Wiring for a new planer

[Ken Parris]

I have a new to me wood planer that requires a 240 volt 30 amp circuit. I have no open slots in my breaker box. Is it permissable code wise to connect two items, a dryer and the planer, to the same breaker via a junction box. If not, would it be permissable to do this with a selector switch of some type to have only one active at a time. Thanks for any information that you can give me.

Ken

[Jeff Erbele]

I have a new to me wood planer that requires a 240 volt 30 amp circuit. I have no open slots in my breaker box. Is it permissable code wise to connect two items, a dryer and the planer, to the same breaker via a junction box. If not, would it be permissable to do this with a selector switch of some type to have only one active at a time. Thanks for any information that you can give me.

Ken

I am not the NEC expert, but I don't think so. That just is not a good idea.

Instead of fiddling with a junction box and/or selector switch, do it right and add a sub-panel.

Or you could free up some space by swapping out four of the 110 breakers with half sized breakers; four fit in the space of two providing you with the two slots you need for another 30 amp breaker.

You want to keep the two 110v legs balanced.
You do not want to overload the panel.

[Jeff Duncan]

Why not just plug and unplug as needed? That would be your simplest and safest solution IMHO.

good luck,
JeffD

[Matt Day]

I did what Jeff suggests for a year in a house we rented, and it worked fine - other than when I forgot to plug the dryer back in and my wife got mad!

I have one 220V run (12 ga wire I think) to my basement shop that has 3 or 4 machines connected to it, but since I'm a once man shop I only ever turn on one at a time. I know this isn't legally wired, but I'm okay with it since nobody else uses the shop. i wouldn't be okay with it if there was a chance someone would turn on something like a dryer and overload the circuit.

[Ken Parris]

I could do the unplugging and plugging in the planer and the dryer is close to where the planer would be. But the dryer is in a close area and would have to be pulled completely out to access the connection. I have a 220 circuit in the shop, but it is 20 amp with 12 gauge wire. How I wished I had used 10 gauge, but I didn't. I have an extra 30 amp circuit for a portable heater that we don't use. It would not be a lot of work to reroute that. And I guess that is what I will do. I wish that I had put in a subpanel when I built the shop, as I also need a circuit for a welding machine. So I think I will use the extra heater outlet and then on the 127 yard pick up a panel that I can use as a subpanel. Thanks guys, for you comments. Using the dryer circuit would have been simple, but probably not the best choice. But you know most of us have more than one machine on the 110 volt circuits in our shops, I wonder about that. Mine is a one man shop also, and only one machine and the dust collector are ever running at the same time.

Ken

[Chris Friesen]

For 30A and above, given the fact that both the dryer and planer could possibly be used simultaneously I believe the code says you need dedicated circuits for each. (For 20A and less you don't need to go dedicated.) If you had a circuit dedicated for your welder, you could put two receptacles on opposite sides of the shop and you'd be fine since the welder can obviously only be plugged into one receptacle at a time.

That said, it's not actually unsafe to add a receptacle--it's just going to trip the breaker if you turn on both at once.

One way around your problem would be to stick a double-pole double-throw switch in the junction box you mentioned so that only one of the two can be active at any given time--but for the price you'd probably be better off with a subpanel.

[John Huds0n]

If your panel has "notched bus stabs" you can easily add a quad breaker for around $25 and run a new 240v circuit. (The quad breaker will run two 240v circuits and only take two slots in your panel, so just replace an existing 240v breaker)

You will have to pull out one of your breakers to check - the notches look like this. There is a metal 'rejection tab' on the back of the breaker that will fit down into the notch. If the bus stabs are not notched, it will not fit:
280094

This is what a "quad breaker" looks like, they come in different configurations
280095

[Rollie Meyers]

The breakers used need to be the same manufacturer as the panel, or UL "classified" to be used in that panel & if a UL classified breaker is chosen, have the paperwork to prove it. There are many "will fit" brands out there but very few that are proper to use, my preference is to use the same make as the panel, but there are a couple that UL classified breakers are the only option because they are obsolete, FPE, Federal Pacific Electric, & Zinsco/Sylvania, both garbage makes though.

[Ken Parris]

Great information guys, thanks to those who took your time to respond. As I said in one of my posts, I wish I had gone with a sub panel when I added the shop and garage. One more question, assuming I add a 100 amp subpanel, what size wire would I need for about a thirty foot run? Again thanks.

Ken

[Rollie Meyers]

Great information guys, thanks to those who took your time to respond. As I said in one of my posts, I wish I had gone with a sub panel when I added the shop and garage. One more question, assuming I add a 100 amp subpanel, what size wire would I need for about a thirty foot run? Again thanks.

Ken

Copper or aluminum? You can't use #2 AL, for a 100A subpanel, but is fine if used w/ a 90A breaker. If conduit, 3 AWG copper or 1 AWG aluminum are rated for 100A, those sizes are not found at big box stores, you have to go to a legitimate supply house. If using a cable wiring method the big box stores have 2 AWG NM cable, a bit oversized & bloody expensive.