DIY breaker panel?

[Geezle]

Hey folks, just wondering if there's an electrician or somebody generally inclined that way who could give me a quick hand.

I want to build myself a simple breaker panel with just one or two 15 amp breakers.

I work in construction and run my power from inside the house, but sometimes I trip the breaker with all my lights and such at night, and I don't always have access to the inside of the house to reset it. Just need something simple I can put on the end of my big fat extension cord and then run everything off of that so if I trip the breaker, I can just reset it inside my trailer instead of in the house.

I know it should be simple...I've seen a few that guys have made that are just basically in a small wooden box with a short cord with a plug for my extension cord, and then the breaker and a couple few outlets on the face of it.

[mtylerb]

Hey folks, just wondering if there's an electrician or somebody generally inclined that way who could give me a quick hand.

I want to build myself a simple breaker panel with just one or two 15 amp breakers.

I work in construction and run my power from inside the house, but sometimes I trip the breaker with all my lights and such at night, and I don't always have access to the inside of the house to reset it. Just need something simple I can put on the end of my big fat extension cord and then run everything off of that so if I trip the breaker, I can just reset it inside my trailer instead of in the house.

I know it should be simple...I've seen a few that guys have made that are just basically in a small wooden box with a short cord with a plug for my extension cord, and then the breaker and a couple few outlets on the face of it.

Is it going to be inside the trailer or outside where it could be exposed to the weather?

[Geezle]

Is it going to be inside the trailer or outside where it could be exposed to the weather?
It'll stay inside the trailer :)

I usually run 2 big cords into the trailer from the house (as long as there's 2 breakers inside for me to work with) and then split everything in there and run it back out.

So I was thinking that I might build a panel with two breakers...one for each cord.

[WayneChristie]

I have a GFI cord that I use when Im working outside and it might be damp, its only a couple feet long. Maybe they make them with a breaker instead so you could just reset it on the cord instead of building a whole panel? I got mine at Rona, dont know if they would have a breaker cord or not but you could always check, my nearest one is 2 1/2 hours away now :D

[Amy]

Federal Pioneer makes a 4 circuit panel that should suit your needs
Buy some 10/4 extension cord and a male dryer plug Unplug the dryer and plug in your temp panel.
The 30 amps provided by the dryer outlet will probably run everything you need

[Geezle]

Federal Pioneer makes a 4 circuit panel that should suit your needs
Buy some 10/4 extension cord and a male dryer plug Unplug the dryer and plug in your temp panel.
The 30 amps provided by the dryer outlet will probably run everything you need

That's a really good idea. I might have to try to set it up so it's an option, but I don't always have access to a 240v dryer plug...sometimes they have heaters on them, and sometimes they're just not there.

Although if I build myself a big fat splitter...:evilgrin:

[Geezle]

I have a GFI cord that I use when Im working outside and it might be damp, its only a couple feet long. Maybe they make them with a breaker instead so you could just reset it on the cord instead of building a whole panel? I got mine at Rona, dont know if they would have a breaker cord or not but you could always check, my nearest one is 2 1/2 hours away now :D
Ugh, I hate Rona but I may have to head down and do some investigating.

Building the panel really shouldn't be that tough, wire from the plug to the breaker, then the breaker to a couple plug outlets. Build a little box to hold it all solid and I should be golden.

*Should* being the key operative word there...I've installed a couple outlets before, but it was quite a while ago. Don't recall it being too hard, I didn't zap myself and as far as I know the building hasn't burned down. :o

[CaberTosser]

