John Grabowski wrote:

wrote in message
...
I recently added some new, heavier-duty equipment to my garage
woodshop and am now finding that I'm tripping the breakers more often.
There are two circuits in the garage, both 15 amps. The new tools are
rated as high as 20 amps and trip the breakers under loads (no
surprise there). If I upgrade, should I just take these circuits on up
to 30 amps? Is this as simple as merely installing new breakers, or
will it likely require some rewiring? I don't plan on trying to do
this myself, but I would like to get a feel for what's involved and
how much it might cost. The house was built in 1978. I'll be calling
the electricians this week in any case.

Thanks.

Lynn Willis
Indianapolis


* You will definitely need to upgrade the wiring to increase the
amperage capacity. I would suggest that you have an electrician install
a subpanel in your shop. This will allow you to easily add more
circuits in the future as you add more equipment. The subpanel topic
and garage shop has been discussed here a lot. Do a Google search of
this group to see what has been said in the past.

Sometimes tripping can occur due to
large voltage drops on long runs. If
your breaker box is far from the tools,
heavier wire can help, but then, why
not increase the breaker to match the
wire.