Receptacles; arrange as quad or duplex?

[Whitworth]

Let's assume surface mounted boxes fed by conduit. How would you/did you arrange receptacles? How many per foot and ratio of 120 versus 240 volts. Also, what height.

I am going to finish the lighting circuit as soon as it warms up and am in the planning stages for sub panel installation and amperage needs.

Also, what quality receptacles and or brand have you used. I was planning on mid-range quality maybe $6 a piece retail (eg, Leviton) or higher Bryant/Hubbell quality if I can find a deal.

Thank you,

Gary

 

[zmaxmotorsports]

How big of an area are you trying to cover,what do you plan on using out there?
Ive never had a problem with the plain old tamper resistant outlets,just make sure to have a gfi outlet in each circuit.

 

[DonPowers]

Also in the planning stage so I'll be watching this thread and looking for advice. I have a 200 amp service with 40 spaces. Thirteen circuits have already been run upstairs, which includes two spares. That leaves me 27 to play with.

My building is 32 deep by 48 wide with two 12 wide by 10 high doors.

I'm thinking quads for the 120V circuits, about 4 ft off the floor and spaced 4 to 6 ft apart on the back wall, where I plan to put benches and tools. The east side wall will be mostly shelving units and don't have a plan here yet. At least one set of quads on each side of the overhead doors.

Regarding 220 circuits, three 30 amp circuits and three 20 amp circuits on the back wall
and one each between the overhead doors. One of the back wall 30 amp circuits will have a VFD for an old DeWalt 16" radial arm saw.

Not looking to hijack your thread Gary, just hanging on for the ride.

 

[jmiller_2308]

On my first garage I placed single boxes (single duplex outlet) every 6' about 4' off the ground and it wasn't enough. The biggest issue was that when working in any one area the two outlets would sometimes be full so I'd have to go 6' to the next outlet. It also didn't lend itself to high use areas such as my battery charging station.

In the new addition I'm building I ran double boxes with 2 duplex outlets in each and placed them again at 4' but only 4' apart. In a space that is roughly 25x28 that is a lot of boxes but the convenience later will make it well worth it.

For wall outlets I used 3 separate 20 amp circuits roughly equating to each wall minus the garage door wall, plus additional circuits for lights, door opener, compressor, etc. I pondered alternating the circuit feeds between wall outlets but ultimately decided that in general I wouldn't be consuming that much power at one time very often.

 

[Whitworth]

Not looking to hijack your thread Gary, just hanging on for the ride.

No problem, I too, am hoping on learning from what others have done and avoid any obvious mistakes.

I've got 4 hi amp draw machines which will be hard wired with 10 gauge wire and on separate circuits with no receptacles on these circuits.

I've got about 33 by 33 (1000 sq ft) and maybe 3 or 4 tools that could be run at 240 or 120 ( 1.5 hp table saw, jointer, 1.5 horse band saw, maybe something else ). And then 120 volt receptacles for the usual suspects.

I don't use more than 1 tool at a time. Maybe a power feed but I would consider that not a common occurrence.

Receptacle Height; I don't want to bend over, I want it over common storage cabinet height but not so hi as too look goofy. I don't want so many receptacles that it looks cluttered, but enough to avoid searching for a available outlet.

Maybe 6 (120v)machines plugged in and never moved. Small bandsaw, 3 or so drill presses, grinder, small lathe, other stuff.

Gary

 

[Beemer533]

I've only had a couple of locations in my garage where I wished I had installed a quad instead of a duplex, but my place isn't very large (half of a 2 car) so it isn't a big deal for me..

Depending on the size of your place and the spacing between outlets will make a difference.

I wired a 24x24 shop for a friend of mine and he went with a duplex every 4' mounted at about 40". Looks kind of ridiculous, but no matter where you are, there is at least one outlet in arms reach.. Just alternate circuits so you don't have to worry about taking out an entire wall if you pop a breaker..

For outlets, I go with the Leviton R62-CBR20 commercial outlet. They are only $2.69 each if you buy 10 or more at HD.. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-...R20-00W/202066702?N=5yc1vZc33a#specifications

Whatever outlet you go with, I highly recommend the backwire (not backstab) style...

 

[Ray-CA]

I tried to allow for high use areas and put quad-boxes in those spots. Also, each outlet in the quad box is on a different circuit so I can run the table saw and the dust collector without overloading a single circuit. Used a different color outlet to differentiate between the two circuits.

Ray

 

[DonPowers]

Gary

Other than the RAS, all of my 220 tools are on mobile bases and will most likely get moved around for whatever project I'm working on. The place I'm stumped is the wall that has steel shelving units that are 6 ft high, 6 ft long and 2 ft deep with varying space between shelves.

Don

 

[DonPowers]

I tried to allow for high use areas and put quad-boxes in those spots. Also, each outlet in the quad box is on a different circuit so I can run the table saw and the dust collector without overloading a single circuit. Used a different color outlet to differentiate between the two circuits.

Ray

Thats an excellent Idea Ray

 

[kd3pc]

I used two duplex outlets, mine are 52" up, so I only had to cut one sheet of wall covering. I used a circuit for each side of the garage (N,E,S,W). I am 4-6' apart except the front door wall, one on either side of the door, but then that wall is less than 5' wide. I knew where I was going to put my tool box, and I have an outlet above the open top of that box.

