I am lucky enough to live in a town where you can do all of your own electrical/plumbing work ,as long as it is per code. I am starting the wiring of my fuse panel today and was wondering if there were any tricks to making the panel neat and tidy? I figure the neater and cleaner, the easier the inspector will be on me. It also doesn't hurt that he drives a pro street 57 Chevy Bel Air. They are pretty forgiving, considering they have a job to do and a code to uphold. Thanks for the input in advance.
Tip #1, dont let the pre-installed smoke outta those wires! Lucas could never get that one right So when are ya gunna post some pics?
I've done several shops and many a house.... The best tip I can give is to use 12 gage wire annd 20 amp breakers. The standard today is 15 amp breakers with 14 ga wire on all the 110 volt circuits. If you are running a couple power tools off of a 15 amp breaker you'll spend all your time re-setting blown breakers. Its a bit tougher cause you have to use the side terminals in the outlets instead of the push in terminals but in the long run its worth it. Good Luck!!! Be sure to use the same MANUFACTURER of breakers as the breaker box... A hardass inspector can get you on those obscure rules if he dont like you..Sonds like thats not gonna be your problem, though
Yeah I have 12-2 wire and they will be enclosed in EMT conduit, 1/2". Metal boxes etc. I am doing the interior walls in old barn tin and rough cedar, so the conduit should look kinda warehousey. (I know that's not a real word but on the HAMB no one will notice.) I am using 20 amp breakers for the outlets and I have a 50 amp for the welder.
we just wire a new shop with conduit. use 3/4". you can pull more wires for the future, sounds good 12 ga.for the 110 stuff, 50 amp for the welder is good, we used 6 ga. as far as neatness just don't make it look like this chev I just bought, with a ball of spaghetti under the dash.
If you are using conduit do not use romex, use 12 gauge stranded. It is easier to pull. You can share your neutrals if you do it corectly. Mike
I put all 4 plex outlets in my shop and pulled 2 circuits to each box. That way if I have two tools plugged into the same outlet they will be on a seperate circuit. On the otherhand I have over 500' of pipe in my shop and I still have more to run.
If you are running 12 gauge wire then make certain you purchase 20 amp outlets. Typical outlets are rated at only 15 amps. Also when making connections inside the breaker box allow a 3 or 4 extra inches of wire for each circuit. Bend the wires into drip loops beside the breakers they attach to. Use dielectric grease on all aluminum wire connections. Make certain lugs are properly torqued. pay attention to wire color. Don't use green wire as a "hot". Don't use red wire as neutral or ground. Even though 99% of the time they connect at exactly the same place neutral and ground have to be treated differently. Used colored tape to distinguish power supply cables from each other. Many inspectors will require boxes to be fully labeled before passing. If you've got anything that will be located outside or near water use GFCI outlets rather than GFCI breakers. They are much much cheaper. Install an outlet next to your breaker box and keep a night light plugged in it. When a light circuit trips maybe you won't on your way to the box to find the problem and you won't have to search for a flashlight.
Buy a box of 12 or so sharpies, and lable every wire. and draw up a nice blueprint of what every wire does, and where it goes. Wire is cheaper than your labor, so it's better to pull extra and cut it off, rather than run out and have to run a new wire. It's been said, but yes, 12-2 wire at a minimum, with 20 amp breakers. You may, depending on the code where you live, be required to have every outlet in your garage be on a GFCI circuit. That is the new code around here. As far as outlets got, you can spend 35 cents each on them, 2 bucks, 10 bucks, or as much as 150 bucks each. Personally, i'd go for the industrial quality ones that cost about 2-3 bucks each. lable every wire! David
The way I have done the panel is to comb the wires out parallel with each breaker. For example if all your conduit is feeding down into the breaker panel box from the top split the white and green off to the side that has the common and ground buss bars, then run the blacks down the sides of the panel and then bend each one of them to point straight into their breaker. Try to keep all the wires flowing, not twisted around each other if possible. At the outlet leave about 4 inches of wire and connect your jacks but do not press into the box until it has been inspected. Then put a couple of bends like and accordion in the wires to let you press them into the box. This is the way the inspector around my home likes to see stuff. Good Luck and hope this helps.
One simple trick to keep the wires at a consistent length: Grab the wire at the minimum length point. Fold the wire back over your palm and cut it off. It keeps the extra wire somewhere around four inches or so, and you don't have to stop and measure each one. Don't put sheathed wire (Romex) into conduit.
Try to make sure that all wires are along the side of the panel box and then 90 degree turns into the breaker and commons/neutral (white) are landed on the bus/lug bar. Tighten all your wires to your breakers as tight as you can go with the breaker in your hand and then snap it into place. Use white tape for the neutral/commons on your incoming feed into your main breaker, use green for your ground. #6 AWG Stranded is the way to go for your welding recepticle.
Oh Yeah one more thing Where the wires enter thru the panel be sure to use clamp style wire bushings with lock rings, and a 2" or 3" PVC hub for your panel feed. The inspector might yank on the wires to check if they are tight.
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