Wiring a workshop in Canada I need a good book or two.

I have the code book simplified and it's pretty straight forward but the problem is I have never wired. I need a good up to date book that shows how to hook up A to B. The little details that make up the work. Some tips on the best layout for a small shop (14x20) would be nice as well. I know I want as many plugs as I can get in here. I also would like a nice panel of switches (6-8) at the door that allow me to turn off stuff like compressor, air purification, dust collection, fans, lights, etc as I leave. I'm putting in electric heat (simple overhead construction heater) as well so need some advice on 220 as well. I may convert my tablesaw to 220 as well. Please don't tell me to talk to an electrician. I can't afford one and living in a tiny community doesn't help. If I can't do this on my own it's not going to get done. The electrical inspector is a great guy and has offered to make an extra visit or two to help me out.

I'm a very quick study for most things, it's just that I have never had to do much electrical.

Ralph Morsby

Reply to
Ralph
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Well I'mnot sure how helpful this will be but when I wired my shed I used a book by "Creaive Homeowner" called Quick Guide Wiring, 3rd Edition. ISBN

1-880029-83-9. I can't remember where I got it but it might have been the BORG. The price was $7.95 (slightly higher in Canada).

It is pretty basic an covers all the usual stuff. I liked the fact that it had pretty good illustrations.

Reply to
Doug Brown

Your local Public Library should have good books on wiring. Also try Home Depot or Rona. Des

Reply to
Des Perado

Yep, two neighbors offered to help, both did their own wiring. Neither got it inspected. Both told me I didn't need the plastic vapor barrier liners behind my boxes. I decided at that point they weren't going to be all that helpful.

Reply to
Ralph

Fourteen years old.

I've seen books, but no idea how good they are. I would like to know the book is up to date and accurate before I put out $30-40. The one book Home Depot has I was told by the head of their electrical department that it was junk.

Rona has none.

Reply to
Ralph

I can't help with the Canada part, but for the "nice panel of switches" I recommend a 100A or 125A load center (you don't have to put it on a 100A circuit, that's just the panel rating) put each tool on it's own breaker and use the breaker as a switch. Panels that size are cheap. I don't know if you need a main breaker or not up there.* US code allows up to 6 main disconnects, and my panel has 6 spaces. I have one 15A breaker for the lights and garage door opener, one 20A breaker for the 110V outlets, one

20A 2-pole breaker for the air compressor, and a 50A 2-pole breaker for the welder. The panel is full, but I could change out the two 110V breakers and put in tandem breakers without exceeding the "6 disconnects" rule because each 2-pole breaker only counts as one switch. Does that make sense? If I had more than 6 switches I would have to have a main switch or breaker, but that's a USA rule. I don't know what its Canada counterpart is, but look into using a "main lug load center" for your switches by the door.

-Bob

*Might be down there, I'm in S. Minnesota but I'm farther north than Toronto :-)
Reply to
zxcvbob

The basic principals of "hooking A to B" has not really changed in the past 14 years. Best thing to do would be to check out an old book to show the basics then buy a code book to make sure everything is to code.

Nate

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Reply to
Nate Weber

I'm trying to find the very best UP to date book.

Reply to
Ralph

Wiring a House, by Rex Cauldwell, is a good introduction to wiring, although it's about U.S. practice, not Canadian. Also see the Electric Wiring FAQ at .

Reply to
Steve Dunbar

There are several sites here covering wiring, check out the Hometime site first:

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C.

Reply to
Frank Campbell

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Reply to
volts500

Having been there- done that, twice in five years I offer the following.

Instead of installing a 6 or 8 circuit panel, buy what's called a 'fastpak'. Local Homedepot have them. Consists of the panel, 100A main brkr,and enough other brkrs to wire up a minimum house.Room for 24 circuits. Yes, overkill, but price is BETTER than small panel and breakers. Go figure. I did the math. You'll need more circuits later,trust me. I used 21 of the 24 breakers for just the kitchen reno.5 splits for the counter,3 for lighting, fridge,stove,wine cooler,etc all have separate breakers. Have NOT had any of them trip yet. If your house has breakers, buy the 'fastpak' that has the same mfr of breakers. Allsow common spares for 'upgrades'. See I told you, you'ld need more cirsuits !!

jay

Reply to
j.b. miller

According to Ralph :

Your best bet is to get two books:

A relatively good "how to wire" book to teach wiring techniques. Don't worry too much about "up to date" (or even Canadian code applicability), because the techniques have changed little.

