Powering Shack With Generator

[redlevel]

I am about to finish a rebuild of a 150 year-old building. It is going to be my reloading shack/man-cave. I am going to write up the project from start to finish, with photos, but right now, I need some advice.

I intend to power the shack with a Black Max Generator, rated at 7000/8750 watts. I have been running a table saw, a skill saw, and a 12" Delta planer with the genset, and it has performed admirably. Not all three at the same time, of course. I will have minimal power requirements. I am going to put a 10,000 BTU AC in, and other than that, lights and maybe an iPod-type player will be the only power consumers.

The generator has four 110 outlets and one 220 twist-type outlet. I will have it mounted on a trailer so I can unplug from the shack and take it to the field if I need it, or take it to the main house in case of an extended power outage.

Here is my question . . . can I get by with running two or three heavy 110 all-weather drop cords into the building? One would be dedicated to the AC, and the other(s) to lights, or whatever. I guess that some kind of box, such as is used on motor-homes would be better, but probably more expensive. The cabin isn't wired. I would just use extension cords on the inside. The entire area is about 200 square feet. I figure on hanging a light from the middle of the ceiling and two or three lamps on stands or walls.

What do you think?

 

[Mickey_Fx]

If this were my project I think I'd take a different approach. This approach is dependent upon adequate ground clearence under the building.

I'd go with permanent wiring. Add a small distribution box (with breakers) to the side of the building then after the wiring. build a wood cover box around the steel distribution panel so it blends in with the rest of the building. Needs to be hinged or some way to get easy access to the dist panel.

For connecting the genset I'd go with the twistlock 220V plug. Add a genset recepticle to the input side of the distribution box Connection between genset and panel is via a power cord intended for this application.

For actual distribution I'd run the wires underneith the building and install recepticles in the floor near the walls. Depending upon furnishings, recepticles my not even be seen. A variation of this is to place the wall recepticles on the wall near the floor but still run the wiring under the floor.

Connecting/disconnecting power is as simple as make/break connection at the genset with the single twist lock connection.

More costly than your approach but when done this way it will be so much more convenient.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Is the inside finished? A small service panel would be a really handy thing. You could set up your table saw and/or planer to run on 240v. It's great to run motors on 240. They run cooler, start easier, and of course the load on the generator would be automatically balanced.

If it were mine, I would set up the lights to run off of a 12 volt battery, so I wouldn't have to listen to the generator run all the time. My travel trailer will run 12 volt fluorescent fixtures and a good car sound system for days before the battery needs recharged. I only run the generator when I need the AC, and that's noisy enough the generator is just more racket.

 

[RobertBrown]

I think I would split a 230 vac circuit. One for lights one for receptacles. I would wire a couple of receptacles and lights with romex and use a junction box and some so cord with the apropriate plug. This way you shouldn't have to worry so much about tripping breakers with ac on. The generator has a switch for 120/230 and a 220 outlet....use that one
Be care with sensitive electronics such as that i pod player, Sometimes they can get screwed up when run directly off a generator

 

[TRR]

The short answer is yes, you can use extension cords. However, I agree with Mickey and would do it the way he describes because:

Connecting/disconnecting power is as simple as make/break connection at the genset with the single twist lock connection.

More costly than your approach but when done this way it will be so much more convenient.

Also consider how those power cords enter the building:
- being able to close the doors & windows when you run the AC would be helpful.
- consider rain and bugs. Being able to close the doors & windows would keep them out.

 

[Pete Judd]

Red, buy a 100 foot roll of 12/2 and a small panel, that will hold 4 20 amp 120v breakers, and one 20 amp 240v breaker. Wire a twist lock to go to the genset. The cords are a pain underfoot, and are a danger when using tools like the table saw. They will roll underfoot, and could cause you to slip while cutting. Better to have it under floor in your case. You could mount the panel inside, so you don't need a weather proof panel. Just surface mount it, and staple the wires down the wall route under the floor, back up the wall to an outlet box mounted on the wall. Use the single 20 amp outlets in the boxes, and you should be good to go. The 240 v breaker is for future tools that might need it.

My 3 hp tablesaw, 5 hp planer, and 3 hp jointer all run on 240v and someday you might go bigger in the tools.