Keep in mind that if the dryer plug is in use by a heater already, there are always the kitchen counter plugs to consider; they should be wired so that the top and bottom plugs of each duplex outlet are on separate fuses, I think referred to as a split receptacle. Every duplex outlet can be converted to a split receptacle by snapping off the brass tab that connects the 2 hot side screw terminals. If you pull the plate cover and look at the hot side wiring, you can see by the presence or absence of this tab if it is a split receptacle. Usually the fuses to split receptacles are twinned at the panel so that if you want to shut off one, the other comes along for the ride; this is a safety measure so that if a person is working within an electrical box, there are no live wires from other circuits in it. Multiple breakers going into the same electrical box should always be twinned. A fellow could cobble up a 4-wire extension cord that has a ground, neutral and 2 hot side wires: this would allow 2 male extension cord ends to be affixed to the one side for plugging both into a kitchens split receptacle, the other side going to your trailer panel. You would need a 4-wire extension cord for this, I'd recommend 12 guage or better. The neutral and ground wires would be split to each receptacle, the hots obviously would be run independant of each other.

I'm not a sparky, but have run plenty of wire as a plumber (which I am) putting in control wiring for my boiler installations and wiring my own homes.

[Amy]

Shoot me a PM if you have any questions on the wiring of the panel

[Geezle]

Keep in mind that if the dryer plug is in use by a heater already, there are always the kitchen counter plugs to consider; they should be wired so that the top and bottom plugs of each duplex outlet are on separate fuses, I think referred to as a split receptacle. Every duplex outlet can be converted to a split receptacle by snapping off the brass tab that connects the 2 hot side screw terminals. If you pull the plate cover and look at the hot side wiring, you can see by the presence or absence of this tab if it is a split receptacle. Usually the fuses to split receptacles are twinned at the panel so that if you want to shut off one, the other comes along for the ride; this is a safety measure so that if a person is working within an electrical box, there are no live wires from other circuits in it. Multiple breakers going into the same electrical box should always be twinned. A fellow could cobble up a 4-wire extension cord that has a ground, neutral and 2 hot side wires: this would allow 2 male extension cord ends to be affixed to the one side for plugging both into a kitchens split receptacle, the other side going to your trailer panel. You would need a 4-wire extension cord for this, I'd recommend 12 guage or better. The neutral and ground wires would be split to each receptacle, the hots obviously would be run independant of each other.

I'm not a sparky, but have run plenty of wire as a plumber (which I am) putting in control wiring for my boiler installations and wiring my own homes.

Usually when I get to a house there are one or two plugs in the basement, one upstairs, and if I'm really lucky one in the garage. They also hook up one dryer plug by the breaker panel to run their heaters in the winter.

I'll have to do a little more investigating before I dive into this. I only want to build this thing once, so I want to make sure it works the way I want it to. Giving myself the option to use either regular 110 cords, or the big dryer cord when I'm able to.

Thanks for the input everybody, keep it coming! :)

[Geezle]

Shoot me a PM if you have any questions on the wiring of the panel

Thanks, I really appreciate the offer and I'll definitely give you a shout if I need a hand :wave:

[Geezle]

Just a tiny update for anybody who's interested. I haven't built the panel though it's something I still want to do, but I found myself kind of a temporary solution.

I'm always fine during the day, but I start having problems with the power when it gets dark and I have to fire up my flood lights (halogen work lights, anywhere from 150 to 500 watts). Well a few days ago I was wandering around Princess Auto and found this: http://www.princessauto.com/farm/electrical/yard-lights/0701367-70w-high-pressure-sodium-lights?keyword=high+pressure+sodium :cool: I wired a plug on to it and rigged it up so I can hang it from my scaffold, and it lights up my whole wall like it's day out! Way better than the smaller flood lights, and uses way less juice.

I do still need to wire up a panel for when it gets colder out and I want to run a small (110V) heater, but this will hold me over for the time being.

[gallery]

You pretty much have to build a temporary panel, and go with the dryer idea or wire directly into the house panel because no matter what duplex receptical you plug into in a house whether it be a kitchen garage or outside it is only protected by a 15 amp breaker. New houses have a 20 amp breaker on the kitchen plugs but if you want to use heaters and lights you will probably blow that breaker too.
Hope that helps

[CaberTosser]

no matter what duplex receptical you plug into in a house whether it be a kitchen garage or outside it is only protected by a 15 amp breaker.

