Electrician's Advice

[JimLor]

So, I buy this nice DeWalt planer, the 735 and start it up in the garage. I get thru 2 boards, ea about 3 feet long and it starts blowing the circuit breaker at least once on each side. The line, at least the breaker, is 15amp.

We have an unfinished basement and my table saw is down there, it basically does the same thing unless I'm real careful and real slow. I'm going to get someone in to run a separate line to the garage and basement for my tools and my tools only. For you electricians, what size do I need? Is 20a enough, or should I go bigger? Any other advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Jim

 

[C&C]

Your planer should have the amperage draw or the tool rated in watts. If it is in watts divide by 120 and that should be the amperage draw.

 

[ionbeam]

...it starts blowing the circuit breaker at least once on each side. The line, at least the breaker, is 15amp....I'm going to get someone in to run a separate line to the garage and basement for my tools and my tools only...what size do I need? Is 20a enough, or should I go bigger? Any other advice would be appreciated.

I know this isn’t much of an answer to your question, but it will give you some idea of what a ‘by the book’ home rewiring could mean to you. If you ever try sell your home, your wiring will need to pass a home inspection.

Ask the person doing the rewire (who should be a certified electrician) that question. I imagine you will need to have a town or county permit pulled to modify your main electrical box and perhaps you will be required to install a second box in the garage. The town/county building codes may dictate what you must have. Town/county/state laws will also dictate how many outlet boxes you may have on a circuit and how far apart they should be placed based on the use of the space -- living room, bed room, kitchen, garage. I expect all the breakers or the outlets will have to be ground fault circuits. I'm not familiar with your local power requirements for non commercial homes but almost always a modern home will have two power feed lines in phase with each other -- 110/220 as opposed to 110/208. If your electrical box has the capacity to expand to your needs, a good electrician will try to balance the power draw through each power line coming into your home.

The breaker rating and wire gauge must be matched for the length of the wire runs and the wattage of the power tools being used. Roughly, there are 746 watts per hp.; assuming 120 volts, each hp will consume roughly 6 amps at full motor load. Normal running load will be 1/2 of that or a bit less. A 5 hp tool could draw as much as 30 amps if allowed to run at full load.

Edited to add: I see your planer is rated for 15 amps at full load. Your circuit breaker will need some 'head room' above that. Then you would have to assure that nothing else gets plugged into this power circuit or you can over power even a 20 amp breaker. It's these little issues that lead to the complicated electrical codes.

 

[chrisflock]

I need some more power in my garage, so I went to the local supply store (Menards, but home depot or lowes would do if you have one) and bought a 20 amp breaker. I don't recall what gauge wire was correct, but they knew at the store, so I got enough wire to run from my main breaker box to my garage (which is attached to my house, so it was easy).

All the outlets in my garage were on the same circuit as the lights in the garage and a few other lights, so I left the wire running from the breaker box to the lights intact, disconnected the wire running from the lights to the outlets, and hooked the first outlet up to the new wire instead.

Bam, now I've got outlets in my garage on a 20 amp circuit. I can run my welder and not flip the breaker, and if I do flip the breaker, it's just the outlets that go off.

 

[slapnpop]

All the outlets in my garage were on the same circuit as the lights in the garage and a few other lights, so I left the wire running from the breaker box to the lights intact, disconnected the wire running from the lights to the outlets, and hooked the first outlet up to the new wire instead.

Do you know that the gauge of wire between the daisy chained outlets is of adequate size? If it was only rated for 10 or 15 amps that the breaker originally was set for, you could cause major problems. The new 20A breaker will not trip until after the point where the wire has heated up and possible started a fire.

The last outlet in the daisy chain would be your worst case scenario as well.

Of course if the original wire size was adequate, then you should be fine.

 

[Art FJR]

Don't quote me, but I run 14 guage for lights and I use a 15 amp breaker. I use 12 guage for outlets and I run a 20 amp breaker. I don't run lights and outlets on the same breaker.

I understand that you can run 14 guage wire for outlets and use a 20 amp breaker, but I don't.

You can get cheap outlets rated for 15 amps, but for outlets that I plug the vaccum into and in bathrooms, I get 20 amp outlets that are much nicer.

As best I remember, GFCI is required for bathroom outlets, kitchen outlets and outside outlets. You can get a GFCI outlet as the FIRST outlet on the circuit, or get a GFCI breaker which costs a little more then standard breakers. It might be a good idea in the garage (GFCI).

