdrivers ended up in my junk drawer about 5% of the way into the job.
I have a Bosch impactor, the spin screwdrivers are a clumsy substitute for a proper tool.
I would rather use a regular screwdriver any time over the ‘bent’ screwdrivers.
Guys who use them all day long are probably good with them. By the time I would be good with it, I would be done with any possible job.
Don’t do this without a polarity tester.
Cheap tool, must have to do this work.
Buy the Romex stripper, buy the polarity tester.
Then if you want, buy the pin screwdriver, and if possible, buy the non-contact voltage detector.
Mine was a cheap one from HF, the batteries were bad out of the box, but after I changed the batteries it was a nice tool to have.
Be sure you have heavy needle-nose pliers.
Light ones will bend and be hard to use. Cheap ones from HF (they have a three piece electric pliers set, cost almost nothing, yellow handles, they all worked fine).
Have a good pair of dikes. I used the cheap ones from HF on the 12 gauge, and my heavy Klein’s on the ten gauge
I bought the cheap yellow handle electrical pliers set because I didn’t want to drop my expensive needle-noses, my expensive Kline cutters from 8 feet up.
Never did drop any pliers, but the cheap ones worked fine.
From the builder it had an 80 amp panel, one inside light, one porch light (required by code) and three inside sockets.
My additional requirements were for more sockets, with 20 amp capability (drill press, grinder) lots of lights in the rafters, move the garage door power closer to the door, for the Liftmaster 3800, and a couple of 220 outlets.
I really wanted three 220 outlets but the box doesn’t have the room for that many circuits.
It is an 8 breaker box.
I considered putting in a bigger box, but found only 8 breaker types in four brands at my local big box stores.
Local supply house wanted six times as much and would have to order it get two more breakers.
Can’t wait because I must get on with the other upgrades I need, so I decided to live with two 220 plugs.
Rather than use a 220 whip for the compressor I will just plug it in to one of the 220 30 amp plugs. That way if I need to plug in my welder at in that area I can just pull the compressor loose and use that socket.
I put a second 220 socket on the opposite wall, to power a lift if I get one that needs 220, or the welder if I need to weld on that end of the shop.
I put 6 double plugs along the center of the rafters, using the ‘runway’ the builder put in for their wiring. That gives me places for 12 lights in a row down the center.
I added another plug in what will be the work bench area, giving me 7 double plugs in the ceiling split between three switches. This is in addition to the already installed single light fixture with a single CFL bulb.
I put the cheap 10 buck Wal-Mart T8 lights in 10 places, used the expensive Lowes double T8 over the work bench… First one has failed already. So much for paying 4 times as much at Lowes. I will probably replace those two with the cheaper Wal-Mart lights.
Bulbs I got from HD for 15 bucks for ten. Phillips brand. 15% defect rate from the box, three dead bulbs in 20. Picked up some cheap, cheap, (99 cents apiece) builder T8 bulbs at Lowes. These boxes hold 30, so I presently have 29 spares.
With 23 32 watt T8 bulbs the shop is almost daylight bright.
Some thoughts on anyone doing the wiring themselves;
I used more wire than I expected. Measure and then add extra. Lots of extra.
I wasted almost no wire. Less than 10 feet of left over cut wire in 340 feet of wire.
Still took lots of wire.
I had a 40 foot length of 12 left over from a project, and I bought a 250 foot roll, since I needed the 12 for the one run of 3 20 amp sockets. Since I needed the 250 foot role I used the 12 for all the lights/etc. because it would have cost more to buy 14.
The way Romex is marketed it is way cheaper to buy 250 foot and use the heavier wire even if you don’t need it. But it is a pain to use the heavy wire when you don’t need it.
So 12 gauge is HARD to work with in a regular switch box, or in a regular small socket box.
If you don’t NEED 12, use the 14. It is that much easier to work with.
I used 50 feet of 10 gauge for the two 220 sockets. 45 feet is what it takes to go 28 foot of building and up/down the wall.
The remaining 5 foot of ten gauge worked great to put the second plug near the breaker box.
Murray boxes have WAY TO FEW ground/common terminals. With the way it was designed and equipped it is as if they figure most people don’t use the ground, or combine grounds or common in the same terminal.
I had to buy a longer ground strip and fabricate it into the box. I didn’t want to share grounds/share commons. Still ended up sharing two grounds on one end.
Wire stripping tool, for stripping Romex (the yellow plastic tube) is worth its weight in gold.
A must have tool.
For years I stripped Romex with razors, dikes, pocket knife, etc. DUMB cut my fingers, nicked the wires, etc. Too much work. The cheap little tube does it all, in seconds, neatly. Cost a few bucks. Best money I spent on this job.
I used a cheap staple gun for many of the Romex staples. It works. Don’t drop it.
After it hit the concrete the fifth or sixth time, from eight feet up, it got hard to pull loose from the staples.
For the 10 gauge I used conventional staples with hammer.
The staple gun lists 12-2 x 2 as maximum.
I ran the wires separately, didn’t double more than a couple places.
The gun works, and can make a huge difference if you are running a lot of wires, working one handed, or just get tired of banging your thumb with a hammer.
I would recommend using a few hammer in staples in strategic places, and not doubling 12 gauge wire with the gun. You could double 14 gauge with no problems I am sure.
I used a platform rather than a ladder and step ladder.
I used my dogs agility course beam, but it would be easy to fabricate a platform eight feet long to do the wire runs. Cuts the labor to about a quarter of moving a step ladder every couple feet. Much safer with a platform.
The screwdriver with the little wire twisting pin (I used a Kline) is worth having.
Much faster than using needle-nose pliers to bend the wire.
I did use heavy needle-nose pliers to work the heavy wire inside the boxes, etc.
Bend with the pin screwdriver, pinch tight with the needle-nose.
The ‘spin’ handle electrical screwdrivers ended up in my junk drawer about 5% of the way into the job.
I have a Bosch impactor, the spin screwdrivers are a clumsy substitute for a proper tool.
I would rather use a regular screwdriver any time over the ‘bent’ screwdrivers.
Guys who use them all day long are probably good with them. By the time I would be good with it, I would be done with any possible job.
Don’t do this without a polarity tester.
Cheap tool, must have to do this work.
Buy the Romex stripper, buy the polarity tester.
Then if you want, buy the pin screwdriver, and if possible, buy the non-contact voltage detector.
Mine was a cheap one from HF, the batteries were bad out of the box, but after I changed the batteries it was a nice tool to have.
Be sure you have heavy needle-nose pliers.
Light ones will bend and be hard to use. Cheap ones from HF (they have a three piece electric pliers set, cost almost nothing, yellow handles, they all worked fine).
Have a good pair of dikes. I used the cheap ones from HF on the 12 gauge, and my heavy Klein’s on the ten gauge
I bought the cheap yellow handle electrical pliers set because I didn’t want to drop my expensive needle-noses, my expensive Kline cutters from 8 feet up.
Never did drop any pliers, but the cheap ones worked fine.