Adding Circuits

We are just beginning to start with our kitchen remodel. Today, I mapped out all the circuits and this is what I found.



Circuit # 7 - 20 amp circuit to 1 back splash outlet then to 3 kitchen wall outlets, then to a closet outlet and closet ceiling light and then to a side  porch light!



Circuit # 8 - 20 amp to Dishwasher and Disposal



Circuit # 9 - 20 amp circuit to microwave and kitchen ceiling lights. 2 patio recessed lights and dining room ceiling light.



Circuit # 12 - 20 amp circuit to another back splash outlet then to 2 dining room wall outlets.



Circuit # 14 - 20 amp to Refrigerator only



Circuit # 18 - 15 amp to GFCI outlet in garage then that feeds 3 outlets for 3 bathroom outlets and 1 outside patio outlet.



I going to have to add 1 more back splash outlet due to increase in counter space. I'll put the microwave on a dedicated circuit. So I need 2 additional breakers but I only have 1 blank spot in the breaker panel. I guess I can add one of those slim tandem breakers.



So my question, is it ok to have additional wall outlets on the same circuit as a back splash outlet?  If it's ok I'll lighten up circuit # 7 by putting some of those wall outlets on the additional back splash outlet.

Oh, I have 2 20 amp circuits I did not get identified yet! I'll get to those tomorrow.



thanks!
      

QUESTION:  can I run (2) 14-2 romex wires in (1) 3/4 BX Armored cable?



SETUP: I am finishing my basement and a few main floor circuits are intermingled with the basement lights and outlets.  In finishing the basement, all basement electrical will be on its own circuit. Therefore, I need to rewire some main floor items.



For instance, the main floor living room outlets go through the den area below in the basement. The 3/4 BX cable goes through the ceiling to the outlets.



PLAN:  I plan to cut the armored cable shortly after it comes out of the ceiling (main floor floor) and just connect the first floor outlets in a series using the proper bushing and BX cable ends. I will strap the BX cable ends down and the romex as soon as it comes out.



The electrical inspector already gave me thumbs up on doing this for the electric oven and cooktop (bigger wires of course).



I searched and couldn't find anything to this specific question.



Any input?



B
      

I am redoing my basement, and i am making the electrical runs for the recessed lights in the ceiling. I am using 14 gauge wire, and i have 16 recessed lights with 65 watt bulbs in them, however they are rated at 75 watts max. assuming someone after us may put in the max bulb, the total watts would be 1200, equaling 10 amps. When all of the new wiring is done, i am going to have an electrician connect the circuits to the circuit breaker (using 15 amp breakers) however since i am not comfortable doing this myself, and i would like to use the lights now, can i connect them to the existing 12 gauge wire (this will not overload the breaker... i already checked what else was plugged in to the electrical outlets).



to recap:

The power draw will only be 10 amps at MAX. capacity

existing wiring is 12 gauge/ 20 amp breaker

electrician WILL connect 14 gauge wire to breaker using 15 amp breaker



*THIS WILL BE TEMPORARY*
      

I will be pulling from the breaker panel new 12/2 romex for a kitchen microwave and a 20 amp circuit, 12/2 for the garage. I might also pull some extra wire for a future add on room and to divide up existing circuits to avoid overloads in the future. I am snaking these cables through existing sheetrock ceilings and walls. Are there any code requirements about snaking through existing walls and ceilings other than drilling holes 2" from the face of a stud or beam?
      

Hi All -



I'm looking to add some outlets in the garage (currently have only one) for my workshop. At most, I'll be using a 13 amp table saw and 11 amp shop vac simultaneously.



I had an electrician come out for an estimate and while it was a fair price, I want to do this myself to build some confidence.



A few questions: he said they would probably add 2 15 amp circuits to handle the load. Is that necessary? Or can I add say one 30 amp circuit?



2nd: my garage is drywalled (and insulated). It will be much easier to have the outlets (and wire) on the exterior of the wall. What would be the best materials for this? My breaker is located in the garage and the outlets would run directly out from the side as seen in my poor illustration.



Since it is set into the wall, I'll have to run the wire from the breaker into the back of the first box. Is that as simple as it sounds, or is there something that I am missing?



Any help is appreciated.



Cameron
      

Hi all, this is my first post, so...my kitchen was just renovated and the electrical outlets are on the walls and I wanted them in plugmold under the cabinet. Why didn't it happen?  Long story, but I'm doing it myself now.  The electrical receptacles are on 2 separate circuits with a gfci receptacle on each and neither circuit has a receptacle outside the kitchen where I can put the gfci's, so I'm putting gfci breakers in the panel instead. I've run into a different problem on each circuit that'd like some advice on.



Circuit 1: this is a 20 amp circuit.  I have to plug this circuit's neutral wire into the gfci breaker, but I couldn't see which neutral wire matched the hot wire (buried in mess of wires) and I don't have a continuity tester so I just pulled one neutral at a time (tedious) until the circuit failed, but it never failed. So I did this again for every neutral...same result. This circuit shares a few boxes with other circuits so I'm wondering if the neutrals on different circuits are tied together somewhere, and if so I'm pretty sure, but not completely, that that's not going to work with the gfci breaker.  So I didn't install that gfci breaker since I'm not confident it would actually gfci (yep i verbified gfci).  What do you think?