This is not correct.

Please reread my earlier post. Kitchen counter plugs BY CODE are split receptacles. Looking at a duplex plug and you`ll see an upper and a lower receptacle, EACH of them is protected by a separate fuse. The fuses are linked to each other, but each can handle 15 or 20 amps, depending on the breaker. I could plug a high draw appliance into each of the outlets and run them simultaneously and the fuses should not trip.

If you don`t believe me, simply go to your kitchen and remove an outlet. You`ll notice the bridging tab broken on the hot side of the plug, and separate wires run to each of the hot side screws ( or stab-ins at the back if that sparky used that option). The wire feeding the outlet will likely be a 14-3; white (neutral), black (hot 1), red (hot 2), and ground, it could possibly be 12-3; simply a thicker gauge wire.

[winged1]

I'm busting through code now in my 4th year, yikes.

Whatever your plan, do it right, cause insurance has a tendency to jump on that kind of stuff.

[canuck]

This is not correct.

Please reread my earlier post. Kitchen counter plugs BY CODE are split receptacles.

Not quite right, just finished the electrical inspection on Dads new house.
Although (15A) split receptacles are still accepted, the "modern" way is to wire the (20A) kitchen plugs to 20A breakers - splitting them not req'd.

[Tundra Monkey]

I'm busting through code now in my 4th year, yikes.


Good luck on your exams Man....it's a great trade ;)

tm

[tbosch]

Not quite right, just finished the electrical inspection on Dads new house.
Although (15A) split receptacles are still accepted, the "modern" way is to wire the (20A) kitchen plugs to 20A breakers - splitting them not req'd.

x2. This changed in the CEC a year or two ago.

[CaberTosser]

Ahhh. I stand corrected. Though it would be the case in pretty much any place over 2 years old, representing most homes.

A question to the sparkies present. I'm imagining split receptacle 20 amp kitchen plugs would be fine then as well, being a bit the over required minimum? Its what I'm planning on doing in our place.

[elkhunter11]

Please reread my earlier post. Kitchen counter plugs BY CODE are split receptacles. Looking at a duplex plug and you`ll see an upper and a lower receptacle, EACH of them is protected by a separate fuse. The fuses are linked to each other, but each can handle 15 or 20 amps, depending on the breaker. I could plug a high draw appliance into each of the outlets and run them simultaneously and the fuses should not trip.

Each half of a split receptacle is fed from a different breaker,but one breaker may feed more than one half receptacle.If you have more split outlets in your kitchen than you have linked breakers feeding them,this is the case.If you plug a high draw appliance into every half of every split receptacle,more than one appliance may actually be fed from the same breaker.

[CaberTosser]

Each half of a split receptacle is fed from a different breaker,but one breaker may feed more than one half receptacle.If you have more split outlets in your kitchen than you have linked breakers feeding them,this is the case.If you plug a high draw appliance into every half of every split receptacle,more than one appliance may actually be fed from the same breaker.


This is true. Upon re-reading my post it could have been interpreted that I said every half of a split receptacle was fed by its own breaker, when I know it is common practice that they are 'daisy-chained' so that the pair of twinned breakers would be feeding a number of split duplex outlets. This is exactly how I wired the 2 kitchens in my previous house (bsmt suite). It will also be how my workbench plugs are wired once my garage goes up next year. Thanks for clarifying elkhunter.

[Geezle]

Well, I haven't wired up my breaker yet, but I'm definitely learning a couple things about wiring...thanks guys! :cool:

Now I'm kinda curious to see just how things are wired up in the house I'm working on right now...maybe tomorrow if I think of it I'll have to start plugging things in and flipping breakers to see what happens! I always thought that if I tripped the breaker to the plug upstairs that I'd lose all power to both halves of the receptacle, but now I'm not so sure :o

[elkhunter11]

I always thought that if I tripped the breaker to the plug upstairs that I'd lose all power to both halves of the receptacle, but now I'm not so sure

Other than the kitchen,most receptacles aren't usually split.It's cheaper to feed both halves of a receptacle with the same circuit,so unless required to do otherwise by code,that is how it is usually done.

