Franks Workshop: Electrical Plans

[Rob Russell]

Hi Frank,

I received your email. I hadn't forgotten about you :-).

I'm on "vacation" for another week or so. The last few days have been spent staying with my godfather who has Alzheimers (sp?). Two+ days of parking him in his rent-a-bay warehouse unit working in Florida heat to throw away trunkload after trunkload of stuff. That and we're disrupting his "routine" - but he's glad to see us. We're at the stage now where he's going to have to give up his car and move from his apartment into a place where he can get some help, even though he's still competent and functional 95% of the time. He deson't know that yet and is not ready to accept it. Oyyyy (and I'm not even Jewish!).

I will post a schematic for the DC controls I described. I've got our laptop with us, but haven't had time to work on a diagram. Next week when we move to a calmer location, so earliest post will be the week of 4/19.

I basically don't have Internet access which is why you haven't heard from me in the forum.

Rob

[Frank Pellow]

Other than the remote control for my dust control (for which I am awaiting information from Rob), the plans are now complete (I hope) . I made a few very small changes since posting the schematic on the 3rd of April so I went back and replaced that attachment. I now have wiring diagrams and am attaching them here.

[Chris Padilla]

Frank,

Maybe I missed it in this long thread but why aren't most of the light switches near the door?

[Bob Hovde]

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread. Although my planned shop would fit into one corner of Frank's shop, I need to bring a new electrical service from the house to the garage (shop) - about 80 ft - and the tips I've learned here have helped me greatly in planning the electrical layout for my new PM 3520A and JET 18" BS ( stealth gloat!) that arrived yesterday in the rain. (Pictures to follow, but this will take some time.)

Bob

[Frank Pellow]

Chris, most of the light switches are near the door that I plan to use the most often, that is the single door.

[Chris Padilla]

Doh! Sorry, I am blind. Darn it...I swear I looked carefully as it just didn't make sense for you to do it that way!

[Bob_Hammond]

One more question.

Are you sure that you don't need a 30amp 230v ckt for your tablesaw? I wired my Unisaw with a 20amp, and about every couple of weeks I'll get a nuisance trip. I keep meaning to upgrade to 30amp, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Bob

[Frank Pellow]

One more question.

Are you sure that you don't need a 30amp 230v ckt for your tablesaw? I wired my Unisaw with a 20amp, and about every couple of weeks I'll get a nuisance trip. I keep meaning to upgrade to 30amp, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Bob

The table saw that I think right now that I would like to get is the General 350 and it is rated at 230 volts 12 amps. That should be plenty. However, I might end up getting a different saw, so it might be prudent of me to wire for 30 amps. Thanks for the tip.

[Frank Pellow]

The change that I made to the way that I am insulating the floor means that I no longer have space between the sub-floor and floor to run wiring or to install floor outlets. The floor outlets will now be ceiling outlets and the wires that were running through the floor will now run through the wall and ceiling. I have changed the diagrams that I previously included with posts #28 and #32 to reflect these changes.

[Jim Becker]

Frank, why don't you put some conduit in for those floor outlets--install it before you put the decking on. 'Shame to have to have everything hanging and with proper strain reliefs, it may actually be more expensive than the conduit! But even Romex stapled to your joists prior to installing the insulation should be workable, too...unless you have some very different rules to play by.

[Frank Pellow]

Frank, why don't you put some conduit in for those floor outlets--install it before you put the decking on. 'Shame to have to have everything hanging and with proper strain reliefs, it may actually be more expensive than the conduit! But even Romex stapled to your joists prior to installing the insulation should be workable, too...unless you have some very different rules to play by.

Jim thanks for the advise. It is good, but I don't think that I will follow it. In a way, it was a relief to me to jetison the floor outlet plans. I was having trouble finding acceptable (to me) floor outlets and even the couple I found that I did not like were very expensive. Also, I have been getting advise from others not to have floor outlets at all.

[Rob Russell]

You're going to have "stuff" hanging down from the ceiling anyway - like 5" pipe or hose for dust collection. I wouldn't see it as a big deal to attach a piece of 4"x4" to use as a mounting point for your pipe/hose and electrical. It also gives you a place to hang "stuff" near your saw. Yeah, you've gotta think of where you want it so the pole isn't in the way. The DC pipe/hose is going to be there anyway, so use that to determine where is best for you.

[Frank Pellow]

Yes Rob you are right that I am going to have "stuff" hanging down from the ceiling anyway. I was thinking along the same lines after my reply to Jim. That fact really clinches the "no floor recepticle" decision for me.

[Rob Russell]

Frank,

Question for you on the blast gates for the DC system. It should be sort of obvious that these home-made gates will interact with a switch that starts/stops the DC.

So, my questions ...

1. How important is it to you to have some sort of indicator light/led that tells you which blast gate(s) is(are) open? It isn't particularly difficult to do, but it does make a difference in the switches used when you build the blast gates. A minor point is specifying a source for 24 volt lights, but that's a small thing.
2. Do you have Ebay access? I ask because it's a great source to buy parts cheap for projects like this.

I guess I'm asking anyone who is following this thread, not just Frank.

Rob

[Chris Padilla]

Rob,

If I missed this already, sorry, but have you posted the "know-how" for the DC electrical system?

I've got the part for the remote controlled DC in hand but I like the idea of pulling open a blast gate for whatever machine I'm on and having the DC turn on then.