Circuit 2:  this is a 20 amp circuit.  This circuit currently has the refrigerator, gas stove and range hood, and then a gfci in front of 3 electrical receptacles, which already sounds bad since I thought the kitchen receptacles required 2 dedicated circuits. I replaced that breaker with no problem, but it tripped after a few minutes and continued to trip every few minutes. I haven't changed anything else on that circuit yet and it's never tripped before, but now it is, so I put the old breaker back for now. The current gfci receptacle is only protecting the 3 outlets since the appliances are ahead of it. I know you wouldn't normally want the appliances gfci protected, so do you think the refrigerator motor may be a problem?  Do I need the appliances on a separate circuit?  What would you suggest I do?



Thanks, and if you're wondering "why all the effort?", it's partly because I'm meddlesome, partly because I'm bored, and partly because the backsplash tile is to be on showcase, not the electrical receptacles.
      

I'm having quite the time finding an electrician who will quote this.  Just about all of them say that what I need is to upgrade my main panel but I want to install a new main panel that is a part of the meter base outside and make my current 100A panel a sub.   Maybe you people can tell me why nobody seems to want to do this.  Here are a few shots of the existing meter (note what is apparently a 60A base here)






and a shot of the conduit headed underground.  Like most homes built during this era, the conduit makes a right turn underground to enter through the cinderblock, ending up coming into the back of the main panel.  This conduit encloses a 4 wire feed. edit: no, actually it is only a 3 wire feed which is a problem if I want to convert the original main panel a sub.






Here's the existing panel.  It's a 60's era Square-D split panel with a 30 amp sub panel for the finished basement.  Those are low voltage wires to circuit taps for my home energy monitoring system btw.






The reason I don't want to upgrade this panel are as follows:

We won't be expanding the electrical west of this panel any more.  All planned expansion (240v car charger in Garage, planned 3 season room with grid tie Solar on the roof) will be to the east.


Upgrading the panel will require major surgery to the walls.  Due to the way the original basement is engineered there, the walls have an intricate stud pattern behind the existing panel.  I'd pretty much have to rip out a 4' section and redo it to make the access large enough to handle a 200A panel.


Adding additional circuits to an upgraded panel will require an act of God due to the finished basement construction.  There are no raceways for additional circuits.






Based on this, my thoughts were to create a new 200A main panel outside based on something like the GE model TSM420CSCUP loadcenter.  Here's a shot of this panel:






This particular panel has room for three 2-pole breakers in addition to the 200A mains.  I'd add a 100A 2-pole breaker for the existing panel, with the other two reserved for the garage/solar expansions.



The issue with the contractors who have quoted the job appears to be the conduit going to the existing panel.  I'm not sure what's wrong with it but it is apparently not compliant with current code.  Obviously the bonding needs to change, new grounding electrodes need to be driven, and a water pipe ground needs to be established to the new main panel, but what else is required?



I'd like to throughly research all the code considerations here so I can approach a contractor from a more knowledgable perspective then determine the best way to perform this upgrade.  Due to POCO coordination and the need to cut household power for the duration of the job, I have no desire to DIY this one...



So what exactly is wrong with the conduit running from the existing meter base to the existing load center?  Why is everybody telling me that I can't do essentially what I've described above?  What are the relevant code sections that will apply to this job?  Should I be chatting with my AHJ about local considerations now or should I wait until I have the code requirements down pat (assuming the latter here)?
      

I posted this in the woodworking forum and I got a ton of rants so please spare me that please. I'm not an idiot and I intend on completely turning off all power before attempting anything.



So I've been researching adding a couple of electrical outlets to my garage (where the panel is). I want to run a new 120v outlet for the tablesaw (older craftsman 113 series) so that it is on it's own circuit and a 240v outlet for a grizzly G1029z2 DC on it's own circuit as well.



What amp 120 circuit should I add for my tablesaw? Will a standard 15a breaker be fine?



What amp 240 circuit should I add for my DC? The motor plate states 12 amps and the manual says the electrical is a minimum circuit size of 20. Should I just install a 20amp circuit or go with larger circuit?



Need recommendations on the gauge of wire to use on each circuit.
      

In most homes I've noticed that there is always a receptacle right next to the electrical panel and is usually the only thing on that circuit. 

Why is this?

And is there any reason you couldn't add additional items to that circuit, for instance, if you were finishing the basement?



Thanks in advance.
      

We want to run 110V service to a portable building 95' from the breaker box at the house. It will run a 110V 8000 BTU AC (dedicated breaker), two single bulb light fixtures and 2 additional wall outlets. Our breaker box at the house is full, but I am being told I can remove a single breaker in the box and replace it with one that contains two breakers. What is the name of this type of breaker and where can I get one? What size breaker should be used for this amount of power requirement? What size breakers should I have in the load center on the portable building?