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Sept 11, 2015 22:09:42 GMT
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Evening all. I have been thinking about ways of getting power to my shed recently as running a long extension cable from the house to run power tools is getting a little bit tiring.
The shed is at the top of the garden about 25m from the house. I have just started thinking about running a genny to power lights, drills, grinder etc sometimes maybe my little Clarke 90 mig. The genny gives me versatility as well if I need to do something away from home without a power source .
Is this I silly idea? My house isn't backed on to by any others as its just fields at the back. Is it likely to be too noisy still?
As this option could be a fair bit cheaper than having the shed hard wired in with its own consumer unit etc?
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MrSpeedy
East Midlands
www.vintagediesels.co.uk
Posts: 4,786 
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Sept 11, 2015 22:15:17 GMT
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If you're looking at doing more than drilling a few holes, run a proper power feed to a consumer unit.
It'll probably be cheaper than a generator worth owning anyway
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Sept 11, 2015 22:47:22 GMT
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You will need a lot bigger genny that you'd think to run a MIG welder.
Proper wiring gets my vote - and will be a fraction of what a suitable genny would cost.
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Sept 12, 2015 5:52:48 GMT
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Welding in a shed !!
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simes
Part of things
Posts: 734
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Sept 12, 2015 6:36:03 GMT
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Proper wiring.
Most affordable gennys supply 3kw, not powerful enough and really noisy. I mean how will you be able to listen to Radio 4 in your sanctuary!
Running a feed requires the cabling to be a certain distance underground and other rules to ensure it meets the standard.
Then you'll need some 6mm t&e (for the mig), conduit and a small consumer unit.
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Last Edit: Sept 12, 2015 6:39:36 GMT by simes
Simes
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,964
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Sept 12, 2015 7:35:09 GMT
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Proper wiring. Most affordable gennys supply 3kw, not powerful enough and really noisy. I mean how will you be able to listen to Radio 4 in your sanctuary! Running a feed requires the cabling to be a certain distance underground and other rules to ensure it meets the standard. Then you'll need some 6mm t&e (for the mig), conduit and a small consumer unit. Cabling doesn't 'need' to be underground it can be overhead or clipped to walls, but there are lots of regulations and wiring should be certified, I found this site wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?title=Taking_electricity_outside note looks like the regulations changed this year (2015) so make sure anything conforms. Guess who's looking at supplying electricity to a shed  Also for lower power, lighting etc, I'm thinking of using a solar panel and a battery. |
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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Sept 12, 2015 8:17:08 GMT
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Cheers for the comments guys, yeah it definitely sounds like I need to look into this a bit more, it was just why flicking through the latest machine mart catalogue, and I thought hmmm why not, cheap and quick.
I'd be honest and say I wouldn't be welding in my shed (I quite like it and don't want it burning down) it would be probably 95% lighting and the rest power tools etc.
I'll give a few companies a call this mornning to try and find out rough costs.
Cheers
Matt
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93fxdl
Posted a lot
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Sept 12, 2015 8:56:43 GMT
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Sept 12, 2015 9:02:09 GMT
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Regulations? Pfft. I have a cable in trunking along my fence from house to shed then on to garage. Power points a plenty. No one is coming round to regulate anything.
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Sept 12, 2015 9:07:32 GMT
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If just lighting and power tools then you can always used cordless drill / grinder and a leisure battery to power 12v lights
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Sept 12, 2015 10:27:58 GMT
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Regulations? Pfft. I have a cable in trunking along my fence from house to shed then on to garage. Power points a plenty. No one is coming round to regulate anything. Yep,done so myself,wired all my garage up,the sockets and lighting myself,plus running cable to the pond for pumps etc. However 2 caveats spring to mind ..... So be aware ..... If i come to sell my house,then i either take the wiring out and put back to how it was ( its only 10 or so yrs old,so cannot get away with the ' its been like that when i bought it routine) or get it all certified. And the more important one to tnink about .......... If i have a fire caused by an electrical fault,then my insurance company will probably tell me to go away ........ As its not been installed by a recognised proffesional. |
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93fxdl
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Sept 12, 2015 14:22:17 GMT
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A sidestep for the regulations is to supply power through a lead plugged into an existing, socket,
Ttfn Glenn
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Sept 12, 2015 15:41:41 GMT
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A sidestep for the regulations is to supply power through a lead plugged into an existing, socket, Ttfn Glenn which for welding, is likely to be quite insufficient. |
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Sept 12, 2015 15:43:05 GMT
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to be able to weld on a generator a mobile mechanic friend of mine had to get a 12 kva genny, its the biggest one pramac do without having it towed behind his van, cost about 2.5k.
he can turn his 250 amp welder up to 11 without issue though.
