220 placement

[Deb Malloy]

Need some help in 220 placement for tablesaw. I'm planning on about middle of room, is cord better placed, to the right, left or behind ?
May post a shop plan tomorrow for suggestions.

Happy Thanksgiving !

[Jim Andrew]

My shop is stand alone, and had it finished before buying too big a tablesaw for the 220 circuit I had wired into the wall, so I just hung my plug down from the ceiling on the right side of the saw. Used a box fastened to the ceiling, and a cord hanging from the box. The plug is placed about a foot above the tablesaw height, so I could easily unplug it to change blades. The left side could interfere with cutting a sheet of plywood, and in the rear you might have to walk over the cord, so hanging from above on the right side worked well for me.

[Ryan Mooney]

Whichever end/side it won't be in the way when you're pushing material through it I put mine at the rear right corner which seems pretty good.

Actually put the plug on the ceiling and then wired a whip (sounds so much better than "extension cord") so I can unplug the saw without climbing a ladder (and didn't have to rewire to the inside of the saw, just added a plug to the end of the OEM pigtail). Used twist lock plugs on all connectors so its pretty solid.

I also stuck a J hook next to the outlet and used a piece of bungee wrapped around the whip and hooked to that to provide strain relief so the weight of the cord isn't on the outlet connector (its probably fine, but I feel better about it this way). Suggestions for better strain relief material welcome.

[Deb Malloy]

Can you post a picture of your set-up ?

Thanks

[Ole Anderson]

No matter where you put the drop, it could be in the way cutting sheet goods. Better to run down the wall and across the floor for this tool. In my case the DC hose was on the floor on the left side and that is where I ran the cord also.

[Jim Neeley]

My $0.02... A table saw is used with either a rip fence, a miter gauge, or a crosscut sled. There's a trade-off; here's my opinion.

When use with the rip fence, the stock being cut may overhang the left end of the table but will not overhand the right.

When using the miter fence to cross-cut, it may overhang the right but the width of stock is limited by the gauge and table to around 12".

Based on these two, the clear space would be off the right end of the table (for the fence), a bit in front of the blade (for the miter gauge).

A sled can extend the cross-cut width somewhat.

Slack in your whip can simplify this or you can choose to rough-cut the rare piece by hand or using a circular saw. The alternative is to come down the wall and across the floor, which must then be protected and provides some level of tripping hazard.

If you are installing permanent DC connections, strapping the cable to the DC duct will at least ensure that if it clears the DC fittings, it'll clear the wire! :-D

Jim in Alaska

[Deb Malloy]

Lots to think about. Thanks for all the replies.

[Kirk Poore]

You could go on the floor, and protect the cord with something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Wiremold-CDI15.../dp/B0006VAWFG

This one is probably too small for a TS cord, but there are bigger ones.

Kirk

[Deb Malloy]

Thanks Kirk.

[Steve Marcq]

+1 for the power drop from the ceiling. I ran mine to break about even with the right rear corner of my extension table, works great. Never in the way, and since it is over the corner of the table I never walk into it either. There is a wire mesh strain relief thing supporting the drop, which comes out of a well-secured surface mounted ceiling box. It reminds me of the chinese finger traps. Any electrical store can hook you up.

[Jim O'Dell]

Both of my table saws plug into ceiling outlets. The cords piggyback the down tube for the dust collection. I use the locking receptacles and plugs so they can't be accidentally pulled out. Works great and I can't trip over them. Jim.

[Rick Moyer]

You could go on the floor, and protect the cord with something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Wiremold-CDI15.../dp/B0006VAWFG

This one is probably too small for a TS cord, but there are bigger ones.

Kirk

I made something similar for my TS out of a pc of treated 2X6. sawed a groove in the bottom, tapered the top sides, put cord in and glued a pc of laminate on the bottom. TS is kind of in the middle but closer to left wall. Left wall has a 220 outlet close by so I use it.
If you make your own, I'd suggest a wider board if you have one, more gradual taper, less likely to trip over.

[Jim Becker]

I put mine at the rear right corner which seems pretty good.

This, in general, would be my choice for most table saw applications, as it likely would interfere the least with material handling. Ryan's description of a proper drop is also applicable if you are not going to install a power poll. I do recommend using twist locks on that kind of setup, too, as Ryan also mentioned.

[Wade Lippman]

Actually put the plug on the ceiling and then wired a whip (sounds so much better than "extension cord") so I can unplug the saw without climbing a ladder (and didn't have to rewire to the inside of the saw, just added a plug to the end of the OEM pigtail). Used twist lock plugs on all connectors so its pretty solid.

What do you use for the whip? An extension cord wired into a box at the ceiling with a twist lock plug on the other end?

[Ryan Mooney]

What do you use for the whip? An extension cord wired into a box at the ceiling with a twist lock plug on the other end?

I wired twist lock outlets into the ceiling (actually onto the side side of a joist but the effect is the same) and then made extension cords with a male plug going to the outlet on the ceiling and a female plug towards the machine. I wouldn't hard wire the whip in place because if there is ever a problem with it, its nice to be able to unplug and replace it easily (also connecting stranded to solid wire is a pain to do correctly). For the extension cords I used 10/2 stranded - not solid - wire in a rubber sheath (they had ~three grades, I used the lower grade one as its not a high abrasion/wear application) and some cable ends from the borg (probably overkill on the wire size, but arguably less loss). I like the twist locks everywhere because they a) don't fall out and b) imho make for a tighter/better connection so are less likely to induce more loss.

For the strain relief make sure there is a small loop between where it attaches and outlet. This allows you to visually verify that there is no stress on the outlet itself. This may not be technically required with twist locks, but 10-15' of 10/2 wire is pretty heavy so it seems like a good idea and certainly won't hurt anything (as long as your strain relief is actually strain relief and not a piece of wire or something that bends the cable sharply or cuts it.. Sounds obvious I know but the things you see... ).

It worked out pretty well because most of my machines came with really short cords to start with so I didn't have to re-wire them, just put a male plug on their cord. It also means that I don't have to climb a ladder to unplug the machine when I'm changing blades or whatever.

Std Disclaimer: I am not an electrician, so almost certainly have no idea what I'm doing... Electricity is really complicated so I just over build everything past the breaker under the theory that that is safer than under building and the cost delta is cheaper than the alternative.