New unisaw - 220V do-it-myself?

[Pieter Ruiter]

Hi all, I have finally taken the plunge and bought the unisaw to get serious with my ww! I'm very excited of course, and building the unisaw was a lot of fun... Meanwhile, I treid to get an electrician (Central New Jersey) to come out to add a separate breaker panel for the garage and add a couple of 220v outlets (and some regular 110 as well). I have called 6 (six!) electricians around me, and they

1) don't call me back after they say they will 2) do not return my call

It seems the service levels are sunken below measurable levels ;-(( and i even made sure to be very friendly on the phone. Cost is not even the issue.

Should I attempt to pull my own electrical? I'm fairly confident around electricity and running metal conduit/mounting metal outlet boxes is very easy for me. I have however NEVER opened up the breaker panel and would rather not risk it. Any thoughtsor epxeriences would be most appreciated.

Pieter

[Wilson Lamb]

It's easy, but you should probably get a book with pictures. So much for our terrible economy with millions out of work. Of course WORK is the troubling word. So many now have so few real skills as to be unemployable except as file clerks or data entry operators.

Do you have space for a dual breaker in your main panel? If so, we can talk you through it. Email me directly for more.

[JS]

I agree with you that you should not risk it.

1) Assuming you have room in your box for a double breaker, it is very easy to put the breaker and cable in, as well as to wire the new outlet. However, getting the cable from the box to the outlet can be a real bear. Unless you have a straight run with no obstacles, you might well regret starting the project. (And if you can't get an electrician to do the work, good luck getting one to finish it) 2) While it is easy enough to do, there are dozens of requirements as to how the cable must be grounded, supported, attached, etc. I wouldn't want to try to get it out of a book. 3) Most towns require an inspection. While you might not bother on something this simple, if you ever had a problem and screwed up something in #2 above, your insurance might not cover it.

I am sure other people will tell you it is easy and you should not hesitate.

9 out of 10 times they will be right. The 10th time, well...

[Gfretwell]

Welcome to the 21st century. Nobody wants to start their truck for less than $500 these days and that would be robbery for running one branch circuit. See if the local Borg is running an electrical class. The first thing is to be sure you have 2 available slots in the panel for a

240v breaker. If this is a fairly close shot, just buy a box of Type MC (armored cable with a ground). This will cover the physical protection problem. Use the red insulators at the ends of the cables where they go into the boxes and be sure to get the right connectors for type MC. Trip the main before you open the service panel and still be careful.

[Frank Nakashima]

Just think of it as playing operation - except it's *your* nose that will light up red if you touch anything.

Scared?

Good.

Now you'll be a little more careful.

It's not difficult - just be careful and go slow.

[Lawrence L'Hote]

BTDT. When I had got my Unisawer I called at least 3 electricians and even a friend(I thought) electrician that worked for UE but finally got one that came out and charged $500 for two 220 circuits and 2 110 circuits. Had to redo the whole box because it has only 60 amp service installed originally in 1959. Did get a halogen drop light out of this project that the man left in the attic. I bought the book at Borg to do this but I have trouble enough sleeping at night so I opted for skilled labor. Larry

[Bay Area Dave]

you answered your own question, dude! You said you'd rather not risk opening up the breaker panel. THEN DON'T! You can't have it both ways: you can't be "comfortable" around electricity, but AFRAID to open the panel. HIRE a pro, instead. You want someone here to cure your fear of getting into the panel???

dave

Pieter Ruiter wrote:

[Swingman]

You might want to give some thought to the following approach and judge whether it may be feasible for you. However, I wouldn't even consider it if your local codes prohibit a homeowner doing his own electrical work.

Draw up a circuit plan (do it right, including amperage requirements) and pull a homeowner's permit.

Make sure of all the contingencies, wire sizes, etc. (including the capacity remaining in your main panel) ... in short, do your homework as if your life depended upon it ... it may.

Once past the planning and permit stage, and BEFORE you hook up the sub panel to the main panel, do all the wiring and installation work yourself, including mounting the sub panel. You will be working on dead circuits with no current during this process.

Leave the actual connection of the sub panel to the main panel to a licensed electrician. Get one lined up beforehand and let him know what you are doing.

You will be safer that way, learn a lot in the process, and may be able to save yourself enough bucks it make it worthwhile.

I saved around $1300 on my current shop ... that'll buy a lot of wood. I did pull a permit and had it inspected by the city.

This is very doable with care, caution and common sense.

It has been my experience that a conscientious shop owner will often do his own electrical work to a higher standard than the average electrician I've run across around these parts.

Whatever you decide to do, make damn sure you pull a permit and go though the _whole_ inspection process... if for no other reason than to not jeopardize your homeowner's insurance.

[Chris Merrill]

I did. If you understand electricity and have done wiring before, you should be fine. Get a good book.

If the box scares you, do all the wiring and hire an electrician just to do the final hookup.

[DarylRos]

No, bad idea. Runing the line, a simple 12 guage three wire (hot, neutral and ground) is easy enough. But don't play with 220 at the box unless you know what you re doing.

Ask for a referral at a local hardware store or lighting store. Asking at Lowe's or the Borg will get you nowhere.

[Silvan]

That's mildly amusing. When did such jobs become available to unskilled people? When I got my BA in basket weaving (foreign languages) and got taught a hard lesson about how education != training, I couldn't get a file clerk or data entry job to save my life. It would have been a step above Wal-Mart, which is where I served my sentence the first few years of my life in the workforce.

(I subsequently went to trade school in order to get my CDL and become a truck driver. I'll just bet I *still* couldn't get a file clerk or data entry job, because I have "no experience.")

[Pieter Ruiter]

Just to let everyone know - I finally was able to get an electrician to my home this morning, and he installed the 220v outlet in 45 mins. $90 for time & materials. I'm happy now! Thanks for all the help. Regards,

Pieter On 23 Sep 2003, you wrote in rec.woodworking:

[Mutt]

For future reference, I have wired up 2 different shops with 220 and

110 circuits using as a guide the best reference book I have seen, and can recommend: "Wiring a House" by Rex Caufield, published by Taunton. Well written, well illustrated, complete and very very helpful. I recently moved to NJ from NC and it took me 3 weeks to get an electrician to put a 100 amp subpanel into the shop (which despite the book, I simply perferred not to tackle) from which I put in five 110 20amp and three 220 circuits without incident and within code. I have no affiliation with Rex or Taunton, but would really like to meet the guy and say thanks in person.