Spoke to my dad, the sparky, regarding the 12amp power draw issues on
the big 3d printer; his thoughts were as mine, voltage drop along the
run, which is likely 14/2. driving a 12amp load on a dedicated 15amp
circuit is cutting it close right off the panel, let alone through a
100' run of who knows what quality wiring.
solution is to install a 20 amp breaker in the panel, and run a
dedicated 12/2 feed to the 3d printer. the romex will run about $80,
and another $30 for breakers, clamps, and boxes. depending on how
you interpret code, we can pull the romex bare and secure it along the
ceiling, install a 20amp ext cord end on the end of the feed and drop
it through the room ceiling if its a 'temporary install'. an
afternoon's work and dad said he'd install it for a case o' beer. if
you want to do it as a 'permanent install', then we gotta deal with
installing BX/EMT conduit and installing outlet boxes, and that's a
whole different story supply (2-3x more) and labor wise, likely
requiring 2 half-days work, which I don't think I can swing gratis.
this also opens up the possibility of running a 50amp sub panel in a
central location of the space. if there is going to be any need to
run high power gear (>10amp) beyond the 3d printer in the near future,
it would make life a lot easier down the road to pull a 20' run,
rather then a second (or third) full run from the main panel. cant
really cut corners that kind of install, so its not cheap, but you get
what you pay for. would also cut down the reaction time if we ever
had to cut power to any connected units.
ill get some measurements today while up there for the xbox fix
session and get some estimates wrote up for all options so the board
can make an informed decision on the matter.
Considering we have a 2500cfm blower that is probably going to require
its own circuit to run properly and not blow fuses, I think we need to
look into a 50 (or even 100) amp sub-panel. From what I know of
electric stuff from dealing with my rental house, the majority of the
costs are labor for running and securing conduit. It WILL be more
expensive for the wire required and panel for 100A of service, but it
wouldn't even be close to twice a 50 amp panel due to the large labor
costs component.
Alex, do you think your dad would be willing to have helpers in order
to decrease costs? I've done a decent amount of electric work and I
know others have too. We might not be licensed electricians but we
can follow directions.
Considering we have a 2500cfm blower that is probably going to require
its own circuit to run properly and not blow fuses, I think we need to
look into a 50 (or even 100) amp sub-panel.
my only worry about a 100amp sub is if the main can feed it. there's
165 amp worth of breakers on the main as it sits, so its likely a
200amp panel. since it has an external cut off, we might be lucky and
have a 250amp main. if its 250, then we're kosher, if its a 200, then
adding another 100amp of sub puts us 50 amp over. if we move the
compressor and the woodworking area over to the sub panel, then that
free's up 30amp from the main, but it'll still be tight.
as we had chatted yesterday, if we go with a sub panel, might be best
to just replace the cutoff box for the air compressor. it looks to
have a 12/3 feed over to the compressor, but its only got a 14/3
coming in from.. somewhere. looks to be a pretty straight shot once
you get into the space, but that i-beam above the door might be a bit
of a PITA.
perhaps the next step would be to spend an hour and trace out the
circuits so we know WTF we're dealing with. 12 circuits seems like
quite a bit for the space its handling.
From what I know of
electric stuff from dealing with my rental house, the majority of the
costs are labor for running and securing conduit. It WILL be more
expensive for the wire required and panel for 100A of service, but it
wouldn't even be close to twice a 50 amp panel due to the large labor
costs component.
yup, pulling a 100a sub is just a bigger panel, bigger gauge and
bigger conduit.
Alex, do you think your dad would be willing to have helpers in order
to decrease costs? I've done a decent amount of electric work and I
know others have too. We might not be licensed electricians but we
can follow directions.
im pretty sure he'd be happy to sit and point. I'll give em a call
this evening to confirm.