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Sept 12, 2015 16:03:11 GMT
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Personally, if you are capable of doing the work to a high enough standard then I would be running a decent armoured cable out to the shed, if you really really want to comply with the rules then power that from a blue 16amp external socket at the house end, put in a fuse box at the shed end and run seperate circuits for power and lights, only thing to be wary of is if your are using electrical heating as well as everything else at the same time you are going to be pulling a LOT of current. Edit - you could always ask around to find a sparky who is happy to let you first fix a power supply into the shed then he can test it and sign it off. What happens after that who knows |
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Last Edit: Sept 12, 2015 16:05:41 GMT by dodgerover
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93fxdl
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Sept 12, 2015 16:21:26 GMT
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A sidestep for the regulations is to supply power through a lead plugged into an existing, socket, Ttfn Glenn which for welding, is likely to be quite insufficient. Unless you are going up to an industrial plant, most hobby welders run from a 13 amp supply, compressors up to 3hp run from a 13 amp supply. It's vital when using an extension lead, that it is fully unwound when running a heavy load, as magnetic induction will heat a rolled up lead and very easily cause a fire Ttfn Glenn |
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g40jon
Posted a lot
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Sept 12, 2015 19:41:26 GMT
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A sidestep for the regulations is to supply power through a lead plugged into an existing, socket, Ttfn Glenn which for welding, is likely to be quite insufficient. How is it any different to plugging in an extension lead? It is essentially doing the same thing. If anything an extension reel will be worse as it will no doubt be longer than having a semi permanent wire installed to the correct length. Add to that the amount of people who fail to un-reel their extension leads fully, thus making a massive induction coil! At least with a tailored wire, you can make it as short as possible and also you a thicker cable to minimise voltage drop and make sure all of the 13 amps a socket will suppply is avaiable. I am planning to do something along these lines for my shed and garage, but once funds allow, will be getting it wired into the main consumer unit |
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simes
Part of things
Posts: 734
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Sept 12, 2015 22:49:03 GMT
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Proper wiring. Most affordable gennys supply 3kw, not powerful enough and really noisy. I mean how will you be able to listen to Radio 4 in your sanctuary! Running a feed requires the cabling to be a certain distance underground and other rules to ensure it meets the standard. Then you'll need some 6mm t&e (for the mig), conduit and a small consumer unit. Cabling doesn't 'need' to be underground it can be overhead or clipped to walls, but there are lots of regulations and wiring should be certified, I found this site wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?title=Taking_electricity_outside note looks like the regulations changed this year (2015) so make sure anything conforms. Guess who's looking at supplying electricity to a shed Also for lower power, lighting etc, I'm thinking of using a solar panel and a battery. Did mind back in 2007, rules were 16. All of mine was inspected and certified after I rewired our kitchen. |
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Simes
205Mi16 - 262 cams, Jenvey Throttle Bodies, Emerald managment blah blah......
E91 320D MSport
Honda NC30
Vespa 300GTS
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Sept 12, 2015 23:34:10 GMT
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Quite a few interesting points coming up in this thread. As said before it'll be mainly lighting and power tools the possibly welder, little Clarke 90 which runs of a 13amp plug, I've used it of N extension in the past and it's still performed well for the jobs I've asked of it. Thin car body work basically. I thought about an external plug socket on the house and the extension to the shed, I have one that reaches at the minute but I have to have he kitchen door open, which I'm sure will cause issues in winter  Genny would be useful and if small/portabLe enough could be used for other things? Ideally I fully wired in to the main consumer unit in the house etc etc would be best but, the potential cost worry a me as it might make it prohibitive at the minute. Got a sparky coming out on Tuesday evening to price up a few things so I'll find out then, but I'll keep doing a bit of research in the mean time. |
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93fxdl
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Sept 13, 2015 7:49:45 GMT
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Last Edit: Sept 13, 2015 7:52:49 GMT by 93fxdl
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Also for lower power, lighting etc, I'm thinking of using a solar panel and a battery.