I used commercial grade outlets, with GFCI, but not tamper proof, as my home has them and the failure rate is abysmal, and if you do not hit them 90 degrees to the face, they really annoy me. Then they too, fail or crack. I pre wire all my receptacles and pig tail each pair so that the outlets/plates are easier to install.

I put a future 240v outlet under the window, in hopes of one day putting in a window heat/cool unit of some sort.

Don't forget an outlet or two for the outside.

Same for any antenna inlets/outlets or solar cabling or network or.....now is the time to plan for them.

 

[larry_g]

I'm a believer in putting outlets of the front face of the workbench, just under the top. That way I do not have to drape cords across the table top if working out on the floor or can make the decision if a tool is better plugged in at the wall outlet behind the benchtop or at the front. The vacuum cleaner always get plugged into the bench front and small tools like the dremal or a soldering iron most likely go to the wall receptacle.

Something to think about.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Virtually all of mine are deep 4x4 boxes with dual duplex receptacle covers. The boxes are supplied by two separate circuits.

Individual receptacles are installed in handy boxes on each front leg of the wooden workbenches. A junction box is installed on the back of the workbench and romex spiders out to each receptacle from there. The junction has a cord and plug to plug into the wall. i can move the workbenches with a pallet jack if needed for cleaning or changes in building configuration.

The workbenches are the one place I deviate from my "never use anything smaller than a deep 4x4 box.

Charles

 

[gungatim]

ditto- mine are all quad's with 2 circuits labeled A and B.

may want to think about seperate switched circuits for things like radio, outside lights, etc.

 

[zable9]

Agree

 

[600SL]

Wow

I cant for the life of me figure out why anyone would need quads every 6 ft. I thought about doing this and realized that if I ever need a quad It would be in one or two locations that would surface in a short amount of time and I could easily upgrade those two only.

Basically I rally just cheeped out in not putting any quads in and intend to let the need show up in time.

My system is currently set up so I can very easily do one duplex, or one quad or two duplex A/B or one duplex and one 240V.

 

[zmaxmotorsports]

You can never have too many outlets in a garage!

 

[Kevin C]

Wow

I can't for the life of me figure out why anyone would need quads every 6 ft. I thought about doing this and realized that if I ever need a quad It would be in one or two locations that would surface in a short amount of time and I could easily upgrade those two only.

Basically I really just cheaped out in not putting any quads in and intend to let the need show up in time.

My system is currently set up so I can very easily do one duplex, or one quad or two duplex A/B or one duplex and one 240V.

I went with quads every six feet...

1: It looks nice.
2: I put in duplex boxes to allow for quads.
3: The nice looking Stainless Steel to cover the 4" boxes only came in quads, no single 4" Decora. Putting in block off plates seemed a like a waste. I didnt want to put in mud rings and convert to singles (less work to just wire in quads).

Seriously I have found that some outlets never get used or just have one item plugged in ( probably 80% of them). The ones the get used always seem to have three things plugged in.

For a 24 x 26 shop I have four 20 amp circuits. Basically, three walls and four circuits. If thats not enough, I used conduit and can always pull another circuit.

 

[ddawg16]

I tried to allow for high use areas and put quad-boxes in those spots. Also, each outlet in the quad box is on a different circuit so I can run the table saw and the dust collector without overloading a single circuit. Used a different color outlet to differentiate between the two circuits.

Ray

That is about as practical as you can get.

Im hind sight, I wish I had done it that way.....the 2 ckt part. At least all of my outlets are quads. My air compressor is behind the garage on a sep ckt. Still looking for a dust collector. The outlet for it is sitting there waiting.

One other very important part....put those outlets at least 52" from the floor. That way you can lean a 4x8 sheet of something against the wall and not block it.

All of my work benches are 40" high...with the outlets about 10" higher than that.

 

[Falcon67]

Quad everywhere, every 6~10' or so.

 

[Whitworth]

Ok, got excellent responses from all.

Outside receptacles, hadn't thought of it.
Color coding, hadn't that of that.
Some switched receptacles, only was thinking of air compressor, would make sense for other stuff.
I have gotten some Allen Bradley keyed switches for some to-be hard wired tools. They will act as a service disconnect as well as a degree of child proofing.

Was thinking duplex along the following: 120/120, several feet then 120/240, several more feet 120/120, something like that. Maybe a total of 4 quads per wall (about 8 ft between)
Maybe 6 120v receptacles per wall and 2 240 volt.

Gary

 

[lowgman]

Quads every 6' for me... You can *almost* never have TOO many outlets

I mounted mine high, 42" from the floor so they are easy to access.

 

[nfk]

I have a duplex every 8' and approx every 4' by my workbench. I put a quad in the middle of my bench. All outlets are a little over 4' high. I have 4 outlets in the ceiling for dropcords. Every wall is on its own circuit, and multiple circuits by the bench.

 

[woodzy]

When I built my shop (2000 square foot), it was divided into three rooms. In each room , I have 8-20 amp circuits - two circuits went to the center of each wall, and then branched out to the end of that wall. Duplex were added every 4' at 48" off the floor. I only added 220 where I needed it but in reality, every center of each wall had two GFI circuits (one on each leg) so there was officially 220 volt 20amp service at each center that could be wired if needed.

When my nephew hung the drywall and he saw all the duplexes I had and said "Don't you have any longer extension cord than 6 feet".

I probably overdid this but that was when a 250' of 12 gauge wire was $22.00 per roll. 14 gauge was $15 a roll.

I wish I would have bought a truckload of that wire then.