100 amp Power Supply

I had exactly the same situation a couple of years ago. I live near Madison, Wisconsin. After researching like you are doing, I found that the size wire needed for 60-100 amp service would be too costly. I contacted Wis. Power and Light (Alliant Energy now). They offered to run a new service from the pole on my yard to my shed and bury it underground - free! They claimed that as long it was a new service, the first 100 or 200 feet underground would be free. The downside to this of course is that I now have an extra bill with a monthly service fee, but I also have 200 amp service and I didn't have to mess with my house panel. Give it a try, give em a call.

Does this make sense to you? I'm just a simple dirt farmer, & am not trying to design my own system - just interested in the topic.

For what it's worth, I understand what you are saying - when feeding out of the main breaker in the house, if the neutral & ground are connected at the shop box also, it defeats the point of the ground wire. I think I'm asking you about something different? :)

--->Paul

In my feeble, simple-dirt-farmer mind, I feel better with each building grounded, rather that a ground wire running the whole 600+ feet of runs on this farmplace. We have 3 branches coming out of the meter pole - one 75ft west to the house, one 200ft south to sheds & the deep well, and one (hum, 2 really - short 25ft one to the shop) 300ft east to the barn & sheds. Hum, 9 ground rods on the place.

This wiring is all overhead, all in old poor shape, and all undersized for anything more than lights & 1hp motors. (The main service is only 60 amp...) So, I have some expensive bills ahead of me, and I read these type of messages with great interest. I will do more than follow internet advise for any upgrades tho. :)

But anyhow, no more ground rods? That's what I hear you saying.

--->Paul

But I've read fairly current (1990's?) books on farmplace setups, and I thought outdoor grounding of individual buildings from the meter (main fuse) were still useful.

Again, this is all curiousity, I'm not making diagrams based on what anyone has to say. :)

Sigh - in addition to old undersized exterior wiring, this place has a total of 2 grounded recepticales. The ground wasn't thought of back in the 40's or 50's when the REA came in... At least the house itself has good sized wires - was originally a 32 volt battery/power plant system in the basement. I bet the wires in the house going to lights & such is bigger sized that the wire outdoors going to the shop...

--->Paul

Corey

www.elec-toolbox.com/calculators/voltdrop.htm

I ran 140' of #4 UF copper and did all the wiring myself. Be sure to use a ground rod and install it correctly. Be sure that no wire is exposed. It must be underground or inside a plastic pipe. I hired a farmer with a small backhoe to dig the trench. I helped out with the manual digging near the buildings. The whole deal.. wire, box, trenching, cost under $400.

There is absolutly no reason if the proper wire size is used that low voltage would be a problem.

If that was a true statement, then how would factories make runs of several hundred feet without any low voltage problems.

Dean, You need to study the NEC and basic electrical therory a tad bit more before giving advise!

NEC=National Electrical Code

And pay attention next time. The length of the wire run has NOTHING to do with it!

But back to the original post. My answer had to do with the load capacity (ampacity) of his house box and the possible problems with attempting to add 100 amp breakers to an existing 200 amp house box. If he had the capacity in the box, he would not have asked the question. You are correct, wire size IS important (very important) but I was simply trying to point him in the right direction regarding a separate feed to his barn. Our electric utility requires either a separate meter or the use of the provided separate 100 amp feed at the pedestal (underground service here). All current installations here provide for a 200 amp house feed, and 100 amp barn feed, and a 20 amp feed for outdoor lighting.

--->Paul

The low voltage problem results in shortened life of appliances, especially refrigerator, freezers and air conditioners. Sure, you may not notice anything when you use the shop power but over time it might not be good for the appliances.

BTW, I got all my supplies at Menards. They were cheaper than anybody else.