Thread: Finally got a start on shed site

Have now put the guttering and lights up.

Sparky came out today and roughed some wires in, which means I can now make a start on the lining for the walls .

Regarding the power supply for my area. Sparky says from looking at the infrastructure in the street and up the road back to the highway the cable is all there for 3 phase. Where it comes off the highway there is 3 phase but one of the phases is not connected at the main junction there. He says you can see where they have left that one wire hanging loose.

He has given me some numbers to call to see why it is not connected and if it is possible to get connected.

is it a problem for you if you cant get three phase? Are many of your machines three phase?

That little black dog is always in shot, does he/she follow you around like a shadow?

looking good dj.

Originally Posted by martrix

is it a problem for you if you cant get three phase? Are many of your machines three phase?

That little black dog is always in shot, does he/she follow you around like a shadow?

It's not a huge prob if I can't get Three phase but it would be nice.

Would like to upgrade some machines which would require it. I would also like to set up my Lucas mill permanently and do away with the petrol motor, which I would like to modify to flatten slabs as well.

As for the dogs, everytime I get the camera out they just appear , they do travel everywhere with me so yes they are a constant shadow

DJ's,

keep us informed. I'll be interested to see if they try to hit you up for the connection in the street for the 3rd phase. If I were you I'd report it as a 'fault'. Tell them that some recent storm has broken one of the wires, and they need to get technicians out asap... (then speak to the blokes when they arrive, and for a slab, get them to ensure it's connected...)

Just a thought.

Well, I have been in touch with the power company, not the service provider that supplies your homes but the one the looks after the whole grid for the eastern half of the state.

I gave them the number that is on my electricity pole outside my house and from that they can see exactly where on the grid I am.

Anyway the pole at my joint is number 14-8569 and the pole up the road where the 3 phases end is 14-8561, so you can see that is not that far away, which means there is only 6 poles between the two (less than 200 metres).

The girl I spoke to said that the grid in my area is set up for 3 phases but it just hasn't been connected, she didn't know why and the computer didn't say either .

She is sending out all that info plus an application form so that the one wire that isn't connected can have a clamp put on it and voila it's done .

She couldn't tell me if this would be my cost and how much it might be. Once my application has been sent in, they will send someone out to have a look into it and will work out a cost and if I pay or them.

So it is now a waiting game. In the meantime I will just keep on fitting out the shed and using the old faithful extension lead .

Managed to get some free time today and maybe for the next few days as well

Have made a start on lining the shed and hopefully will get the rest of it done over the next few days.

As you can see from the pictures, I have already started on a layer of wood shavings

How did you go with the 3-phase issue?

Originally Posted by TimberNut

How did you go with the 3-phase issue?

Been busy and will be doing the paper work this week to find out if and how much

Time to revive this thread , have finally been able to spend some time getting things sorted out for the shed.

After finally getting all the info and paperwork required to see if I could get the 3 Phase power done and after hearing how much it would cost to get the line upgraded and a new transformer, lets just say that $22,000 is just a wee bit too much for me .

So now I am just going to get the existing line from the pole to the house upgraded from a 2 core 230 volt to a 3 core 460 volt line and then run a new line to the older shed first, then through to the newer shed.

Sparky will be out this Thursday to make a start and to finalise what needs to be done .

It will be nice to finally get the power all sorted out and get everything in it's place and to put the old trusty extension lead away.

Hi DJ

Looking good. Roll on Sparky time. Hope it all goes smoothly for you.

Cheers
Wendy

3 core 460V??? please explain?

I thought everything was either single phase 240V (10A or 15A) or 3-phase 415V ?

but hey, I'm no electrician!

so what will this setup allow that standard 2-core 240V wouldn't???

Originally Posted by TimberNut

3 core 460V??? please explain?

I thought everything was either single phase 240V (10A or 15A) or 3-phase 415V ?

but hey, I'm no electrician!

so what will this setup allow that standard 2-core 240V wouldn't???

Hah, can understand your confusion.

Basically you have three different types of power supply, the standard single phase 2-core 230V (use to be 240V) which is 1 active 230V & 1 neutral , then your 2 phases 3-core 460V is 2 active 230V & 1 neutral and finally your 3 phases 4-core 400V (use to be 415V) which is 3 actives and 1 neutral

With the 2 phases I can spread the load and you can also get electric motors that will run at 460V.

I need to have a reasonable power supply for 2 of my welders which require a 20amp 460V or 400V & 25amps 230V supply, plus all the other gear like the thicknesser which needs 15amp 230V and eventually a table-saw which will probably require a 15amp as well.

I just leave most of the figuring out for my Sparky to do, once you start splitting phases and whatnot, it tends to go in one ear and out the other

Originally Posted by djstimber

Basically you have three different types of power supply, the standard single phase 2-core 230V (use to be 240V) which is 1 active 230V & 1 neutral , then your 2 phases 3-core 460V is 2 active 230V & 1 neutral and finally your 3 phases 4-core 400V (use to be 415V) which is 3 actives and 1 neutra...

once you start splitting phases and whatnot, it tends to go in one ear and out the other

G'day Djstimber,

Once I started reading numbers about electrical stuff I got lost, yep my brain started to get the gist of it, but once I got to the end of the senctence I'd forgotten what I'd read. Electricity confuses the heck out of me.

Always interesting to read about other blokes and how they're setting up their sheds.

My offer on the t/saw is available anytime you like.