Moving to a smaller shop

[chuckster]

Its odd to say this, but after 3 years of being in a 4000 sq. ft. shop I can honestly say I am looking forward to moving to a smaller shop. The new shop will be 2000 sq. ft., and I'm planning on upgrading the electric before I even move in. I have a PRT Alpha and a 6 hp vac. The shop has 50 amp power which has been run from the house to this shop.The house has 220. So, knowing electricity is not my friend.....does anyone have any ideas on what I should do to upgrade and how much to install into the shop? I do have a large paint booth that I'm sure is 3 phase,but not certain. The paint booth is for sale if anyone is interested!
Thanks in advance!

Chuck

[steve_g]

Chuck

Is your shop attached to the house? If not, will your city allow a separate meter to the shop? If your house was built in the last quarter century you likely have a 200amp service to it and any size of sub panel will still be limited to the 200 amp combined current draw. 2000 sq ft seems like a lot of space to be running on a sub panel, hopefully you can get a separate 200 amp service to it.

My thoughts.

Steve

[MogulTx]

Chuck

I am barely able to run my PRS Alpha w computer, etc., plus lights, plus a 2HP Dust pick up on my 50 Amp set up. If I were you, I would try for at LEAST 100 Amps of 220v single phase. You can get a single phase motor for the paint booth fan, but I would't advise starting it while running the bot if you stay with 50 amps.

I can get a little more out of my shop... I frequently will run a shop vac or a skil saw or something while running the bot- but I am looking to upgrade to a larger shop and more power. Not less!

Good luck!

[chuckster]

Steve- the shop is a separate building and not attached to the house, although the electric is running from the house to the shop. This is a house we are in contract with that happens to have a large shop built next to it. Right now I am renting a 4000 sq ft space. (boo to renting)! I would like to run the separate meter though!

MogulTx- The paint booth is way to big for what I need. I bought it about 5 years ago, and use it only once or twice a month. I would like to downgrade to a smaller booth, perhaps 8' tall x 6 feet wide or so. But yes, I do plan on running more power. I am moving into a smaller shop because 4000 sq ft is way too huge. I have lost more hammers, tapes, and sawhorses! I started in a 1200 sq ft shop which was too small. lets hope 2000 is perfect!!

[steve_g]

Chuck

Hopefully you can have a separate meter... Some cities are funny about multiple meters on a property as firefighters like to know that the power is off when they cut the power to the obvious meter!

Steve

[chuckster]

Steve-This will be my first phone call in the morning, to make sure I can do this BEFORE buying the house! The shop/house is 40 years old and located in a very small township, out in a farming community. Thanks for your input!

[bruce_taylor]

I have a home shop and I put in a 400 amp main with a 200 amp split to the house and a 200 amp split to the shop, one meter. Most places only allow one meter per house. You can put in the larger service and have the power you need though. It could be a bit costly to upgrade but I found it to be a worth while investment. I ran the 2/2/2 wire in conduit under ground and it cost several thousand dollars to upgrade. Three phase power would have been 15K to upgrade so I use some phase converters when needed. I had 60 amps before and was continually blowing the main at the worst time possible.I think 2000 sq ft is a nice size for a shop. Good luck !!

[chiloquinruss]

I'm in rural Oregon and if I had two meters the second would be billed at the much higher commercial rates! Like Bruce I have a 400 amp panel on the house with one meter and it externally has two very large breakers one for the house 200 amp and one for the shop 200 amp. Being rural I also had to pay to have the transformer on the pole at the street upgraded to handle the 400 amp service. Russ

[steve_g]

I was jealous all you folks having 400 amp service... I thought our city limited me to 200 amp. Turns out the reason I'm limited to 200 amps is that's the size equipment the builder installed at the time the house was built. If I want to redo the equipment back to the alley (underground) 400 amp is available to residential customers. I think I'll make do with 200 amp! In the process of looking at my equipment I noticed that the clamp on my grounding rod was busted. The cable company installed some new equipment a few months back... likely they busted the clamp trying to redo their part, but never said anything or fixed it. Grrrrrrr... fixed now.

Steve

[chuckster]

I have a 2:00 appt at the new shop tomorrow. I am bringing all your suggestions with me, as well as info on the machines. Hoping all goes well!!