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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Taylors Lakes
    Posts
    41

    Default Gpo's in the slab.

    Have thought through most things re my new shed. Slab is boxed up and will be poured in November. As I detail where my machines will be used, I keep coming back to the same problem which is simply, table saw in the middle means an extension lead across the floor. I can avoid this by putting a gpo outlet in the floor prior to the concrete pour. I've seen these units covered and they aren't trip hazards but in all the hours of reading on these forums I don't think I've read anyone doing this. Any thoughts?
    squizz

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    McBride BC Canada
    Posts
    3,543

    Default

    I am so fed up with an extension lead across the floor to my island bench (router, 10" chop saw, 8" drill press and 8" band saw). The next iteration, coming soon, is a lead across the ceiling and a quad box dropped down. Having everything plugged in at the same time is no big deal as I can only use one tool at a time. This fix should also tidy up all the tool leads as well.

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Toowoomba and Online at www.shedblog.com.au
    Age
    57
    Posts
    54

    Default

    Now is the time if your going to do it. Even simply installing conduit with some pull strings to give future options ...could be an option.
    Steel Sheds in Australia Helpful information for people looking to buy, build, extend or renovate a steel shed. www.shedblog.com.au

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Katoomba NSW
    Posts
    4,770

    Default

    Floor mounted GPOs are available and are a good option if your machinery is fixed in position. My TS is on a mobile base and I move it around a bit depending on what size timber I am cutting. A suspended outlet may be a better option.
    While you are pouring the slab install a conduit that comes up at the wall under another outlet. Then it is easy to install a floor outlet later on if you need one or even an extension lead through the conduit as a simpler less permanent option.
    Those were the droids I was looking for.
    https://autoblastgates.com.au

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Mandurah WA
    Age
    62
    Posts
    1,566

    Default

    Hey Squizz,

    I sorted out where my bench was going and ran a conjuit to it, I have a double GPO on each corner of the bench (1200 x 2400) best thing ever, the sparky even run a seperate circuit so that if anything trips out, the Wireless and Fridge stay on .

    You are better to run some conjuit at this stage, its a lot harder and messier later.

    HazzaB
    It's Hard to Kick Goals, When the Ba^$%##ds Keep moving the Goal Posts.


    Check out my Website www.harrybutlerdesigns.com.au

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    bilpin
    Posts
    3,551

    Default

    A catenary wire over head to run the lead on allows you to move it where ever you like.

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    27,756

    Default

    I have 13 standard GPO's and 2 x 15 A outlets in the new part of my shed.

    The 3 overhead power points were last minute inclusions on the off chance that I might use them, and after having these available for the last 6 months I find I am using them way more than I though I would. Of course overhead GPOs are only useful if they are readily accessible. Mine are low enough for me to reach - in high ceiling sheds a drop down extension or similar will be needed.

    I have built a number of labs with floor mounted GPOs for analytical machines and I found that over the long term, unless the machines were "built in", these GPOs ended up in the way and represented a safety risk from a number of perspectives. As a result of this experience I would be unlikely to hardwire floor mounted GPOs in any shed. In the old part of my shed, which is about to undergo renovation I will be installing conduits in the floor and these will be used to run extension leads thru them so they can be used as required - otherwise they remain or can be quickly converted back to small plastic plugs in the floor

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Queensland, Aus
    Age
    72
    Posts
    776

    Default

    Stephen,
    I struggled with your problem when I did my shed, and eventually I decided it was all too hard to identify just exactly where I would need outlets in the floor to avoid having leads on the floor at some point.
    If they end up being any distance at all from the machine you have a trip hazard. In any event I didn't have the luxury of enough floor space to site my machines to allow for maximum work area around each one.

    I'm with Robson Valley and Rustynail. Overhead is the way to go.
    No trip hazard and you can move your machines around as you like. Mine are all cowering in the corner in my pix but I can move them around to suit what I am doing and maximise my floor space.

    Ian

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    27,756

    Default

    Here is useful hint for mounting expander board above GPOs on walls.

    The easiest way to mount a board on a wall is to screw them directly onto the wall. Another way is to make this simple clip like this that sits above and behind the GPO and is held in place by the same screws that hold the GPO to the wall. The expander board is then slid into place and can easily be slid out again.

    I cut some 2 mm thick black anodised ally plate into shape using a TS and then bent them into the required shape.

    I'm sorry I don't have a good photo of one of these and this is the best one I can extract from existing photos.

