The new "Crashfab"

crash2 · May 20, 2014

Here is the new location for Crashfab. The building is only 5 years old and has a nice tall ceiling.

This is going to be a slow process as there are a bunch of things I need to figure out and of course $$ but I am finally going to set this place up like I want to.

The first issue will be getting doors on it. It was built as a tractor shed of sorts so thats the reason for no doors.

I gotta get power/water to it. I have to probably get an electrician out to see how this can be done (feed side).

crash2 · May 20, 2014

This is directly in front of the shop. I plan on taking down 6 trees and will have the gravel work done when we do the driveway. As it sits now there is about 10' from the face of the shop to the first tree.

crash2 · May 20, 2014

I cannot STAND having weeds grow up into the building. I am going to lop all the crap against the building and back about a foot and then kill all vegetation. I also gotta put a small slab behind the building for the compressor shed.

I also plan on doing a hoop house for the toy to park under between the 2 shops since I have a ton of them damn hoops,lol.

crash2 · May 20, 2014

My father in law started this in the shop. I was going to rip it out but after thinking about it I would like to have an enclosed area thats free of dust/hobby room of sorts. I will have to rip a bunch of it out and redo it though because I want pressure treated at the floor because I do like to keep the shop floor clean and commonly like to wash it down.

I also gotta rip the door thats there out and put the other one in since its brand new and I want the door to swing in vs. out how it is now.

So I have to figure out if I want to drywall the whole thing inside/out or drywall inside and plywood on the outside.

The other thing I have to figure out is I want the roof of it to be storage so I have to figure that out also.

crash2 · May 20, 2014

He also got a new 100amp fuse panel but the face was not with it. I finally found it hidden under a bunch of stuff.

crash2 · May 20, 2014

I started poking at it to get the place cleaned. Some of you saw it and saw just how packed full of stuff it was. Once I got the other shop cleaned/organized and the barn the same way--lost of stuff had a place to go now except the middle shop will be storage for the big g-sale here soon and stuff has to be stored away in the barn for now.

crash2 · May 20, 2014

So today I finally got a good dent in it--you can see allot of the floor now. I still gotta get the small room cleaned out but once thats done I am taking a pressure washer to it.

But it will be a slow process..

dvdswan · May 20, 2014

that's going to be a nice shop. I wish I had all the space that you have. don't know what I would do with it but I'd find something. lol I have a space planned for a shop but that takes $$. lol :awesomework:

lethe · May 21, 2014

What are you wanting to know about feeding power to it?

crash2 · May 21, 2014

lethe said:
What are you wanting to know about feeding power to it?

I don't want to run a whole new service. I was thinking a sub panel off the house. I have a 100 amp panel for the shop but I suspect at any given time I would be nowhere near that.

I can run the power off a circuit breaker off the house (for the middle shop and barn this is how its done) but I fear that won't be sufficient--but I don't know. This is one thing I have never really ventured to learn so my knowledge is pretty slim.

Fordzuki · May 21, 2014

When me and my dad did our old garage, we had an electrician my dad worked with come in and swap the 100 amp box in the house for a 200 amp, then we put the 100 amp box in the garage and wired it in ourselves. I was able to run welder/compressor/exhaust fan plus lights without tripping anything.
But I think if you're running two other buildings off the house box, and it's only 200 amp, you're going to be pushing it adding a 3rd.. I'm also not an electrician though.

crash2 · May 21, 2014

Fordzuki said:
When me and my dad did our old garage, we had an electrician my dad worked with come in and swap the 100 amp box in the house for a 200 amp, then we put the 100 amp box in the garage and wired it in ourselves. I was able to run welder/compressor/exhaust fan plus lights without tripping anything.
But I think if you're running two other buildings off the house box, and it's only 200 amp, you're going to be pushing it adding a 3rd.. I'm also not an electrician though.

And thats just it--I dunno. I can handle wiring the whole shop and even running the power line from the house to the shop--its just the attachment point.

Luckily the other 2 buildings are mainly lighting.

zukkev · May 21, 2014

Is it a 200A svc at the house? And do either of the other outbuildings have their own sub? Need to figure out what amperage the extra buildings pull when lit up, and add a little for any other things that might be running at the same time, then that will tell you if pulling power for the new Crashfab is feasible from the house... you need to generate some amperage #'s first to be able to determine the outcome...

Zoediak · May 21, 2014

by code, if I remember correctly, you can only run one sub panel off of your original 200A service in the house.

If you have not run any other sub panels, adding one is not too bad of a deal.

I used a 60A breaker in the house panel, 4 gauge copper wire (gauge will depend on how far from the house panel.. it could be larger gauge if longer path or use of aluminum). I buried a conduit to pull the wire through. Make sure the conduit is 18" min depth, unless it is going to be driven on at any point in which it needs to be 24" depth.

A ground rod at the 100A sub panel as well.

I don't have any issues running my welders, compressors and stuff.

mark · May 21, 2014

What was the power at your old shop?

Were you ever wanting more? Are you thinking of adding any NEW equipment now that you have a little more space?

That will help.

crash2 · May 21, 2014

mark said:
What was the power at your old shop?

Were you ever wanting more? Are you thinking of adding any NEW equipment now that you have a little more space?

That will help.

I can't remember--did it over 18 years ago..

mark · May 21, 2014

crash said:
I can't remember--did it over 18 years ago..

You still own the place, right? Run up and look.

Did you ever want more?

lethe · May 21, 2014

Do you know what size the main service is? I'm sure you know you can't just replace a 100a panel with a 200a if the service is only 100a to begin with. Unless it's a WEC code i don't think there is a limit to sub how many sub panels you can have as long as they are wired correctly and you don't exceed the limit of the main panel.

If you have to upgrade the size at the service that's pretty easy. But it can open a can of worms depending how old it is and where it's located on the house.

lethe · May 23, 2014

I talked with my brother in law a little bit and he said there is no limit to how many sub panels you can run off the main panel or from another sub panel. They just need to be wired correctly and not exceed the main panels capacity.

Like kevin said, once you crunch some numbers and and find out what size your service is you will know if any additional work needs to be done besides just adding another sub panel.

crash2 · May 24, 2014

My old place was different since it was a mobile. After the meeter and before the house panel there was a panel that had a 100 amp breaker. There was a spot for a second one so I added it and thats what fed the shop.

In the shop I will have lights with the big consumers my compressor(will be upgrading to a new 80 gal upright) and my welder and down the road I would like to get a small lathe. I never had a problem exceeding 100 amps.

As for the service at the house--I looked at the panel and its hard to tell. I do see a 200amp main breaker.