electric blunder

House Repair Talk

Help Support House Repair Talk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

not sure

New Member
Joined
May 27, 2006
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
hello I am building a work shop. I am only adding a 70amp service can I put a 100 amp panel in to gain more breaker rather then a 70 amp panel with only 5 or 6 breaker spots. and can I put two 240 outlets on one 30 amp breaker because at any one time I will only use one peice of equipment at a time (Oh Ya) wood working shop. I have rewired most of the tools for 208 and max load with all running would only be 56.6 amps total without lights i am thinking about 4-8' lights in.
 
Legally the panel has to match the meter base rating or less.

70amp service?

If you're building this service with new components, The meter base may be rated 100 amps. If so, a 100 amp, or less, panel will work. You can't put a 200 amp panel on a 100 amp meter base.

2 240 volt outlets on a single tandem breaker will work fine with one machine on at a time.

208 volts? 208 is a three phase spec. 208 and 240 are not the same. I have seen many 240 A/C units die early on 208. A truck stop near here bought some 240 volt units and connected them to 208. They lasted one season. The next summer, they started failing. The heat alone must have been excessive from running underpowered. Running the machines above the rated voltage will surely affect the performance an lifespan.

My wood shop probably never sees more than 35 amps at a time with maybe a short 50 amp surge when the compressor starts. It's on a 100 amp panel and works fine. The most load is; the lights on, a table saw running and the compressor kicking on. That's the only time the lights dim at all.

8' flourescents use about the same as a 100 watt light bulb. You won't have a problem running 4 at all.
 
I am a circuit junkie and managed to fill the 200 amp panel my elcetrician friend put in. I went to what he called "peanut breakers" to seperate breakers that fit in one slot. Check code about this as I only did what I was told.
 
hello and thank you Asbestos and Square Eye
I said 240 v boxes but but what i want will be 208 for a table saw, planer, drill press, and sander.Can i put, say the sander and the drill press on one breaker but still have two outlets on the wall one for each? And Square Eye did I understand you right-:confused: I can have a 100 amp box with a 70 amp feed from the main panel?
 
I thought you were coming from a meter base, but yeah, you can run a 100 amp sub-panel off of a 70 amp breaker in the main panel. The 70 amp breaker will blow before the 100 amp panel in the shop. I may have someone disagree with me on this one, but the code doesn't stop you from putting a larger sub-panel breaker after the smaller main. As a matter of fact, you could possibly get away with a 100 amp main lug panel and no main breaker at all in the sub-panel. The 70 amp main breaker will still provide sub-panel breaker protection.

208 is still a 3 phase industrial spec. 240 is standard voltage on a 2 pole breaker in this country in a standard residential service.

Yep, you can share a circuit for the sander and the drill press. Use them one at a time.

The "peanut" breakers fit 2 in the space of one standard breaker. Most of the inspectors I know will not pass a new construction service with those, but they will pass a remodel with them.
 
Back
Top