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Shop power upgrade


Greg Luckett

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I had an eventfull week last week.  I finally, after trying off and on for two years, found electricians to make my house and shop power upgrades.  I went from a 100 amp house service with one 15 amp feed to the shop to a 200 amp house service with a 100 amp feed to the shop.  MAN!!! I can feel the power now...WHOOPEE!! 8) :)  I am still wiring up the new power distribution in the shop and need a permanent run out to the boat shed too.  Oh, and I finally sold my Laguna Balboa 24.  These were major impediments to boat building for me.  I am almost ready to build the PS26, hopefully starting next year.  One downside: the Spindrift 12 has been put on hold again while getting the shop upgrades completed.

Greg  :)

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One problem, Greg.  Now you have a "power tool deficit".

Before, with only a 15 amp feed, the "power to power tool" ratio was in balance in the Luckett shop.  Now, it is seriously out of balance ... you have an 85 amps surplus!  You must buy more power tools.  The laws of physics will not be denied! ;)

You can try this on your wife.  It didn't work with mine, but you never know ...

I actually have my service panel in the wall of my shop (one bay of my three car garage).  I thought it was nearly full, but its actually a 200 amp service with quite a few empty slots left (for some reason, all the breakers are loaded from the bottom up, save for the bottom two slots, and I had used one of those for the shop wiring).

My back is better now so I'm working out there again, and thinking about improvements.  I would love to get a DC system installed, and a jointer. 

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Frank,

I shared this with my wife....bet you heard the snort all the way to Oxnard?  ;D

The biggest and most immediate improvements in the shop will be running the shop vac at the same time as another power tool.  This will really help with clean up labor time.  I want a dust collection system but those cost a lot and it will take me a while to save up enough to add that feature.  Once power is permanently run out to the boat shed it will speed up construction.  Oh, and now I can heat with electricity instead of a kerosene gun burner.  That means I can now set up the little electric heaters to speed up the epoxy curing and that I can build in the winter here more than before. :) :) :)

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Thought I heard something that sounded familiar!

On my current project, the only tool I've purchased is a jig for installing drawers, and I added it to an order for supplies ... not tools ... to get the free shipping.  Of course, to my wife, the 1000 pocket hole screws counted as a tool purchase (we have a long standing "discussion" about the router and the router bits ... the 1/4" solid carbide Freud bit I bought is NOT a tool, its a "bit"). 

Usually, I get a couple of tools for each project, but I think she's wise to that one ...

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  • 4 months later...

I found an electric heater to mount to the roof rafters and got it installed and running last week.  230V, 30Amp breaker, 5000 Watts.

A winter storm hit us at the same time, 70 mph winds, wind chill well below zero F, snow, etc.  It just quite could not keep up, but with a little help from the kerosene heaters it was comfortable.  I hate working while being cold.  The shop is not insulated and leaks around the roll up door too.  That will be fixed with time.

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  • 2 months later...

Okay, I must say this power upgrade is making me smile all day long.  Now that the garage shop is wired from the new 100 amp feed, I have been running the carving machine, the electric heating, the air compressor, the vacuum, and the table saw all at the same time without a problem.  Before there was a single 15amp feed to the garage for the ligts, exterior lights, freezer, and tools, so I was always tripping the breaker or shutting things off to keep from tripping it.  Now I can work both effeciently and stay warm.  The boys and I are cranking out birdhouses as spring is just around the corner.  Tomorrow we plan to cut out the rest of the Spindrift 12 pieces...the ones that can be done prior to assembly, and hopefully assembly with start next week.  It had all hinged on getting enough power to the shop.  Hurrayyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!! ;D 8)

Now for some power out to the new boat shed. :)

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  • 1 year later...

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