Talked with the neighbor tonight for the first time. Apparently he’s into cars some, has an Audi TT vert garaged for the winter. And he said that the father and one of the sons, previous owners of my house, were huge into cars hence the garage. They had it set up for welding and everything. I finally took a good look at the sub panel in the garage tonight, probably a hell of a lot more than I’ll ever need.
And noticed this guy on the wall-- is this the kind of outlet one would plug a welder into?
So now I’m thinking maybe I’ll go down that road some day. But not until at least summer. Maybe next year even.
I didn’t get pics, but I also noticed a very oldschool paper towel dispenser that’s labeled as First Aid Kit and has a bunch of ancient band-aids in it, and also a wall mounted hand cleaner dispenser, and a fire extinguisher that I’m guessing needs a recharge-- tag is dated 1993. Yikes.
Had a locksmith out and paid a small fortune, but now there are new cylinders on all doors, and he even gave me a strike plate reinforcement plate for the garage.
I hit the basement floor with a first pass at dog pee scent removal attempt. 50/50 bleach and water. Hopefully by the next time I go there, the dog pee smell and bleach smell will both be just memories. I’m guessing it’ll take at least one more pass.
From those two pictures, it looks like a 20 amp 220 volt circuit breaker feeding a 50 amp 220 volt outlet. I’m guessing they used 12 gauge wire for this. DO NOT EVER USE THIS CIRCUIT! Can you verify that this subpanel is feeding that outlet? Really man, that could be a huge fire hazard.
Right below the “220 V” it MIGHT say “Comp”(ressor) which is possible… but that is waaaay too much outlet for a compressor!
+10000 on having it checked out. 220/20 could handle a small wire-feed welder; but not much more. Put a big ol’ Linc or Miller on there and you could be the proud homepwner of a smokin’ hole in the ground.
The sub panel is definitely feeding that outlet. I’m guessing it worked ok if they used it for decades. Maybe the wiring is sufficient gauge.
Color me stupid, but with wires inside conduit and a circuit breaker, how would the fire start? Wouldn’t it be more likely to just trip the breaker?
Don’t worry about me plugging anything into that outlet, or diving into welding anytime soon. My point about getting into welding wasn’t that I would try to use the existing setup exactly as-is, even though the previous owners did, my point was that with the electrical service that the garage is set up with, it would be an option for me that would probably be pretty easy. I’m not going to have to dig up the yard or rip up the driveway to run service out there.
I like the nice neat job they did cutting out the pegboard. You could always just take the cover off and see what size wire they used. Just shut the breaker off first to be safe.
Seeing that there was talk of a fire hazard in this thread let me make a “plug” (no pun intended). Go buy a fire extinguisher, abc model at least 5 lbs., one for the house and for the shop also. Small fires can be put out easier than rebuilding after a fire. I have been to many calls where this was the case. Smoke detectors also…life savers.
When you look at getting a welder think about what you want to do before buying. Miller makes good 110 volt welders (mig) that would cover most of our car needs.
Steven
Sure will shut the breaker off. I may be dumb but I ain’t stupid!
I like the pegboard. Aside from it totally ruling that both side walls are pegboard, for tool-hangin reasons, I like his style. I’m guessing he was not so anal, more about functionality than details, which is exactly how I am with most things. I find it charming. Character! I guess that’s one the differences between me and a concours-minded guy.
I barely had time to look around at everything but I did see some stuff I’ll wanna get pics of. There’s a photo taped to the door of a really nice looking old car, not sure the model but it has a very 1970-ish style to it. And an old ticket stub from Talladega. And a bunch of other stuff I’m sure. Can’t wait to get back over there and poke around and see what else I find.
I’m already planning on getting an extinguisher for my Cougar, I guess while I’m at it I should order one for the house and look into getting the one that’s already in the garage recharged. Definitely don’t want anything burning down, house garage or car!
Absolutely! And by saving the money on the demolition costs, you’ll have more funds to install a proper electrical system when you rebuild the house and garage!
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Top Ten Reasons tmh’s Garage and House Will Burn Up If He Uses This Circuit:
10) Previous homeowner ran out of 12/2 Romex, substituted 20 gauge speaker wire instead
9) “Well, the previous owner didn’t have any problems”
8) “The markings on this 40-year-old circuit breaker says 20 amps, so it will trip if there’s any malfunction in the circuit”
7) “I’m guessing it worked ok if they used it for decades.”
