Steve Hammatt wrote:
>What I think you meant to say was
>"Outside the wall I'd run steel pipe for air lines...."
D'Oh! Yes, I did. Hey, it's all ferrous, and cast iron blows up so well.
Dave Williams wrote:
>I ran mine every 4 feet. I should have used 2 feet.
>My Dad did his at 3 feet. He says he should have used 2 feet.
>It seems like all the stuff that needs to be plugged in clusters in
>one spot.
This is one reason I was planning on running 2 circuits to each outlet
location. With 4 foot outlet spacing, every location on the benches
is within 2 feet of an outlet.
>If your shop is subject to local building codes, you're limited to
>how many outlets you're allowed per breaker.
Hmm, I suppose I should check with a local electrician to see what the
code specifies. A good portion of my basement is all on just one
circuit (outlets and lights), but it probably wasn't done to code
in the first place.
>I ran eight pair of CAT-5 cable while I was at it, for Ethernet,
>fire alarm, thermostat, telephone, intercom, etc. Never have done
>anything with them yet, but they're there.
Wow, I was thinking just a few Cat5-E runs would be good. My network
and phones are both wireless, and the phones work well as an intercom.
Fire alarms and a whole-house control system would be good, and for
computers that aren't laptops, it would be good to have dedicated
lines, and 2 or 3 RG6 lines run to one or two places on each wall
and the corners (and the ceiling; I'm taking the projector from my
old house to create a real "drive-in" theatre. Goofy, perhaps, but
I can't use that projector in my new house, and 4 cars or a load of
motorcycles should be able to park inside and watch the screen.
>Mine are at 4 feet, it seems to work fine. Don't even bother to put
>any lower than that; "stuff" will eventually block them. <grin>
Yeah, but I have a number of movable pieces of equipment that I'd
rather plug in closer to the floor rather than drape the cords
across the work surfaces. This worked well in my father's shop,
in the few locations that he had below-counter outlets.
>When I rip the latest pieces of junk down I'll put
>outlet boxes and just plug them into the switched outlets.
That's a good idea. I was planning to use a lot of task-specific
lights, and this would be out of the way if the outlets were on the
ceiling.
>The white "security light" fixtures put out more light and take less
>electricity than the flourescents, but they take a long time to warm up.
>You need at least a few flourescents or conventional incandescents for
>when you just walk out to the shop to get something.
I assume you mean an arc lamp (sodium vapor, mercury vapor, or other HID
design). Hmm, I like the efficiency, but these tend to be more
monochromatic, and I wonder how that would work in a shop. It can impact
depth perception some. I do like the idea, and it should be a lot
brighter for a lot less power than a halogen.
Martin Scarr wrote:
>You didn't mention plumbing; I put a sink in my shop. It gets used
>all the time.
I'm planning a 3/4 bath with an industrial sink, but that will be in
a separate room. I need to think whether it makes sense to have a
sink in the main shop (dust, etc). If I did it would be a good place
for the eye wash station, etc.
>You mentioned having an dust collection system; you might want to prewire
>for remote control of the system.
Hmm, usually I've seen the signal wires run along the PVC pipe, much
like whole-house vacuum systems. This makes it much easier to
reconfigure for moving equipment around. I assume it makes sense to
have the collector pipe run along the ceiling and have lines drop
down for individual pieces of equipment. Has anyone here wished they
had run the collector piping differently? Since the pieces won't be
glued together (so that they can be disassembled to better clear jams)
it shouldn't be too hard to reconfigure.
Bill Gilroy wrote:
>Remember to label all outlets and devices with the box and breaker
>number. That way when/if you trip a breaker you know what is on that
>circuit. Sometimes it is good to alternate which outlets are on which
>circuit. If you have 3 circuits install the outlets like this:
>1 ---- 2 ---- 3 --- 1 --- 2 --- 3 ---- 1 ......
>That way you don't wind up with a bunch of stuff installed on one circuit.
This is one reason I'm planning on running 2 circuits to each box. At any
one location there would be 4 circuits (2 above counter height, 2 below),
and I'd probably alternate the circuits so that what is high and what is
low switches back and forth.
Richard George wrote:
>Ah, but you didn't get 3 phase :-) Sounds like it will do though :-)
It was one of the first things I checked. The 200 amp service was installed
by the previous owner. 3 phase would have been nice, but I think I'll be OK.
>consider running the wiring in conduit - it provides protection + you can
then run
>additional/different wiring later as your needs change (same for the low
voltage
>stuff - cat5 sounds nice, but you might want to pull fiber or something
else in
>5 years or something - and PVC conduit is basically free
As long as I can run the conduit through the studs then sure. Of course if I
did
this I wouldn't be able to alternate high and low, so I'd be running 4
circuits
through each pipe. I don't think this would be an issue. This would
certainly
make sense for the low voltage stuff. I was planning on running it in a star
configuration; I could easily run it up the studs to where the attic will
be.
>leave several different colored pieces of string in it to make pulling
stuff later easier...).
Good advice. Does it make sense to run a loop of string instead of several
pieces? This way things could be pulled while leaving the string in there.
>Remember not to run the high voltage and low voltage stuff in the same
conduit...
Thanks, always good advice.
>Be sure to plan for separators on your air lines...
I was planning on it, particularly in the wet Seattle area climate. I've
seen
some interesting designs using old truck driveshafts to dry out the air.
>Then comes the "safety" stuff - install a BIG fan (or several)
>capable of many air exchanges/hour (real useful when you're
>welding/grinding/...) - the OSHA guidelines for the number you like
>to do are probably OK...
Hmm, given that it has 3 large garage doors (one is 10x14, the others are
8x10),
would I need an exhaust fan?
>Somebody actually suggested going so far as to install sprinklers in
>a shop installation - might not be a bad idea
Hmm. This would make sense to me.
>I personally take issue with this "pegboard over insulation" idea
>(can you say 25 chimneys/square inch? I knew you could...).
Fire was my concern as well. I can see the convenience, but it may make
sense
to wallboard and then mount pegboard over the wallboard. But if I set up a
sprinkler system, I may be able to live with the additional fire risk.
>Have fun,
No worries there. I'm in the earlly mulling & design stages. Think thrice,
measure twice, cut once.
Thanks to all; this has certainly given me more things to think about.
Lee
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