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Hi,

My friend has a detached garage and he would like to have a workshop in there to work on his cars. Eventually he would like a welder, pillar drill, bench grinder, compressor, lighting and couple of double sockets for general use. All the equipment mentioned will be on a 13A plug top. He said he will only be using one thing at a time (they all say that)

Ive said he would need at least a 10mm SWA cable to feed a new DB. Just after some advice on what DB would people install and the circuit layout. A couple of ring mains? radials?

All advice greatly appreciated and other things to consider when installing a new garage supply

Thanks
 
Radials would be good,obviously earthing system & Main Earth bonding conductors to consider.
Maybe use rcbo’s for each radial,preventing nuisance tripping.
 
Distance to garage?

Type of cable run and installation method?

Existing earthing arrangements?

Size and type of garage?

Any other services in garage such as water or gas that may require bonding?
 
Distance to garage?

Type of cable run and installation method?

Existing earthing arrangements?

Size and type of garage?

Any other services in garage such as water or gas that may require bonding?

SWA, Clipped direct and then couple of metres buried.

Single garage, concrete Prefab

No other services in the garage
 
Suppose it comes down to cost. 10mm would obviously give a greater supply (up to 60A depending on factors) but does he need that much?
6mm would be cheaper, easier to work with and would still give over 40A supply.
As for board/circuits, in that situation I would go for radials with individual RCCB's.
 
I've joined this forum to seek advice an electrical supply to a workshop that I'm having built for me. The internal dimensions are 3.4m x 2.85m and it's sited about 30m from the house. I will be speaking to the electrician but want to learn about the things to consider when I do so. I'll be using the workshop for woodworking and I expect over time I'll be adding to the powered tools. Things like saw tables, pillar drills. What sort of supply and socket and lighting layout should I be considering?

Regards,

John Wills
 
Are any of the electric tools you propose to use 3 phase, or is everything single phase, I would ensure ant electrical accessories you use are suitable for a workshop, as well as the electrical wiring, make sure you have some sort of emergency cut off included as well as emergency lighting, no good just bunging in a supply that you think will be OK Bonding maybe an issue that is required should there be any Metalic services entering your workshop, water, gas or compressed air.
 
I don't anticipate I'll get any 3 phase tools and I hadn't even thought of water supply, but it's maybe a good idea.
Have to ponder.
No gas.
No compressed air.
You had better tell the Sparky that you may, run a Water supply at a later date, so he can include a cable sufficiently sized to allow for inclusion of a Bonding conductor, rather do this now at this stage, rather than have to scamper around once the Supply has been installed. If you are installing the cable underground, you may want to consider a route for any future water supply, hindsight is a wonderful thing so think ahead in my opinion Mate, may cost a bit more, but not as much as having to run ducting etc at a later date, good luck.
 
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You had better tell the Sparky that you may, run a Water supply at a later date, so he can include a cable sufficiently sized to allow for inclusion of a Bonding conductor, rather do this now at this stage, rather than have to scamper around once the Supply has been installed. If you are installing the cable underground, you may want to consider a route for any future water supply, hindsight is a wonderful thing so think ahead in my opinion Mate, may cost a bit more, but not as much as having to run ducting etc at a later date, good luck.
Of course there will always be people jumping on the bandwagon, adding meaningless responses to what was/is intended to be a useful thread, my suggestion was really a pointer to say prepare for every contingency.
 
Sorry Pete, was just finishing your incomplete sentence. No offence intended.
 
As someone with a wood shop its my experience that dust gets everywhere! Ask your spark to consider containment of cables carefully and IP rated CU's and boxes. Decent table saw and dust extractors usually need a 16A supply of their own.
 

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