  11. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Taylors Lakes
    Posts
    41

    Default

    Thanks for the replies, you've given me something to think about. I'm thinking the gpo's they use on a "stage" might be even better. You can get 4 gpo's that sit in a well with a lid over the top. It sits flat on the floor until needed and then lift the lid and plug in. I'll at least run the conduit while I can and the sort it out. I just hate leads all over the floor, they drive me nuts.
    squizz

  12. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    27,756

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Stephen Taylor View Post
    Thanks for the replies, you've given me something to think about. I'm thinking the gpo's they use on a "stage" might be even better. You can get 4 gpo's that sit in a well with a lid over the top. It sits flat on the floor until needed and then lift the lid and plug in. I'll at least run the conduit while I can and the sort it out. I just hate leads all over the floor, they drive me nuts.
    As long as you are aware of the issues and take them into consideration then forewarned is forearmed.

    Stage and home workshop environments are not really good comparisons. Home workshops probably compare closer to laboratories and my experience with floor mounted GPOs has not been good. Even though we planned otherwise we ended up with an aluminum lidded GPO in the middle of floor in a walk way which someone wheeled a sack trolley wheel over and it slightly bent the lid and cracked the housing. some time later someone washed the floor with too much water and the circuit breakers blew. In another case someone spilled some liquid that ran under a machine and into a floor mounted GPO that was in use and blew the breakers. The incident that finally stopped us using floor mounted GPOs was when what looked like a decent amount of fine dust and fluff found it's way into a floor mounted GPO - probably from sweeping over it over a long period of time. It must have got damp or something because it got hot enough to char the plastic of the GPO which was enough to set off the fire alarms and fire sprinklers which in turn made a complete mess of one lab. I imagine this could be a significant issue in a WW situation.

    A slightly bigger conduit that can take an extension chord that can be completely removed is a much safer option.

  13. #12
    Join Date
    Jun 2018
    Location
    Perth
    Age
    73
    Posts
    11

    Default

    I have had GPO's on the floor, and in the boxes with lids. You tend to kick them, you can even kick the plug out or the switch off at a crucial point in some process. And you can never shift them. But the main problem is they get dirty, and you have to be super careful if you ever spill fluid or mop the floor for some reason. I'm an old sparky, and let me tell you I would always go with suspended GPO's. SO much easier to move a catenary or a hook when you decide your machine or bench really should have been 150mm further that other way. Also so much easier to keep your connections clean and in good condition. Murphy's law prevails in all workshops.

  14. #13
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Melbourne, Australia.
    Posts
    1,268

    Default

    I have 4 power points hanging from the roof, 1 x 15A and 3 x 10A, all are in the approximate positions that I thought would work best. Essentially, they are all along the approximate side position of any machine that will be placed somewhere near that hanging GPO; it has worked wonderfully.

    Bandsaw, which is on wheels, mitre saw, which is on wheels, table saw, which is on wheels, plus a spare which just may power my sander/linisher, which is on wheels; still working on that as it needs to work with the mitre saw dust extraction unit, which is also on wheels.

    Best part about this, is that when configuring some machines to do large or long material, one has flexibility.

    In another life I had to kit out a factory, all power points were hanging, nothing on the ground at all. This was a practical solution to using a factory we took over, in a street in South Melbourne that was regularly subject to flooding; Whiteman Street.

    Once we were used to the idea we wondered why we hadn't done it before in the previous factory; I used my experience from that installation for my own shed/garage. I still have GPO's on the wall, two of them being 15A for my arc welder and my lathe. The rest are 10A in various wall locations, including directly on the wall about 150mm above bench height.

    The only power cord running on the floor, is from my little vacuum cleaner when I have its cord pulled out all the way; I draw its power from the spare 10A hanging GPO.

    Mick.

  15. #14
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Oberon, NSW
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    63
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    13,354

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by raycon View Post
    But the main problem is they get dirty, and you have to be super careful if you ever spill fluid or mop the floor for some reason. I'm an old sparky, and let me tell you I would always go with suspended GPO's.
    +1 to this.


    It's hard enough trying to keep the shavings and general dust-bunnies out, but... have you ever dropped and broken a full bottle of BLO?

    In my case it quickly spread and I had no hope stopping it from going where I really didn't want it to go. Once, under slabs lying on the floor, another time under and around a pair of parked motorbikes and my workbench. Floor-mounted GPOs would've just capped those disasters off nicely.

    (edit: No... I tell a lie. The second time was a can of Tung Oil. Same deal, though.)

    Don't forget the workshop mantra: "I will not tempt Murphy. I will not tempt Murphy. I... oh... bugger!".
    I may be weird, but I'm saving up to become eccentric.

    - Andy Mc

  16. #15
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Woodstock (Cowra)
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    74
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    3,372

    Default

    Ummm.... Oct 2011.... still worth the comments though
    The person who never made a mistake never made anything

    Cheers
    Ray

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