[winged1]

Good luck on your exams Man....it's a great trade
Thanks.

Have a good number of years working on motors, VFDs, PLC and controls. All commissiong and troubleshooting in maintenance environments. Never pulled wire or bent conduit. Needless to say code was never considered up to now. First month was running on memory, but am turning the corner and it's starting to come into focus. TQ & IP in 3 weeks.

Needless to say, hunting was on the back burner this year.:(

[elkhunter11]

Have a good number of years working on motors, VFDs, PLC and controls. All commissiong and troubleshooting in maintenance environments. Never pulled wire or bent conduit.

I know how you feel,I have been doing maintenance on high voltage and motor controls for many years as a journeyman electrician,and I have never wired a house.:D

[gallery]

A question to the sparkies present. I'm imagining split receptacle 20 amp kitchen plugs would be fine then as well, being a bit the over required minimum? Its what I'm planning on doing in our place.
One of the reasons for changing the code to include 20amp recepticles, is that now kitchen plugs that are close to a sink have to be GFI protected, and they do not make 2 pole GFI breakers in 15 or 20 amp. So they allowed 20amp recepticles to be installed close to a sink with a GFI breaker on it and it can also include one more 20amp recepticle on that breaker. This way appliances can be plugged into this circuit and not trip the breaker and be GFI protected

[gallery]

I want to build myself a simple breaker panel with just one or two 15 amp breakers.

I work in construction and run my power from inside the house, but sometimes I trip the breaker with all my lights and such at night, and I don't always have access to the inside of the house to reset it. Just need something simple I can put on the end of my big fat extension cord and then run everything off of that so if I trip the breaker, I can just reset it inside my trailer instead of in the house.

Again Back to the original question. It is like this. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. To build a panel box with a couple of 15 amp breakers in it and then plug into a circuit that is only protected by a 15amp breaker does you no good. You have to plug into something stronger, like a dryer outlet, and run your panel off of that. This way as long as you are not overloading the dryer circuit you will have power to your panel and if you do trip a 15amp breaker it will be in your small panel.
Again hope this helps

[Geezle]

Again Back to the original question. It is like this. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. To build a panel box with a couple of 15 amp breakers in it and then plug into a circuit that is only protected by a 15amp breaker does you no good. You have to plug into something stronger, like a dryer outlet, and run your panel off of that. This way as long as you are not overloading the dryer circuit you will have power to your panel and if you do trip a 15amp breaker it will be in your small panel.
Again hope this helps

I see what you're saying, but I often have very limited resources to work with, and I don't always have access to a dryer plug.

I always try not to trip the breaker, but sometimes it happens (like when I turn on my coffee pot but forget to turn off the heater) so really I'm looking for a way to reset the breaker without needing access to the inside of the house.

I would still like to do something maybe with a dryer plug option, but that can get expensive pretty quick with the heavier wire/cord that I'd need for that one.

Thanks for the input...I'll get around to building this thing yet! :)

[tbosch]

For anyone doing their own electrical work without any knowledge of the electrical trade this book is imperative. It's basically Electrical for dummies. Very useful for all residential applications. I believe they sell them in book stores and they definitely sell them in trade school book stores.

http://www.psknight.com/No-Am_book_1.htm

[CaberTosser]

One of the reasons for changing the code to include 20amp recepticles, is that now kitchen plugs that are close to a sink have to be GFI protected, and they do not make 2 pole GFI breakers in 15 or 20 amp. So they allowed 20amp recepticles to be installed close to a sink with a GFI breaker on it and it can also include one more 20amp recepticle on that breaker. This way appliances can be plugged into this circuit and not trip the breaker and be GFI protected


Thanks Gallery. I like it when an answer includes the reason behind the method. The GFI requirement explains everything nicely.

