Garage Equipment Wiring

[culpitt]

Hello all,

I have just bought a gas plasma cutter for my home workshop and wiring the blighter in, is a bit on the tricky side. None of your nice simple 13 amp plugs here! There is no plug and the recommendation is to hardwire the thing into the wall.

The voltage is 230v but it draws 23 amps of current. Now if I remember my physics olevel correctly that is 5.3Kw. The recommendation says to allow for up to 7kw.

The circuit breaker for the sockets in the garage can cope with up to 32 amps so I'm assuming here that the wiring is up to the job. Putting in a new circuit will be a horrendous job requiring much mess and hacking of plaster so I'd really rather avoid that if possible.

With the exception of the freezer there is nothing else drawing current through a socket that will need to be on whilst I'm cutting.

My local DIY centre has cable and sockets that will cope with 16 amps but nothing higher.

The question what bits will I need to wire in a spur on the main circuit for sockets in the garage and where do I get them from?

 

[JohnD]

You can only spur a 13Amp load off a ring.

You say your appliance is over 13Amps so you can't take it as a spur.

IF your garage supply is fused at 32A and the cable is up to size, and depending how it is supplied fro the meter, you may be able to have a suitable circuit fed from the garage CU.

Post some pictures of the garage installation and the area around your meter and house consumer units to provide background info. please.

 

[securespark]

You say that your sockets are fused at 32A. While this is true, the wiring to those sockets is not capable of accepting that kind of load. It is almost the same as a small electric shower.

If you have to allow 7kw, that is 30.43A @ 230V. This will require a completely separate supply from the main consumer unit run in a minimum of 4mm², depending on distance and other factors. I doubt if the garage supply is up to the job of supplying 2 x 32A circuits.

It would be wise to have RCD protection for this circuit, and a must for the garage sockets.

 

[DESL]

You need to confirm the power rating of your equipment
There should be a serial number plate somewhere that states the power rating or current drawn.
7 kW is almost on the limit of your 32A supply but 5.3 kW isn't.
If it is rated at 7 kW you may need to consider this
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_In...Index/Plugs_and_Sockets_Ind_240v_1/index.html