And I think I am remembering that garage outlets need to be something like 3' high.

I am not the best electrician, but I have friends that are and taught me some rules. And I don't do the "stab" connection, I always wrap the wire around the screw.

Art

 

[Wingman]

So, I buy this nice DeWalt planer, the 735 and start it up in the garage. I get thru 2 boards, ea about 3 feet long and it starts blowing the circuit breaker at least once on each side. The line, at least the breaker, is 15amp.
We have an unfinished basement and my table saw is down there, it basically does the same thing unless I'm real careful and real slow. I'm going to get someone in to run a separate line to the garage and basement for my tools and my tools only. For you electricians, what size do I need? Is 20a enough, or should I go bigger? Any other advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Jim

Before you go too crazy spending money on new wiring and power upgrades, you might try just replacing the breaker with a new 15 amp one. They do go bad over time, especially if they have been tripped a lot.

David

 

[jekirby]

Receptacles now a days need to be 20 amp/12 ga (and that will handle your dewalt planer) and lights can be 15 amp/14 ga minimum. Around here, until copper went sky high, electricians would tend to use 12 throughout the house and use 15 amp breakers on lighting circuits. Code will always allow you to use a smaller breaker on heaver guage wire, but not the other way around.

I did not stay at a Holiday Inn Express, but have had three houses, one I built, that I have completly wired myself--and passed inspection. The 'Code Check' books found at the Home Depot give a good starting place for understanding some of the code requirements.

 

[6mmbr]

dedicated line from your panel.

10 gauge wire (you can use 12g but I like overkill and cool wires for tools)

20 amp breaker

use industrial 20 amp outlet also not a pos "box store" special.

 

[Bustanut joker]

Damn all I have is 100 amps into a 12 place panel here in the Garage. Woulda went higher, but the price of copper only allowed fer double ought wire to here.

:jester:

 

[Constant Mesh]

You can't get an accurate current value by dividing watts by 120 volts. That simple math will work for DC circuits but not AC.

Current = Output Watts / (PF X Eff X Volts)

PF = Power Factor

Eff = Efficiency

Most power tools should have the full load current rating on the nameplate.

 

[boomerang]

I need some more power in my garage, so I went to the local supply store (Menards, but home depot or lowes would do if you have one) and bought a 20 amp breaker. I don't recall what gauge wire was correct, but they knew at the store, so I got enough wire to run from my main breaker box to my garage (which is attached to my house, so it was easy).
All the outlets in my garage were on the same circuit as the lights in the garage and a few other lights, so I left the wire running from the breaker box to the lights intact, disconnected the wire running from the lights to the outlets, and hooked the first outlet up to the new wire instead.

Bam, now I've got outlets in my garage on a 20 amp circuit. I can run my welder and not flip the breaker, and if I do flip the breaker, it's just the outlets that go off.

?? you have a 120volt welder?? Sure you dont have 220volt to your garage and just pulling your lighting off of one leg of that?

 

[Rogue]

Well as an electrician I had two duplex (one outlet with a top and bottom plug) outlets in my garage when I bought the place, I added 13 double duplexes on 9 new circuits and one 30 amp 240 volt outlet. I don't trip breakers in the garage.

What do you do in the basement? If you only run one tool at a time one circuit is fine. What size is your main panel?

I'd say add a 50 amp sub panel and run dedicated circuits for the planer, the table saw and each large tool (grinder, drill press.......). Put the lights on their own circuit and the rest of the outlets on two circuits. All circuits should be 20 amp and all outlets should be 20 amp (20 amp outlets are a lot more heavy duty than 15 amp).

 

[JimLor]

Thanks to you all for your replies, I do appreciate your time and effort.

Forgot to add that in lifting my planer to put it on my bench, I wrenched my back. So not only can't I use the planer, I get the added bonus of sitting here at work with one of those heating pad dohickeys on and sweating my can off - good times!

Rogue - I am going to seriously consider a sub-panel for the basement. It's unfinished but a sub-panel would be a plus for anyone buying the house and finishing the basement.

Shouldn't be difficult to run wire from the panel (outside garage wall) to the basement. In the garage I'm going to have one 20amp outlet stuck in the ceiling and use my retracting extension cord.

Thanks again for your replies.