Locking electrical subpanels

[Douglas Robinson]

Does anyone know if there is an electrical subpanel that locks so that power to the shop is prevented without a key? I remeber hearing about something like this. I want something like this for peace of mind as I have a 6 and and 8 year old.

Thanks

Doug

[Mike Cutler]

Doug.

I have seen panels and circuits locked out in a few ways.

1. The panel has a lock on it.
2. There is a manual disconnect with a lock that feed the panel.
3. There are locks for individual circuit breakers.

Any electrical supply house, not a home center, should be able to help you out.

[Rob Russell]

Doug,

Mike's pretty well summarized your choices, without getting into exotic solutions.

One thing to consider is how you want to handle lighting circuits. If you have lighting circuits that you want to always have power available, you have a couple of choices:

kill power to the entire panel and run separate circuit(s) from another source for lighting, or
get a breaker panel that has a locking door and just kill the machinery/power tool breakers when you leave the shop.Personally, I'd consider locking individual breakers to be a bit of a nuisance, especially if it meant unlocking/locking a bunch of breakers every time I wanted to use equipment.

Rob

[D.McDonnel "Mac"]

All tool circuits in the shop run through contactors which are controlled by a single wall switch mounted up high on a wall wher only adults can reach it. A contactor is a power opperated switch. when the single wall switch is "on" there is power fed to all the contactors which in turn switch on the circuits. You have to know to turn on that switch and then turn on a power tool switch to hurt yourself. Circuit breakers aren't really designed to be daily on off switches.

Mac

[Art Mulder]

For those who just need a few circuits, there is a simpler solution.

I know a fellow who is an electrician and a woodworker, and this was his idea.

If you just have a few circuits (dedicated TS circuit, and one or two circuits for the other outlets) then he recommends that you first run each circuit to beside your exit door. Then put in a switch, and then continue with the rest of the circuit. Put these switches up high, like at eyeball or higher level. Then you end up with a row of three or four switches that you can just switch off as you leave your shop.

I know it isn't as secure as a keyed lock out. But it is higher than little kids can reach. Seems like "good enough" security.

I wish I'd thought of that when I was wiring my shop. Someday I may rewire to add some outlets and then I think I'll make that change. I did, though, make my TS a switched outlet -- with a light, so I know when it is engergized. That way I don't have to unplug the saw to change blades, and I can see with a glance whether it is energized.


my thoughts.
...art

ps: I see that Mac wrote his post at the same time as I did, and beat me too it. Sounds like his is a basically slicker version of the same idea.

[Tyler Howell]

There is a whole safety industry on "Lock out Tag out" to protect maint. & repair workers. You can buy specialized locks for the individual breakers.
There is also a replacement panel cover for some of the more popular distribution panels that are out there with a lock and key.

[Kent Fitzgerald]

I know it isn't as secure as a keyed lock out. But it is higher than little kids can reach.
We're talking about 6-8 year olds. The phrase "out of reach" is meaningless in this context. :eek:

Keeping the entire shop locked is the most secure way to prevent unauthorized use. Remember that there are plenty of non-powered tools that could cause harm.

The problem with cutting out the subpanel for the shop is that you will want to keep some circuits live for lights, smoke alarms, battery chargers, etc.

If you want to allow the kids to access the shop, but prevent use of specific equipment, many tools have padlockable switches (or could be retrofitted). You can also buy or make a lockbox to capture the plug end of a machine power cord. This approach is more secure than locking out individual circuits, since it prevents the tool from being plugged into a different live circuit.

[Al Willits]

Tyler hit it, call your local electrician or power company and I'd bet they'd be happy to tell ya what they use.
All of our techs in the field have trainning in "Lock out Tag out", and I'd bet most other major companies probably do too.

Al

[Don Baer]

Circuit breakers aren't really designed to be daily on off switches.

Mac

Mac is absolutly correct. In my new shop all of my tool circuits will be run through a single contactor before the sub panel. This will be controlled by two Pushbuttons one on and the other will be off. The on PB can be a keys PB so that these circuits can be locked off. This will provide further safety in the event of a power outage any tools that don't have a mag starter will not automatically resart when power is restored. All lighting circuit will be on seperate circuit.

[Rob Russell]

I would disagree that "Lock Out Tag Out" is appropriate for Doug's shop.

LOTO is designed for an industrial environment where electricians and maintenance personnel need to ensure that devices/machinery remain depowered while (potentially multiple groups of) people work on them. That's simply not the case in Doug's shop and it seems to me that LOTO would add a bit of complexity and hassle to the equipment he's using.

All he wants to do is keep his kids from prematurely turning on equipment. The simplest way to do that is by killing the entire panel that feeds the shop or selected circuits. LOTO means individual locks on breakers or switches and that's certainly not something I'd want to put into my shop.

Mac's solution is the sort of more exotic thing I had in mind but didn't want to complicate the thread with. You could even get a keylock switch for the contactors' control circuit so the kids couldn't reach up with a broom pole and turn on the machinery circuits.

There are many ways to skin this cat!

Rob

[Al Willits]

Maybe not Rob, he could lock out the main with one lock and be done with it.
Also he didn't mention how many circuits he had, if 15 or 20, I'd agree, locking each would be a pain, but if he's only locking a couple not that big a deal, also cheap.
Get the locks all set up for a blank key, and even if you lose the keys, you can get copies.

Besides, keeping kids unsupervised out of a work shop entirely would be my first priority, so a lock on the door would be better. imho

Al

[Greg Narozniak]

Not sure if this would be feasable but back in HS woodshop there was a few "Emergency Paddle Switches" through out the shop. 5 min before the bell rang the teacher would hit that (Checking that no one was using anthing where they could be hurt with the power being shut off) and tell everyone "Clean Up" and all the machines would have the power killed. The power needed to be turned back on with a Key inserted into the paddle.

Greg