[TheForge] Light bulbs and shop power

[Ries Niemi]

Electricity is one place I dont skimp.

How much is your house worth? Could you replace it if it burned down because you saved a few hundred bucks on wire?
What about pets and family? Are they worth endangering? Is $300 to much to pay for their safety? $500? a thousand?

You guys dont wanna know how much I have spent on electrical- I have 2 shop buildings which EACH have a 200 amp 3 phase drop, and 60 slot breaker boxes. 
And even though I could have had a wild week at Cabo, or maybe a used Toyota, instead, I use that electricity every day, and the fact that it works, and that the tools dont spark or burn out, is worth it to me. Plus, I can buy used industrial tools cheap, as most people dont have 3 phase.

Do the wiring right. Its a small price to pay, compared to what you risk. 

Electricians sometimes trade- it cant hurt to ask. 

Copper isnt getting any cheaper- 2 Billion or so people in China and India all want electricity too, and the world demand will just keep going up. Buy now, beat the rush.

Ries


On Aug 3, 2012, at 9:23 AM, Bruce . wrote:

> Ed,
> 
> Thanks for your contribution.
> 
> I'd like to point out that from the standpoint of the physics involved
> (i.e, behavior of electricity and conductors) it is NOT true that the
> length of the run doesn't matter.  The longer the run, the more the
> resistance and the greater the voltage drop.  Voltage drop = heat
> dissipation AND extra load on the circuit (and as the wire heats, its
> resistance increase further, compounding the problem).  Just because
> you can run a light bulb using a 6-foot extension cord, does NOT mean
> you can safely run it using a 500-ft extension cord of the same gauge.
> 
> I suspect what you were saying is that given the wire sizes you
> mention, the length of the run is not an issue.  With sufficiently
> large wire, the voltage drop is minimal in any event, so a multiplier
> (longer length) does not necessarily increase the voltage drop enough
> to worry about.
> 
> However, there are on-line calculators for determining   Play with
> this one, for example:  http://www.csgnetwork.com/wiresizecalc.html
> It told me that a 10' run of 20A requires 14ga wire, but a 100' run of
> 20A requires 8ga wire!
> 
> And thanks for the comment about circuit breakers "getting weaker".
> But exactly what does that mean?  Will they fail safe (open the
> circuit before there's a real overload) or fail dangerously (not open
> the circuit when they should)?  Any idea what the typical lifetime of
> your typical household circuit breaker might be?
> 
> On Fri, Aug 3, 2012 at 11:10 AM, Ed Eccleston <edeccleston at att.net> wrote:
> <snip>
> Rule of thumb is:
>> 15amp breaker requires minimum #14 ga. wire...20amp= #12
>> ga....30amp=#10ga....40amp=#8ga....
>>    The length of the run is not so critical as long as the wire size is
>> sufficient.  It's when you have a combination of long run, small wire size
>> and larger draw that you get into hot water.
> <snip>
> Oh, and final
>> note, generally the more that a breaker pops, it gets weaker.
>>      Yes, it's not inexpensive to get set up properly,  but it's sure a lot
>> safer.
>> 
>> Thanks for letting me blather.
>> 
>> Ed Eccleston
>> 
> 
> -- 
> Bruce
> NJ
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