[firegod74]

Federal Pioneer makes a 4 circuit panel that should suit your needs
Buy some 10/4 extension cord and a male dryer plug Unplug the dryer and plug in your temp panel.
The 30 amps provided by the dryer outlet will probably run everything you need

This could work but I think dryers run on 220 volt not 110 so make sure its not going to damage your tools. A cheap and easy fix is to buy an industrial power bar. They have resets built right into them. Make sure that the reset is lower than the breaker of the plugin you use or else you will be making trips to the house anyway.
One mistake I made when plugging in vehicles last winter was to change the size of the breaker in the panel in the house after it tripped a couple times. The breaker size is based just as much on the wire size as it is on protecting the end user equipment. I'm lucky I didn't overload the wire. On that note breakers will sometimes have wire guage ratings per volt range so you can make sure the wire can handle the load.

[Geezle]

This could work but I think dryers run on 220 volt not 110 so make sure its not going to damage your tools. A cheap and easy fix is to buy an industrial power bar. They have resets built right into them. Make sure that the reset is lower than the breaker of the plugin you use or else you will be making trips to the house anyway.
One mistake I made when plugging in vehicles last winter was to change the size of the breaker in the panel in the house after it tripped a couple times. The breaker size is based just as much on the wire size as it is on protecting the end user equipment. I'm lucky I didn't overload the wire. On that note breakers will sometimes have wire guage ratings per volt range so you can make sure the wire can handle the load.
Isn't there something you can get that will step the 220v down to 110v? I'm almost sure my friend has something like this, but doesn't know where she got it from.

[elkhunter11]

This could work but I think dryers run on 220 volt not 110 so make sure its not going to damage your tools.

Household panels use two feeders going into two bus bars.The voltage from each bus bar to ground is 120volts,and the voltage across the two bus bars is 240 volts,so it is easy to get either 120v or 240v off of a panel.

[firegod74]

Household panels use two feeders going into two bus bars.The voltage from each bus bar to ground is 120volts,and the voltage across the two bus bars is 240 volts,so it is easy to get either 120v or 240v off of a panel.

True, I just didn't want to see them plugging straight into an existing dryer plug and frying his tools.

[Geezle]

True, I just didn't want to see them plugging straight into an existing dryer plug and frying his tools.

Hey now, I may be dumb, but I ain't stupid!

This morning when I showed up to my site somebody had unplugged my cord and plugged in their own. It sucks, but sometimes there's just not enough power on a site to go around.

That being said, the dryer plug is looking more and more inviting since less people would be able to use it. If anybody knows about stepping down the voltage I'd love to hear it.

[firegod74]

Hey now, I may be dumb, but I ain't stupid!

This morning when I showed up to my site somebody had unplugged my cord and plugged in their own. It sucks, but sometimes there's just not enough power on a site to go around.

That being said, the dryer plug is looking more and more inviting since less people would be able to use it. If anybody knows about stepping down the voltage I'd love to hear it.

lol, sorry if I implied that. I just didn't want to see good brainstorming get someone hurt.

Have you talked to any rental places? The site I'm on finished construction in 2008. During construction they had breaker panels that were rented from Cat Rentals I think.

[Geezle]

lol, sorry if I implied that. I just didn't want to see good brainstorming get someone hurt.

Have you talked to any rental places? The site I'm on finished construction in 2008. During construction they had breaker panels that were rented from Cat Rentals I think.

Haha no worries, you didn't imply that, it's just a saying I like to use when I can ;) :lol:

As for rentals, I don't think I could be bothered. I'm always in a situation of working with what I'm given, and what I'm given isn't always the same. I'd like to have something that I can just take out and use whenever I need it.

That's why it would be nice to have the option to go between drawing my power from a regular 110 outlet, or the beefier 220 dryer outlet. Never know exactly what I'm going to have to work with.

I also have a regular power bar that I sometimes use that's supposed to be rated for 15 amps, but it kicks off WAY before the 15 amp breaker actually would, so it's more of a pain than something that's useful :o