Senile Texas Aggie - comic relief for the rest of you

[Bruce]

As a friend once said to me "when working in a breaker panel, one had for the panel, one for your pocket" Hard to fry yourself that way. Of course ASSUMING there is a main breaker in the box or outside by the meter, turning it off and having someone hold a flashlight (or use a headlamp) while you move the white wire from a breaker to the neutral bar is probably safer. No need to say "good luck", you got this!

No Costco near you? I would check prices on LED shop lights there and at Lowes. The ones I got were quality brand, Feit
https://www.costco.com/Feit-4'-Linkable-LED-Shop-Light-2-pack.product.100410429.html

They were sold individually though.

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

No Costco, but there is a Sam's Club (redneck version of Costco). Appropriately I am a member of Sam's Club. They are just down the street from Lowes, so I will check them out as well.

Senile Texas Aggie

 

[Bruce]

I think some places have both Sam's Club and Walmart. I don't think we have any Sam's Clubs in VT. We were the last state to fall to the Costco AND Walmart juggernauts.

 

[Mike CHS]

We had both Sam's and Costco in Charleston, SC and the same here. We are equal distance from Huntsville, Alabama and Nashville. Both stores in Nashville are nicer with better selection. Walmarts are everywhere but we try not to use them unless we have no other choice.

 

[greybeard]

All,

Thanks for your all of your suggestions. I have decided to convert the circuit to 110V from 220V. When I go to pick up my tractor from the dealer in Alma, AR, I will swing by Lowes and pick up 3 more LED shop lights. Then one day I will open up the main panel and move the white wire of the 220V circuit from one phase to the neutral and hang all of the LED lights. Miss @farmerjan, as Mr. @greybeard might say, "I ain't skeerd." (Of course, there is one big difference between him and me -- he knows what he is doing and I don't! Maybe I should be "skeerd"!)

Mr. @Bruce, sir, I am with you -- I don't like CFLs, either, and would use them last, given my choice of LEDs (first), then incandescent, then CFL).

Senile Texas Aggie

I hope you meant from one leg and did not really mean one phase.
If there is any chance at all that your shop might be powered with 3 ph service, stop right now. Changing any wiring that may lead to anything above stray voltage [.5-1volt] entering the neutral zone is among the most deadly mistakes that can be made, and it doesn't just affect your own service....affects surrounding residences and businesses as well. I cannot stress this enough.


Considering everything else you've mentioned about the shop's electrical, DO make sure that panel and it's circuits are properly grounded.
Neutral makes equipment and lighting work. Ground saves your ass. The 2 are not the same thing, especially in outbuildings that are fed from a breaker in the main dist panel in residence.

(IF (and only if) your shop has it's own meter and service, then it's very possible neutral and ground buss bars are bonded together and code allows for that, but only in that 'first means of disconnect'.)

If you get a chance, and before you begin converting from 240v to 120v, & have the cover off that breaker panel, I'd like to see a picture of the wiring inside it. I would also like to see one of the data plates from the existing 240v lighting fixtures.

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

All,

At the request of Mr. @greybeard, I have hereby included several pictures of my circuit box for your viewing pleasure.
First, the top half of the circuit panel: .
Next, the bottom half of the circuit panel: .
Next, a close-up of the ground bus bar. The white wire in the foreground with the black tape on it is one of the hot legs of the lighting.
Next, the neutral bus on the left side. This is the bus to which I planned to attach the white wire of the lighting:
Next, the neutral bus on the right side:
Next, the mercury light info:
Finally, outside of the shop, where the meter is. Not shown is a backup generator (currently broken) that feeds wires through one of the conduits that is shown. I think the meter is at the shop instead of the house because I think they built the shop first so that they would have a place to store all of the tools while they built the house.

Senile Texas Aggie

 

[Bruce]

Wow, that is a LOT of 240V circuits! Is there no panel at the house? Or do some of those run to the house panel? Though that would be weird, more likely there would be 1 going to a house panel but given the large ones are 50A, that doesn't seem likely.

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

All,

While the electrical wizards ponder the circuit box, I need some advice on how to handle a situation at the pond. My wife noticed a tree that had its top broken off about 20 feet from the base. It is on the top of the dam, so I need to do something about it. First, here are two pictures of the tree.
Away from the broken top:
Underneath the broken top:

I am considering two options, leaning toward the second: (1) do a Humbolt cut on the side of the tree away from the pond (on the left side in the first picture). Then do a backcut on the side of the pond. When the tree starts to fall, run like my pants are on fire. (2) tie a rock to the end of a rope and throw the rock over the broken top part of the tree. Then using the rope, haul a chain over the top of the broken top and connect the end of the chain to the tractor. Pull with the tractor until the broken top comes free.

Any other ideas?

Senile Texas Aggie

 

[Bruce]

I like #2. No telling where the broken top will go when the tree starts to fall since it is hung up in other branches. Make it a LONG chain. Or maybe a LONG piece of low stretch line with a good breaking strength.

Or get out your tree climbing spikes, safety belt and chainsaw. Climb the tree and cut the broken part free.

 

[greybeard]

#2 here as well.
I just did this 2 seeks ago on a broken top but it wasn't as high up.

The elec dist box...

What a mess.

The neutral coming into the panel from the meter box is not marked with white tape as is required.
I don't see it as having very many 240v breakers at all, considering the size of your shop and the amount of acreage you have.
I could easily visualize a 240v air compressor, a 240v welder, 240v lighting, maybe a 240v grain bin blower. Perhaps a 240v water well being powered from that location instead or in addition to one powered from the house. And the shop may have been set up for 240v heat.

I am curious about the low voltage wires I see there tho..the really small wires. I see one@ least 1 cable that is a specialty cable, with what looks to be 2 conductors #8 and multiple small multi colored conductors...that's cable that is used to provide both main power to and also control a device..one that turns on or off according to temperature requirements or pressure requirements. Pressure switch or thermostat and you would see a transformer somewhere if it is for a thermostat of some kind, like on a grain dryer or heater.

Before led, 240 lighting was the way to go in a large building. Remember, load vs voltage determines power used. Any load that pulls 10 watts at 120v will pull only about 1/2 that with 240v.
https://www.rapidtables.com/calc/electric/watt-volt-amp-calculator.html

I'm not sure why they ran all the neutral wires on both sides of the mains. Since the shop has it's own service, that would be allowed, since neutral and ground are supposed to be bonded together, but still, it's customary to run all the neutrals on one side, and all the bare or green ground wires on the other bus. Instead, there is a 3rd short bus bar off to the left side which is where they ran most of the green ground wires. That off-to-the-side ground bus is usually what you see in a sub panel, not a main dist panel. I do not/cannot see a bonding strip between ground and neutral tho. Might be there, and I just don't see it.
2 of several different ways you may see it be done.

I am NOT saying you need to install a bonding strap, but you might want to have an electrician take a look at that panel if you ever get one out there. To me, it looks odd....like it was made up as a sub-panel fed from a different location's main dist panel. But obviously was not since it is a metered box.