6) “Maybe the wiring is sufficient gauge.”
5) Aluminum wiring and buss bars are not your friend. They tend to evaporate and splatter at higher amperage. The early 70’s were a bad time to purchase electrical components.
4) “but with wires inside conduit and a circuit breaker, how would the fire start?” Metal conduit heating up and igniting beautiful woodgrain pegboard paneling next to it, old 20 amp circuit breaker not tripping until it reaches an arc-welding 43 amps, breaker-box knockouts not replaced with plugs when unused allowing arcing/sparking to ignite whatever is nearby open hole, 1/8" gap between subpanel outer/inner cover (as evidenced by individual circuit breakers being cocked at an angle) exposes beautiful woodgrain paneling to combustion, aluminum buss bars within subpanel that can’t take the excessive current, etc., etc., etc.
3) Ant infestation from 1991. Amazing how those little buggers can turn to carbon and become conductive when a certain circuit is suddenly overloaded.
2) “But, it’s a 50 amp outlet!”
1)'Cuz this is posted on the internet, and if it’s on the internet, it has to be true!
Open up your panel in the house and have a look see, to find out what gauge wire is running out to the garage. Find out how many amps that wire can hold and don’t surpass that on the sub panel in the garage. Next, they don’t cost much, get an up to date “Square D” panel and breakers that match the equipment you are going to use. Oh, and make sure the wire gauge out of the panel is right as well. You will then be able to sleep at night. I have to say, the first time seeing the panel in the garage, It looked like the old 1950/60s panel that I had to replace in my house.
We are not making fun of you, We just want to see you safe and keeping the house, garage and Cougar as part of your investment in one piece.
awesome responses guys, much appreciated. I’ve already got a few other electrical issues that need to take care of to satisfy the village inspection. They were ok with the garage, but of course I’ll check everything out. And wouldn’t likely use that outlet anytime in the foreseeable future. My compressor runs on 110v anyway.
Well I haven’t got an eye on the wire coming from the main panel out to the sub panel yet, but what I did find out this weekend is this… The main panel has a 40A 220V breaker feeding that sub panel. And the wiring from that sub panel to the outlets on the outside of the garage is nice heavy solid core copper wire that’s not cloth shielded. So that was nice to see. I replaced both of the exterior outlets with one-gang decora type 15A GFCI outlets, and covered em with some spring-loaded weatherproof covers that have a little spot where whatever’s plugged in can sneak out… That was a fun job except for holding the chisel (had to knock out a little of the wood paneling to make room for the weatherproof box) in sub-freezing temperatures.
I know it’s not safe to assume that just because they used good wire for the exterior outlets that means they also used proper wire to wire up the panel in the first place… but at least I can be optimistic about it now.
So now counting the interior and exterior of the garage I got either 8 or 9 GFCI outlets going on. Total overkill. I love it.
Other than the lighting, all the garage breakers are staying off, at least for now. Gotta do a walkthrough of the garage and the whole house with my outlet tester and make sure they’re all wired right and grounded.
Oh and the entire basement has now been mopped with bleach water once, and then a few days later scrubbed with this ancient 1950’s looking scrubbing machine from my grandpa’s place using bleach water, and then rinsed down with water. Next time I get over there I’ll know if the bleach bathing era is over, or if there are still traces of the previous owner’s dog.
Main floor already has nice recent hardwood flooring. Upstairs rooms are just a standard 1928 wood plank floor, we’re looking at Pergo or similar snap-together wood flooring to nice it up a bit. Thoughts/recommendations?
Oh! And I found a cue that actually has a tip on it, so played my first game of pool, well, not a game so much as a shoot around. Noteworthy issues, other than the felt being water stained and having multiple small rips in it? No triangle. And though there are 15 balls, it’s not a proper set. Missing two balls and duplicates of two others. 6 solids and 8 stripes would make for a messed up game of 8 ball. Felt so damn good to shoot pool in my basement though.
I’m not sure I understood correctly, but if your outlets are on the same circuit, they need not all be GFI. All you need is a GFI in the first position and all the subsequent outlets in that circuit will be protected.
Yeah Al that’s right, but the previous homeowner just went by what the village inspection said, “all receptacles outdoor garage kitchen bathroom etc must be GFCI”. And the two that I just put in are on opposite sides of the garage door exterior, so there’s no wire in place to daisy chain one off the other.
