Electrical outlet mounting

[Jim Rimmer]

I am planning to add some power to my 3 car garage since it looks like I am not going to move to a nice shop with a house and can't build a shop where I am. My question:

I am in the 3rd stall of a 3 car garage and move my truck out and expand through the use of mobile bases when using the shop. As I add the additional circuits, I would like to drop some outlets from the open ceiling area above where my truck parks. My idea is to mount them in rigid conduit anchored to the 2x12 joists and drop them down so that they are about 5-6 inches above the top of my truck. Then with the truck out, I can still reach them from the floor which allows me to roll my planer, jointer, Dust Deputy, etc out in to that area and plug them in. Does anyone know if you can suspend outlets like that?

[Anthony Whitesell]

You can in the commercial environment, but they require the use of SO cable and strain relief cord grids (a metal chinese finger type-mesh) so the cable/wire is solely supporting the weight.

[Philip Berman]

here in NJ you can as long as you use strain-relief connectors. Check with your electrical inspector. And then read the electrical code to find out what's really allowed.

[Rod Sheridan]

I believe Jim is indicating that he will have an box suspended by rigid conduit, not a drop cord.

Yes you can do that Jim, you'll probably require GFCI outlets if it's for 120 volts.............Regards, Rod.

[Bruce Volden]

Also consider twist-loc connectors for the connections.

Bruce

[Jim Rimmer]

Rod is right. I'm asking about suspending the outlet box on rigid conduit so I can plug my mobile machines in but still get my truck in when I move the machines. I have given some thought to the strain relief - not so much strain relief but making sure the plugs don't fall out. Maybe mounting the boxes so the face of the plug is parallel to the wall rather than the floor and then incorporating some kind of strain relief to protect the cord/plug.

[Bob Riefer]

Jim, you could fasten a 2x4 perpendicular to the joist above, dropping down to your desired height, and run the conduit on the 2x4. This would give you a secure spot to fasten your outlet box.

However, if it was me, I would buy a few high quality cord reels and pull down as needed. It's a bit pricer at the start (compared to conduit and outlet boxes) but more flexible.

[Kent A Bathurst]

.........suspending the outlet box on rigid conduit so I can plug my mobile machines in but still get my truck in when I move the machines........

Well, if nothing else, we now know the maximum height of any vehicles to be parked in that bay by you or the next owner. :D

FWIW - in my basement, the 15" planer has to ride on wheels. When I roll it into place, there is a cable with strain relief overhead - the box is attached to the side of the joist above. The cable drops down through the chinese-finger-puzzle strain relief. BUT - I intentionally made the cable drop too long by maybe 2-1/2 feet. There is a loop in the cable, tightly secured with a zip-tie, to put the plug at the correct height. Any load on the cable is transferred by the zip-tie to the strain relief. The purpose of the loop is to give me the flexibility - without rewiring the drop - to accomodate stuff I had not thought of when I wired it.

[Jim O'Dell]

I'm not a big fan of cord reels. At least the closed in type that can build up heat from the electrical cord under heavy use. Open type aren't as bad. I'd say use the twist lock idea if you can mount the receptacle where you can reach it. I have these in the ceiling of my shop, but it's low enough I can plug and unplug by standing on my toes. If you had to use a ladder, it would be a pain. There are also twist lock in-line receptacles that you could use. The SO cord going down to them would still need a strain relief, but it would allow you to get the cords out of the way easily. Jim.

[Anthony Whitesell]

Instead of a cord reel, they make a cord return. A piece of wire on the spring loaded reel where the free end attaches to the cord (or anything else you want to lift). It's just and industrial version of a retractable ID holder or key chuck lanyard. A previous jobsite, did not allow the cord reels for reasons Jim mentioned, plus safety thought said they were too hard to inspect as they treated as extension cords.

When you return the wire, it lifts what it's attached to out of the way. If you're joists where 10' high, place a 9' drop line from the joist and attach the return about 3' (one-third) from the floor end, When the return lifts, the cord, you'll have a \/\ shaped drop where the low points were 3" below 10' (or 7' from the ground). If you can mount the return above the joist, the lift would be increased. Substitute in your joist height and the length of the cord drop as it fits your shop.