[TheForge] Light bulbs and shop power

Fri Aug 3 10:02:33 EDT 2012

Well, the "hours at a time" part precludes the simple suggestion I made.

I'm no electrician, but I think the answer to your question is 'no.'
I believe to be legal (and safe) the wires must be in electrical
contact their entire length.  I could be wrong about that.  But I have
given the same thing some thought, simply because of the availability
of smaller-gauge wire on the cheap.  This is not to say that it
wouldn't work -- it probably would -- just that there might be some
serious gotchas involved.

If an electrician is lurking, a comment from him would be useful.

Maybe the first thing to do is to inspect the connections through this
shop circuit.  Possibly there are some flawed connections -- loose,
corroded, burned, etc -- which, if fixed, might fix the problem.

I've seen (via photos, not in person) a burned connection on one of
the three hot lines coming into the building I was working in.  This
was discovered only after months of problems at the lab bench
(computerized instruments behaving badly), which eventually were
attributed to power dips.  Fixing the burned connection (burned due to
arcing, probably, due in turn to a loose connection) seemed to fix the
problems experienced at the bench.  (The company probably wasted
hundreds of thousands of dollars in bad results before the input box
was examined.)

On Fri, Aug 3, 2012 at 9:36 AM, Ron Childers <ron at munlaw.net> wrote:
> He grinds with a 1h/p 2x72 for hours at a time. Would it be
> practical/safe to just run another cable of the same or larger size in
> parallel wired together at the terminals? If it is #12 then another #12
> should at least double the capacity. I think there is a formula for
> that...
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Bruce .
> Sent: Friday, August 03, 2012 8:42 AM
> To: Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] Light bulbs and shop power
>
> Find out what gauge wires run between house and shop, and look up to see
> what gauge should be used over that distance.  I would guess they should
> be at least 10-gauge.  Possibly somebody ran only 20-gauge (which may
> suffice for lights).
>
> Copper is expensive.  I wonder whether there might be a work-around if
> the heavy load is only used occasionally.  Like, maybe, charge a car
> battery in the shop, then run the 12V through an inverter to power the
> grinder.  This wouldn't make sense for running machines all day, but if
> it's a few minutes now, a few minutes later it might save a lot of money
> on copper and electrical inspections.
>
> On Fri, Aug 3, 2012 at 7:47 AM, Ron Childers <ron at munlaw.net> wrote:
> <snip>
>>
>> Back on topic: The shop lights go very dim every time a friend turns
>> on a grinder in his shop which is over 100 feet from the house. The
>> wiring to the shop is fed from the house and there is no drop box. My
>> guess is the wire is too small to carry the load that far. If someone
>> honks down on the abrasive cut-off saw it trips a breaker in the
>> house. It is an electrician's nightmare that was there when he bought
>> the house and so far is only annoying, but does anyone know of this
>> kind of situation causing a fire? I think it needs heavier copper wire
> and a drop box.
>> Also, I don't know the amperage of the breaker. I used #6 and don't
>> have that situation.  I feel a bit uneasy about this but need to
>> justify my concerns before beating him up about it. Does anyone have
>> some words of wisdom? Thanx, Ron
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
>> [mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Jerry Frost
>> Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2012 9:32 PM
>> To: Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA
>> Subject: Re: [TheForge] TheForge Digest, Vol 102, Issue 14
>>
>> Simple logic, zero. They hold nothing; vacuum.
>>
>> Jer
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Ron Childers" <ron at munlaw.net>
>> To: "Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
>> Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2012 10:34 AM
>> Subject: Re: [TheForge] TheForge Digest, Vol 102, Issue 14
>>
>>
>>> How would you compute the volume of a light bulb? (-:\>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
>>> [mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Andy Gladish
>>> Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2012 1:43 PM
>>> To: theforge at mailman.qth.net
>>> Subject: Re: [TheForge] TheForge Digest, Vol 102, Issue 14
>>>
>>> Thanks! I figured this one (a different way involving a lot of
>> geometry-
>>> I'm going to use your method!) out at 3:30 this morning, lying awake-
>
>>> it's always wierd how simple the solutions are once you get them...
>>> Andy G.
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Message: 2
>>>> Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2012 15:29:33 -0400
>>>> From: "Ron Childers" <ron at munlaw.net>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> 1/2" pipe or square for the pattern....Bend to shape then lay out on
>
>>>> the shop floor and duplicate. Try it for fit before final welding.
>>>> Jeff and crew did one and it was a real treat getting it up to the
>> 3rd
>>>
>>>> story through a narrow staircase after the wall was painted and the
>>>> hardwood floor was varnished. It fit; billowed curves and all, yea!
>>>> The owner's wife caught us in the act of final fitting and she loved
>
>>>> it..Compliments on the work, husband paid the price and the check
>>>> didn't bounce. Fitting on an outdoor railing should be easier but it
>>> must adhere to specs...
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
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>
>
> --
> Bruce
> NJ
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-- 
Bruce
NJ