Building a new shop, 24 x 24. Floor will be concrete. How practical is it to put electrical outlets in the floor for stationary machines, TS, bandsaw, etc? If not in the floor how would one recommend getting power to machines set in the middle of the shop. Are extension cords practical for both 110 and 220?
I would run conduit across the ceiling and have recepticals hanging down on cords.
I would th> Building a new shop, 24 x 24. Floor will be concrete. How practical is
snipped-for-privacy@cares.com wrote: > Building a new shop, 24 x 24. Floor will be concrete. How practical is > it to put electrical outlets in the floor for stationary machines, TS, > bandsaw, etc?
It's not practical, you want to make overhead cable drops.
Some General Electric LW busway, 3W, 30A, 250V will do a great job.
Can do same job with conduit, but it is a lot more work, and you can't take it with you when you leave.
Allows you to have both 240V & 120V in the same busway run.
Disclaimer: I once sold this stuff by the mile, but haven't been involved for many years.
Yes.
Lew
I'm getting ready to build a shop too.
I'll be putting some outlets in the floor. I value the airspace overhead too much to have power drops from above.
use conduit in the slab. if I think I can get away with it I'll also run a couple of 4" sewer lines through the slab- one for dust collection, the other to run an air hose through.
If you must have your utilities in the concrete floor, then have the concrete guys form a utility gutter in the floor, say 6"-8" wide, 3"-4" deep, covered by a removable steel grate.
Lay conduits, water lines, airlines, whatever in the gutter, then cover with grate.
You now have a way of servicing these utility feeds, if necessary.
Definitely a more costly type of construction.
Lew
Lew Hodgett wrote in news:GEN8i.13366$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread4.news.pas.earthlink.net:
Sounds like a good idea. Do the grates have holes large enough for the more temporary runs of things like air hoses and extension cords?
How many service calls do you think it would cost to justify the extra cost?
Puckdropper
How about putting in a wood floor above the concrete, with removable sections so you can run and access wiring, dust collection and compressed air under the floor?
I think that would be a little easier on your feet, too.
I juse went with the overhead route in my new woodshop. If your shop doesn't double as a garage, then I see no problem with power in the floor, other than the cost. If the floor is likely to ever get wet, I see problems. Oh yeh--- my shop equipment is never in the position I origianlly put it in when I built it. So, think carefully about power outlet location or you will be tripping over cords even worse than with extension cords from the wall.
Pete Stanaitis
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snipped-for-privacy@cares.com wrote:
If your table saw is going to be in a fixed position and not moved, and you know where it will be, put a conduit in for it along with a tube for dust removal.
Don't forget that the edges of the building will need to have conduits installed in order to get the power lines, telephone, networking, cable TV, water, drains and any thing else that you can think of. If you are installing these lines underground you don't want to have to exit through and down the outside of the wall if you can have the pipes and conduits installed from underground through the concrete into the soleplate of the wall -- keeps things much neater. As I mentioned above, install a rough-in for virtually anything that you MAY or may not use at a later date. It will simplify life later on if you want to actually add these things. You never know what you will want in the future, enough options will make the addition of something that doesn't even exist today much simpler.
I built a storage shed about 25 years ago with a couple of tubes installed through the foundation for power or whatever. Two years ago I ran a power line out to the shed, these tubes made for a simple installation. I was so glad that I had installed them years ago.
I would not put outlets in the floor. My shop is 18 x 25, a bit smaller tha yours will be and I strongly suggest that you still put all heavy equipment on mobile bases. For my 220 volt tools I use a 30" 10 gauge extension cord for my TS, BSm and Planer. IMHO the extenwion cord is very handy and easy to deal with.
You can always have a lot of room available if you use mobile bases. Currently I have my large machines around the perimeter of the room and simply pull out the one that I need to use. At night my wife's car comes in.
Don't forget your piss tube.
"goaway" wrote
I agree and have done this with more than one shop.
One idea that I saw carried this out even further. He had a master swith that killed the intire shop. It had a lock on it. He kept having kids "wander" into his shop. They even crawled into a window.
He put bars on the window and shut off all power. He also installed a much better lock on the door. He said the kids soon lost interest if it was dark and locked.
If I tried to do that as a youngster, I would have got a severe beating. But that just isn't politically correct these days.
Use standard grating which is available in various size openings.
Grating can be either steel or fiberglass.
Lifting the grating on a regular basis would get to be a total PITA, in a hurry, IMHO.
Lew
It would be difficult to do in the first place and if you ever moved the machines, you're stuck. Further, there is the issue of getting the outlets clogged with sawdust. Probably your best idea is to either drop power from the ceiling or have a moveable drop-pole for power in your cluster of machines. That way, if you ever move anything, you can just move the power along with it.
Possibly so, but it sure beats the s**t out of walking/tripping over power/extension cords. I've had it both ways and there's no way I'd voluntarily return to the wall plug arrangement. Tom Veatch Wichita, KS USA
Forget service calls. The justification is in the convenience of not having power cords (even with the little 'bridges') laying all over the floor. Tom Veatch Wichita, KS USA
I have to disagree. Completely practical. That's the way my shop is set up, and I wouldn't have it any other way. IMO, overhead cable drops are an even bigger nuisance than cords all over the floor going to wall outlets. I even have my dust collection duct runs under the floor to avoid the obstructions of stuff hanging from the ceiling. Tom Veatch Wichita, KS USA
Whatever floats your boat.
Lew
In my past life, I was an architect and worked with a lot of manufacturing plants and offices for a period of time.
Never put anything in a concrete floor unless absolutely unavoidable and then still had problems:
A trench in the floor is a PITA. A covered trench in the floor is a slightly smaller PITA.
Take a look in a McDonald's kitchen. It's all drop cords, with twist lock plugs.
If I rewired my shop, I'd do it like a theater lighting bridge.
I'd run a couple of conduits on the ceiling the length of the shop spaced about 8' to 10' apart, with several circuits in them. About every 6-8' put a 4-plex outlet for each circuit. Also have some screw eyes or something similar to support cords.
To connect a machine, run a heavy duty cord up from the machine to the nearest outlet, coil the extra cord, and hang it from the ceiling. Obviously, locate the cords to they don't get caught in operations. When its time to move, unplug and repeat the process.
Now you've got so much advice, I'm sure you are more confused than you were before you posted.
Good on you for building a new shop!
Old Guy
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