Because frankly there's not much in the way of Canadian-specific technique books, "up to date" or otherwise.

Then you must buy a copy of Knight's " electrical code simplified".

Available almost everywhere, kept up to date, and < $15.

Reply to
Chris Lewis

Chris. The original poster already told us he has the "Electrical Code Simplified" book for the province in which he resides.

Rob

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"Chris Lewis" wrote ...

Reply to
Specter

According to Specter :

Oops. Missed that.

In that case, _any_ North American "how to" wiring book will do for discussion of "how to strip wire" etc. Ie: the Sunset books, Reader's DIgest DIY book etc.

Just ignore it for the code rules, and rely on Knight always.

As a FYI, Fine Woodworking and Better Homes and Gardens: Wood do have articles on workshop wiring and suggested setups. Again, rely on Knight for rules.

In fact, this group has lots of cool suggestions on how to set things up too.

Reply to
Chris Lewis

On 2 Mar 2004 04:11:31 GMT, snipped-for-privacy@nortelnetworks.com (Chris Lewis) scribbled:

Listen to Chris, he wrote the FAQ on electrical wiring before Al Gore invented the internet. Chris, how come you don't post it to rec.woodworking anymore?

Luigi Replace "nonet" with "yukonomics" for real email address

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Reply to
Luigi Zanasi

Striping wire I can do. I have to install a new panel in the shop - 60 amp. I can't even figure out what type of box. Or what is required to get it wired to the main box in the house. Then I have to run one 220 circuit off that.

Most books I've seen get really complicated when you start installing 220.

Reply to
Ralph

According to Ralph :

Most books don't cover subpanels, period.

If you're this far back on the learning curve, I suggest hiring an electrician to install the subpanel, and then you do the rest. There are a lot of fiddly details (backer boards, grounding, etc), and some of the components will be moderately expensive, so mistakes have major consequences.

You may be able to finesse it, ie: buy the components and drill the feeder cable holes from the electrician's instructions, and pay him hourly rate for the instructions and to connect it.

The most time-consuming part is installing the feeder cable.

Reply to
Chris Lewis

I'm not looking for most books, I'm looking for one that does.

How do you learn?

Did you read my first post?

Reply to
Ralph

I don't know of any that do in the detail you want. It's not usually considered DIY.

Take a course or follow an electrician around. The orange book will tell you most of what you need to know in terms of rules, but not at the tutorial level you seem to need.

I just went back and read it to be sure. Yeah.

That's why I suggested finessing it.

When we had ours done, that's what I did.

I was responsible for getting the trench done. As soon as it was dug[1], he came over, drilled the holes in the masonry (I paid for the drill by giving the electrician a case of beer to give to the friend who he borrowed it from), dropped the cable in the trench, fastened the subpanel up on the wall, installed the conduit boots and connected the ends. Took less than two hours.

Got the inspection, then I filled the trench back in.

A few days later, he returned, and we wired up the rest of the garage (about 18 circuits at that point) working together. Pleasant afternoon, good company. Learned some tricks of the trade...

$200 labour plus a case of beer plus materials (subpanel + 18 branches) plus the $100 to get someone else to dig the 100' trench.

Now, that was somewhat special circumstances (he's now a friend of ours and business was _real_ _slow_ at the time). But if you limit it to the (smaller) subpanel, you should be able to do as well if not better. Ie: buy the subpanel the electrician suggests from your planning meeting, and mount it where and how he tells you.

It pays to tie into the local old-boys network.

[1] "As soon as" is the operative word. The sand here is infamous for collapsing. Got the trench dug, the machine operator said "oh-oh, it's caving in already", and I was on the phone to the electrician "we gotta lay the wire now!" within minutes ;-)
Reply to
Chris Lewis

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