I had a hard time hearing the phone call yesterday. What is the
current state of upgrading the electrical system at the Hive?
rather then try and wrangle a sub panel and huge gauge feed to it, im
leaning more towards running dedicated 20amp feeds to whatever _areas_
we need. then we can spider out from the main pull to how ever many
outlets needed. (with a switch located within emergency reach just in
case) we can get a 250' spool of 12/2 MC from any home improvement
store for ~$100. which should be good for one long run (3d printer),
and one short run (workbench, AC compressor, that area)
i propose as a start:
running dedicated 20amp circuit/outlet for the 3d printer and get that
thing up and running.
running dedicated 20amp circuit to the air compressor, the current
shut off box is _WAY_ over fused for the 14ga lines being used. we can
recover the 12ga feed from shut off to compressor to do short runs
between electrical boxes as needed.
dropping a 20amp feed to a quad outlet where the shut off box is now.
nice central area that extension cords can be pulled from as needed.
this brings the parts list up to 3 breakers, 6 or so outlets, 3
switches, a handfull of electrical boxes, 2 spools of 12/2 AC, and
supporting parts.
a sub panel sure would be nice, but the cost of the panel + feed lines
is prohibitive expensive; IMO we're going to run out of space to put
stuff before coming anywhere close to needing a 60amp, let alone a
100amp sub. going with straight 12/2 AC runs from main to where its
needed, makes the actual pulling a lot easier to deal with (2/3 AC is
_NOT_ fun to work with), and should reduce our costs from a 60amp
panel option by a bill or two. i've got to make a run into Florence
today, can swing by home depot and the electrical supply haus to get a
spreadsheet together. once thats together, we can get approval from
the hive and take it to grant.
Sounds good. Grant has been responsive to emails lately so we should
take advantage of that and get is approval as soon as we can 
hey all,
my apologies, i haven't been able to spend any time on this at all
since it was last brought up... months ago. been thinking a lot about
this, and for liabilities sake for everyone involved; going with an
actual licensed, inspected and insured electrical contractor might be
a much better idea then trying to strike this out on our own. hope
that it would never happen, but if something unthinkable did happen at
the hive, when whoever's insurance that got stuck with the bill got
around to suing, id much rather have someone's else insurance cover
it, rather then it be my parents house and life savings. :-/
checked angies list, and there are quite a few outfits with A ratings
close to the hive. if we want to explore that option, then i can
make some calls and handle getting estimates.
keep wiffling on what to do, logistics wise, but a 60 amp sub panel
seems to make the best sense cost / usage wise in the end.
apologies again on sitting on this for so long,
--Alex
I talked to a co-worker, who is a licensed electrician, and owns his
own company. He said "If they're with you, they're in the clique." So,
all I need is to know exactly what the plans are, and I can get a
quote from him. When I know this information, I can take him down to
scope it out.
main job is a 60 or 100 amp subpanel, (60 should be fine, 100 would be
more expandable, but twice the cost in parts alone) mounted around
where the current 220v cutoff is for the welder. feeder run ~ 150' to
the main load panel down the hallway. routing is a bit of a pain,
with a few I beams in the way. other options for mounting are there,
above the work bench next to the paint room for example.
after that, running a few 15/20 amp circuits out to where they need to be:
20 amp dedicated to the 3d printer in the fab lab (the whole reason
we're doing this)
15/20 to the laser printer area, might not be needed at this point
with the new exhaust fan (which i saw last night, good job guys, looks
great!)
relocate the compressor feed to the subpanel
relocate the 220v outlet currently fed by 14ga to the sub.
oh, and the main panel doesn't have a cut off switch, gotta switch it
off at the building feed.
once a plan is in motion, gotta get the sign off by the super, but he
seems to be pretty easy going.
IIRC, original stabs at getting a BOM together ended up with ~$600 for
the 60 amp, $1100 for the 100 amp; not including labor.
The current disconnect for the welder is actually 208v. So it would probably be best to.feed it 220 from the new panel. Let me talk to my co-worker and try to set something up.
I will not be able to make it to the meeting tonight, but I’ll give a quick talking point. I have scheduled with my co-worker to come out this Thursday to take a peek at the job. I will post an update once he tells me what will happen.