Progress, finally!

[JMURiz]

Looks like tomorrow the footings will be going in and inspected for my detached garage under construction. This is after a 2 week delay to get the tree removed...long story involving a huge oak and powerlines close by...

Anyway, just wanted to share the news...things sure move faster once the foundation/concrete guys get on the job!

One question however about the wiring to the subpanel. My fiance's father (a substation electrician) said I should run conduit to the side (outside) of the building and run through a cutoff (similar to the ones for a/c units) before runing the wire to the garage's subpanel. Have any of you done this, his case was that if there's a fire the power can be turned off from out there etc.

Thanks for listening.
Nathan

 

[bmwpower]

Can't you just turn off the breaker at the main panel?

 

[JMURiz]

I could turn it off at the main panel, but if there's a fire and I'm not there the fire-co could turn it off themselves. I'll talk it over with him just to be sure. Again he's a sub-station guy so he's used to all kinds of backups etc and not positive on the detatched garage wiring code for where I live.

 

[bobbyd]

Thinking about that a little bit and it sounds like a decent idea. I could see some shenanigans getting played with me and my buddies with shops if all we had to do is flip a switch on the outside of the building. I've never seen it done, even on a house.

 

[twostory]

Re: Outside turn off & Fires

The first thing the fire dept will do is pull your power meter of out the socket. This will make sure there is no power in the building. So an outside turn off is really not needed.

The outside AC system need an outside turn off. This is so the service guys can easily turn things off without going inside the building.

 

[hudsoncustom]

Re: Outside turn off & Fires

The first thing the fire dept will do is pull your power meter of out the socket. This will make sure there is no power in the building. So an outside turn off is really not needed.

The outside AC system need an outside turn off. This is so the service guys can easily turn things off without going inside the building.

That makes sence.

 

[JMURiz]

Cool, thanks for the info, I'll talk it over, maybe I don't need the switch afterall.

Does anyone know if there is anything in a typical county/city code calling for anything like a cutoff on detached building? Just want to make sure i don't have to redo it after inspection (although I could run an LB outside for a remote cutoff if need be later).

Thanks!

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Cool, thanks for the info, I'll talk it over, maybe I don't need the switch afterall.

Does anyone know if there is anything in a typical county/city code calling for anything like a cutoff on detached building? Just want to make sure i don't have to redo it after inspection (although I could run an LB outside for a remote cutoff if need be later).

Thanks!

You need to talk to YOUR local code people, they will be the decision makers, so ask them. NEC doesn't require anything like that, that I know of, but is certainly cannot hurt. You will, however, need a switch rated for whatever the max amps is.

Charles

 

[JMURiz]

Yep, I'm going to run a 100amp breaker switch to the 100 amp subpanel, using #2 wire for the 2 hots. I'll double check with the local code people for sure though.