Thread: 15 Amp Tablesaw but only 10 amp outlets

An electrician..................Heavier wiring has to be put in....

Bummer...

How much am I up for (roughly)?

No idea on the price exactly cause I can't find the quote I got a few weeks back, but it gets pretty expensive if you want it a long way from the meter box. I distinctly remember thinking "What the? Stuff it I'll buy an extension lead", when he told me how much to move the point another 10m from the box.

The electrician will want to put it on its own circuit which also adds to the expense, and if you haven't got earth leakage protection they will not do it until you get that.

Get a few quotes out of the local paper.

Just had the same thing done for the same reason. The electrician installed a 15amp fuse at the box, ran a heavy duty line to my shop (approximately 15 metres) and installed a 15 amp wall socket.

Total cost - $330.00

Although I might have got away with swapping the plug on the tablesaw to a standard plug, I would have run the risk of tripping the fuse breaker on start up. That's when the amperage draw is greatest. It didn't make any sence to me to do this as it's a long walk to the fuse box to flip the breaker switch.

From a non-electrician -
Normally the wiring is no different, just that a 15amp power point will be on its own fuse or circuit breaker. Many 10amp power points share a common fuse. In both cases the circuit breaker/fuse in question will be 20 amps (these days). Or maybe the 15amp ones have a 32 amp circuit breaker - my knowledge of current regs is hazy.
15amp plugs are normally fitted to items that will fully load the circuit.
You could just change the plug on the saw bench - but - remember when you are using it that you better not run anything else of significance off the same circuit at the same time.
Most tradies these days seem to have at least one short extension cord with a 15amp socket and a 10 amp plug to overcome the problem of using heavy extension cords which come with 15 amp fittings moulded onto them and having to plug them into domestic power points.
Re cost of new power point- if your shed has its own sub-board probably not too bad, if the wiring has to go back to the house fuse board -------------. Actually if you are going into this really seriously your shed should have its own sub-board. It will probably cost at least as much as your saw bench. Now there is a cheery thought for the morning.
Cheers

Dean,

I have also purchased 2 machines from Carba-tec in the past having 15 amp plugs, one thing i noticed AFTER installing new circuits etc. was that the leads on the machines were so damn short you could hardly move them around unless you had a 15 amp extension lead connected. How much would an extra 6-12" of lead cost at the factory??? (Hint Hint Carba-Tec)

Just keep this in mind when your positioning your outlets.

Zig

Dean - thinking for the future - if you decide to get a 15 amp GPO installed (oops, GPO = power point = General Purpose Outlet) and you have not got a sub board in the shed, get the electrician to use cable suitable for a sub-board in the future. Cable is expensive and doesn't vary much in cost whatever the size, and running it is time consuming. This way you at least won't waste all that expense when you decide you must have a sub-board.
Just a thought -
Cheers

Thanks for the info folks. I guess what I have going for me is that my shop is actually in the front room of the house, and the main meter box is just on the other side of the wall!

And yes, the cord from the tablesaw is only about 1.5 metres long and wont even reach the closest wall anyway! Grumbles.

Oh well, looks like I have to cough up more $$

I'll get the sparky to change all our light fittings while he/she is here too

Hmm just got an email quote back from one company:

"thankyou for your enquiry. To install a 15 amp single phase outlet we will have to install a new dedicated power circuit from your switchboard to the location of your new tablesaw. The price will depend on a variety of things but to give you an idea, estimate $150 -$200. "

Doesnt sound too bad

Get it done, that's cheap compared to your life and the price that you paid for the saw.

A doctor where my other half works was electricuted drilling into a wall, without first using a stud checker.

cheers 3LB

Poor fella.
Did he not have an electrical safety switch installed?

Just expanding on this topic a bit...

For an "average" home workshop with, say:
- a 15A plugged dust collector always running while any machine is turned on;
- one 15A plugged machine (eg TS, BS, jointer, thicknesser) running at any one time with the DC;
- separate 30A circuit for hand held power tools, also supplying a router table;
- a separate 15A circuit for lights;
- a sub-panel;
- 240V only available

What would be an economical number of circuits for machinery and what types? Would you install more circuits to provide for the occasional co-worker/friend who turned up and wanted to use a second machine in parallel (eg he/she used the jointer/thicknesser while you use the TS/BS). Would you install a separate circuit for each 15A machine or try and get by with a few 15A circuits and carefully make machines share while avoiding overloading a circuit at any one time?

The reason I ask is that some electricians I've called are not only now charging for call-out, they also charge just to come and quote! Getting a good wiring plan all done at once may be expensive at first but it would avoid multiple call-out costs in future...

I don't know who you where asking 'ndru' but I'll put my two bob's worth in while I drink a cuppa! I have been through the exercise, for myself, 3 or 4 times.
Those items with motors of more than 1 hp that come with 15 amp plugs probably should each have there own 15 amp circuit BUT there is a big long term problem with that When eventually you want to change the shop layout (which is so perfect now that you will NEVER want to change it) those 15 amp GPOs will not be in the right spot - in fact if Murphy has a hand in it they will be at the most remote spot that they can be. With that thought in mind, otherwise, what you suggested would be right.

1 15 amp GPO for each item demanding such a thing
2, 3 or 4 circuits of 10 amp GPOs with as many outlets as you can afford (or the rules allow) - even in places were you will NEVER EVER want them. I have never managed to have enough in the right places. Don't allow the electrician to wire all one circuit up one side and another circuit up the other side. It will cost more but have them mixed. And make sure you know where all the wiring is for when you put screws and bolts through the wall. It is only a workshop, paint red lines on the walls.
1 or 2 lighting circuits.

Number each GPO to indicate which circuit it is on - big numbers with a felt tipped pen - so that you can avoid overloading any one circuit.

Personally I would not get 'hung up' on the 15 amp thing. The fittings (the bits that carry the current) are the same as 10 amp. Some of them are not fit to carry 5 amps but that's another story. Only the earth pin is different and as I mentioned earlier many, if not most, tradies ignore it or work around it.

Enough and the cuppa has all gone.
Cheers

It is worth doing an audit on your power tools to find out what all of them draw.
If you are technical & have the instruments you can get realy serious . If not just reading the specification plate on your machines can reveal valuable understanding.

I can often be a case that the wrong plug has been fitted to a tool. Either way.

typical examples.
most machines under 2HP quoted power should be 10 amp plugged

most 3 hp machines should be 15 amp plugged.

But situation can get interesting.

My compressor that came supplied with a 10 amp plug starts off drawing about 6.5 amps but at the end of its run its drawing 12.5 amps. The supplier had originaly adjusted the cut out switch to a lower preasure so the unit complied.

on the other hand my 3 hp saw bench draws less than 10 amps when free running & who knows what when loaded. It has a 15 amp plug and probably should have.

A good power supply for a small workshop I recon is
1 or 2 15 amp outlets on their own circuits.
2 15 or 20 amp circuits for normal power points with up to 10 single or 5 double power points each
1 10 amp lighting circuit.

Unless you are playing the big game.

most people could get away with
1 15 amp outlet
1 15 amp circuit for normal power points
1 lighting circuit

I strongly recommend individual combined circuit breaker safety switches for each circuit including the lighting (incase you poke a length of steel thru a light globe).

A 40 amp sub circuit would be a good start 60 would be better.