What would you get?

[north1]

Yeah I have been avoiding it because after the underground was run years ago the previous owner poured concrete and set up bins over it. Now it is going to be a major undertaking to go a roundabout way to access shop. This would require a significant amount of $$$. With current farm economy will nix getting machine tools for a spell:-(.

 

[north1]

There is an underground boring service that does oilfield work nearby so I suppose I could check and see what it would cost to bore line underneath concrete bin pads but I am thinking it may be more $$$ than adding a couple hundred yards of distance to the route. Dammit!!! Approaching 60 years of age and dreaming of making chips. Probably more cost effective to keep farming out machining work.

 

[woodchucker]

Current panel is 100 amp. 220 outlet is shared with vertical 80 gallon air compressor. Had master electrician review current setup. He and his company retrofitted the same building over 30 years ago. He stated I am absolutely at the max for amp draw. Lines (conductors) feeding current panel are too small to feed a larger service entrance. The feed is unground as power pole is over 300 yards away. In other words not overhead feed close to building which would make things easier and more economical.

maybe you asked the wrong questions.
If you have wiring for 120v you can usually run 240v
How many breakers from your main panel go to the shop? I'm talking from your home?
What gauge wire is running to the shop?
You can always take a 120v line and make it 220v. 220v uses less amps.
How you're divided is the key question.

 

[matthewsx]

This is a 36x60 farm shop with some electric heat, propane furnace, three banks of fluorescent lighting, air compressor, electric/ hydraulic overhead door, drill press, electric hydraulic 50 ton shop press, 50 amp welder outlet, larger and small grinders, outside 20 amp outlets for plugging in tractors and semis in the winter, outside lighting in front of shop, refrigerator and a host of other electrical draws I can think more about. Oh yeah another one is the water for the shop is well water so there is a well pump.
Last winter my propane furnace went out and the same electrical contractor brought over an electric furnace to keep my water from freezing and had to unhook one bank of elements in the furnace because it tripped the 100 amp main. That’s when I had him go through things and figure out amp draw and he said you are maxed out.

That is a bunch of stuff but most of those loads are only drawing when you’re using them. If you were a commercial operation with six guys working all at once you would definitely need more power but for a one man shop although it might be theoretically maxed you’re unlikely to ever pull 100 amps.

Yes, if you need to heat that building with electric you’ll max out but a simple kerosene bullet heater should be sufficient to keep from freezing pipes.

Electricians have tables they need to follow to make sure they’re not liable for you doing stupid stuff. If you take the time to go through the loads yourself you can figure out if you need to upgrade based on your anticipated use.

I understand where you’re at though. I had a shop that someone ran the wires under concrete and didn’t use big enough conduit. My 240v was actually two 120v circuits ganged together. It worked but I wasn’t happy with it.

Do whatever you need to be safe but I’ll still stand by the statement that if you don’t have enough amperage to run 240v circuits you also don’t have enough for 120v. It’s a law. Ohms law

John

 

[woodchucker]

Do whatever you need to be safe but I’ll still stand by the statement that if you don’t have enough amperage to run 240v circuits you also don’t have enough for 120v. It’s a law. Ohms law

THIS.

 

[north1]

There is no home associated with shop. Just one 100 amp panel.

 

[north1]

There are not two 220 outlets inside shop. There is one outside that is used to plug in a 5 HP aeration fan for a grain bin. Used to dry down and aerate grain stored in bin.

 

[woodchucker]

You realize that if you went to LED lighting you could eliminate some breakers. I can't believe how much less my LED's draw than my old florescent.
It's remarkable. That would open a few breakers.

 

[Eddyde]

This is a 36x60 farm shop with some electric heat, propane furnace, three banks of fluorescent lighting, air compressor, electric/ hydraulic overhead door, drill press, electric hydraulic 50 ton shop press, 50 amp welder outlet, larger and small grinders, outside 20 amp outlets for plugging in tractors and semis in the winter, outside lighting in front of shop, refrigerator and a host of other electrical draws I can think more about. Oh yeah another one is the water for the shop is well water so there is a well pump.
Last winter my propane furnace went out and the same electrical contractor brought over an electric furnace to keep my water from freezing and had to unhook one bank of elements in the furnace because it tripped the 100 amp main. That’s when I had him go through things and figure out amp draw and he said you are maxed out.

100 Amps should still be more than enough unless you run all those things at once. Then even if you do, the worst that would happen is you'd trip the main breaker. However, for the sake of peace of mind. You could test how much current you're actually drawing. turn on everything you realistically would use at one time and measure the load with an ammeter. The safe maximum sustained draw on a panel is considered to be 80% so if you are at 70% or more you might want rewire. But if it's say 50-60% I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Advil]

Unless you don't actually have 100A available because the wires on the 900ft service run are undersize (should not be the case if wire size was calculated to code), you should be fine.

Some of the breakers on that panel could be consolidated, or maybe even easier the 50A welding breaker could feed a 50A sub panel right next to it for machine tools and welding. Then you can just relax and leave that panel alone.

The only draws you listed if you have a ton of stuff on at once that maybe we aren't giving enough credit to are:
The well pump, what is it's max inrush when it fires up?
The block heaters for the farm equipment in winter. If there are several on 24-7 that could be 1500-3000W... Depends on the heaters.
The shop electric heat. How many thousands of watts on at once?
How many watts are the grain fans and do they run all the time? (Edit... Missed it you said 5hp. If that's on all the time that takes a bite out of what you have available.)

Things like putting in a mini split heat pump will pay itself off and reduce power, timers on the block heaters will have them only turn on at night or times you need them, led light upgrade... All could drastically reduce your constant load if that's actually a problem without doing anything to your 100A service.

I'd do a lot of efficiency upgrades before having 900 feet of really big wire buried.