Hey guys I need to get 220v to my garage and looking at least getting the trench dug and pipe laid before the first snow. For a 220V line from my box, what size and kind of line do i run? How deep do i need the trench? I think the current 110 line is at about 12" - i plan on replacing that run with a larger pipe from the box to the wall of my garage and having a sub panel inside the garage.

It all depends on how many amps you want to your garage. 6 gauge will do 50 amps, I ran 2 gauge and have 100 amps. I think the trench is supposed to be 2' deep, and no rocks/gravel. If there are rocks & stuff then you are supposed to put a bed of sand down. Also supposed to place red "tape" like caution tape above the line, so if you are digging & find the tape, you know to stop.

There is wire rated for direct burial, or you'll have to put it into PVC. Just ask at the electrical supply store. You'll want 2 hot lines, a neutral, and a ground. I assume you will remove the 100v line & run 220 & 110 from the subpanel in the garage.

Also to think about - How much power is coming into your main panel for the property?

100 amp through 200 amp main breaker I'm guessing.

Older houses have less coming in. My 1930's house I bought had 40 amp service when we bought it.

You just don't want to have so much electrical going to the garage, that with everything fired up it pops the main breaker and kills the entire house.


Are you going to lay the electrical line and conduit at the same time as you go? It's easier than snaking the line through conduit later...


J.E.

I've got a 50 amp sub panel with 2 220v outlets, a 220v compressor hardwired to the breaker, and a bunch of 110v outlets. It's handy to be able to plug the plasma and welder in at the same time. I think outlets are like welders-you never realize how handy they are until you've got one. I've never tripped a breaker, even when running multiple 220 items at once. My wallet heats up, but no other ill effects.

I'm wishing I'd run 4 110v and 1 220v to the front of my garage. The cost of wire made it prohibitive since I was redoing everything else, but I may go back and add them in at some point.

Lankshark - open your main breaker panel and look what the main big top breaker is: that will tell you what service you have circuit breakers for, you might have more power coming in but this will give us an idea of what you got...just for starters..


I just ran 80 amp service to my garage. A sub panel of a sub panel.

5 circuits for 110v and 1 for 220v. Good enough for what I want, I don't do a ton of work at the house , enough to run the mill an lathe..they don't run together anyway.

Yea, my welder and plasma together would probably trip the 220v, but I don't weld and cut at the same time either.

J.E.

I say you put in a sub panel in the garage and then come off that for your 220. They you have the option down the line to add more in the garage if needed. Depending if you pull romex or THHN (individual wires) and also depending on how many turns your pipe does ( no more than 4 90s) 1 1/2" PVC schedule 40 should be good.

I'm doing the same thing at the moment and am considering going with a 60 amp breaker. Still need to check what a Miller 210 is rated at.

Even for the guys that are going to have two 220V outlets, more than likely they would only use one of them at a time.[/quote]

MM210 pulls about 35a. 50a breaker should be fine. My welder pulls about the same and ive had my compressor kick on (15a) while welding heavy stuff without a problem.

I guess Im overkill. I put 100amp sub panel to my garage. Only have my compressor(20a 220) welder(30a 220) and 20a outlet on it. But the nice part is I can run whatever I want. I only did it cause all the stuff was free but the 100amp breaker.

Digging the trench this weekend and getting the conduit laid in.

Question: all the conduit leading to my main box is metal - if i use PVC will this be a problem or should i use metal conduit? As mentioned above i was going to use 1.5" conduit...

Roughly laid out I will have two 90 degree bends coming from the main panel - then a 35FT run across the yard, two more 90's then through the wall into the inside of the garage to a panel of some kind.

I want to get the conduit laid before so the grass and ground has time to heal before winter..

Hey - if you haven't bought it yet...



So what size wire are you going with?

1.5" conduit is a little small, bigger would be better, especially if you ever want to snake a bigger line in.

I had the phone company add 6 lines to my building and the tech recommended 4" line, but we had already buried 3" conduit and it was ok snaking the tiny phone line.


edit : sorry if you already bought the conduit, your going to get a lot of online help which sometimes can get frustrating with different opinions...


J.E.

1.5" is plenty for what he is pulling. The length is short. Whats gonna kill him is the 4 90's. By code you are not to exceed 360* worth of bends with out a pull box. So if possible i'd run the conduit from the panel on the house to the garage. Leave off the last and pull in the cable. Then feed the last 90 over the cable and glue it all together.

yep an LB is good for that.

Well, this isn't going to happen any time soon as there are just too many trees in my yard. Started digging the entire trench and quickly realized I will never get down to 24" - maybe 12" if I worked really hard trying to avoid killing the trees. - Should have dug the trench 4 years ago when I did the sprinklers ;)

Anyway decided on a weather proof 220 box by the main panel and will be building 60ft drop cord to use when I run the welder. Already purchased everything I need to get it done.. close to $300! but iam tired of screwing around with this and just want to weld!