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Looking for some advice on wiring my new Grizzly wide belt sander. It will be in my garage so I am running triplex aluminum service cable #6 gauge overhead from the house to the garage. I have the porcelain insulators and the wire ties to tie off the cable. Now I have to splice the aluminum to copper outside and run the service entrance cable to my panel box in the basement and new sub-panel in the garage. My question is how do I make the two splices to the aluminum cable? Do I need special connectors? Some kind of oxidation inhibitor? The sander needs a 220V 40 AMP service. What gauge wire for the drop?Bobc39080.599837963

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Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
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The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

I am SO JEALOUS.....


Wish I could help, but fortunately, Bruce Dickey is around and is our Offical Luthiers Forum Electrician.
He will know the answer...

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

You will need aluminum to copper connectors, and an oxidation inhibitor such as No-Ox. The copper and the aluminum should have no physical contact with each other, only with their portion of the lug. Everything that you need is available at most large hardware stores or at an electrical supply house. If You have any other questions please let me know.

Al

I forgot wire size. Minimum wire size with 75 deg. rated wire is number 8 such as THHN,THW. If You use 60 deg rated wire use No. 6.

Al

Al I assume the connectors are taped after making the connections or are they weatherproof? Also is the wire for the drop THHN,THWI made for exterior use? I think Home Depot should have what I need.

_________________
Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

Hey Don
Load up your truck with sets and take a drive to Buffalo. I'll be glad to sand for you.

_________________
Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

Bob,
Overhead wire is commonly run overhead into weatherheads then through conduit into boxes.

You have to maintain a safe distance over ground height.
yard 12 feet, driveway fifteen feet, street 18 or so, all this is available in the National Electric Code Book issued every three years.

Sounds like you are having one nice upgrade there in the sanding department.

As Al stated, ask away. Congrats on your new sander.
Don, you ought to jump on that offer. What fun....

Bob, snap us some pics and maybe we could offer a few suggestions.

Some need to be taped, and some are made with insulating boots. It just depends on which Your supplier has in stock.

Al

Thanks guys for all the help. Bruce would plastic conduit work ok? Easier for me to work with. Also if I use conduit what wire do I buy to run inside the conduit? Can it be #6 Romex? I'll take some pic's tomorrow. Too dark right now.

_________________
Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

Bob, years ago, after someone wired up a bunch of mobile homes with aluminum, it got a bad rap in residential installations. And rightly so. Now of course aluminum is typically used to run service entrance into homes and shops rather than copper.

IF you are coming off your house panel, why not run all the way to the garage sub-panel without a single splice? You would use the antioxidant compounds on the aluminum wire ends as it is required to keep it from oxidizing.

This may not be practical to run un-spliced. Your pics will help us understand your need better. I'm a big proponent of underground service, which eliminates the overhead problems and yes, pvc electrical conduit is good overhead or underground, just not good for masts if you go overhead.

For a mast you need heavy galvanized pipe. Digging trenches is no fun either. Basically it's just not easy, but you still need power, safely. Some pics would be helpful.

Did you hear the one about the fellow who asked his doctor about a medical problem in front of the church? He said drop your pants and I'll have a look. He said, "Here, in front of the church?" The doctor replied, "Well, you asked me in front of the church."

Aren't you glad we're not grouchy old doctors?

WOULD YOU GUYS PLEASE GET HIM UP AND RUNNING!!!. There are 'x' pieces that have now gone unsanded. Could cause panic. In the name of humanity....

Bruce I could run directly into the sub-panel in my garage. I just didn't think it was Kosher to do that. I'm going to hook the cable in the house to a 60A breaker in my Sq.D box and in the sub-panel in the garage I'll have a 40A for the saw and 1 - 20A for a dust collector. I also have a 8' length of galvanized pipe for a mast with a porcelain insulator that clamps to the pipe. I also have a couple of wire gizmos that hook to the insulator hole and around the bare neutral wire to take the tension of the wires. At the house the insulator screws into the house then my splice to copper and down into the basement panel box. Hope this makes some sense.

_________________
Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

I have aluminum from the house panel to the shop panel with no splices just as Bruce described, and mine is underground in PVC conduit.

Al

When I owned my electrical buisiness, one of my customers was Kaiser Research. They had a test going for years with mock walls built from 2x4's and sheetrock with rows of electrical outlets wired with aluminum wire, and others with copper. The walls were on shakers to cause physical stress, and in climate control to make them hot then cold. They had loadbanks connected to vary the loads, and everything was monitored for temperature and load. End result- no difference as long as the aluminum was installed properly, however the aluminum was very unforgiving if under or over torqued then they got overheating.

AlA Peebels39080.9093287037

Al I could do that too. Wire is long enough. I just thought that I couldn't do it that way. Sure would be easier for me. So I could go right into the breaker in the house panel with the #6 aluminum?Bobc39080.8951157407

_________________
Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

Yep. Modern breakers have the proper AL/Cu type lugs. Just be sure to use plenty of NO-Ox, and be sure that the connections are tight without deforming. There are usually torque specs in the panel.

Al

Sounds like we are making progress.

Hurry Bob, the natives are restless....

Bruce and Al I owe both of you a bottle of my home made wine. Thank you both very much.

_________________
Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

Well I'm ready to rock and roll with this project. I bought some threaded rod and brackets to stand off the galvanized pipe on the side of the garage. Need to clear a small 5" overhang. Got the NO OX stuff too. Looks like rain today so I don't think I'll get much done outside. One more ?
If I'm running cable overhead and then into conduit how do I seal off the end of the conduit to keep out the rain and snow?

_________________
Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

Hey Bob, we want pics of the new sander in the garage!

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Use a weatherhead. They cost about $10 and are required for the job. You'll find it at the same place that You got your other stuff. It must be installed before You pull in the wire.

Al

Bob, I'm jealous too and so is Alain!

Bob, buy a box of "Bounce" fabric softener dryer sheets and keep handy at the sander. When it gets really dry and the staic is high, sawdust will cling to the electric eye and reflector inside of the right side of the sander. It will cause you grief unless you wipe the eye and reflector wit the sheets every 10-15 minutes.

What happens is the electric eye will get blocked with dust, the upper roller won't ossilate and the belt will run off the drum into the saftey shut off switch. It took me a while to figure the cure out. Did you get the 18" or 24"? I have the 18" and I love it. It is a beast!

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tim...
http://www.mcknightguitars.com

CAREFUL BRUCE AND AL,
If his homemade wine is anything like his Zoot, I would file a flight plan before drinking any!