Any Electrical wholeseler "should" have some

Ok - done - screwfix do before 6pm friday for Saturday delivery - pretty nifty!

Thanks Pugwash & Andy.

Al. Phew!

Right, sorry to drag this back up, but I thought it'd be useful to post up what happened in case anyone else is contemplating installing 3 phase.

After my quote from the leccy people (following a site visit to discuss routing etc), I sent them all the plans etc they wanted (just used aerial photos/maps from the net and drew / wrote on them).

Fortunately, the 3 phase line went right along the edge of the property. So I just had to send them the cash, book a date for the installation, and prepare a trench between their line and my garage. Here's Jez (Dollythelw, left), Andy (Moglite, on digger) and a non-forumer having a go on the digger:

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I threw in some conduit from Jewsons (got a couple of spare lengths if anyone needs?), put a pull-rope through as I went (to pull the cable through the buried conduit) then filled it in. (Somewhere around this time was the digging up of my neighbour's phone line, but lets move on...)

I had an electrician fit everything inside. I had no idea what 3 phase even looked like, so I wasn't gonna risk doing it myself. I now have the normal ring of 240V sockets, some single-phase (blue) 'ceeform' sockets of various amperages, and 3x 3-phase (red) sockets (1x 64 amp, 2x 32 amp). Its not cheap, and I can always add more / bigger if I need to. Its all shielded cable, of course.

Here's the fusey bit, my electrician's work started at this point:

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Here's some of the sockets. Plugs to match can be seen on the shelf:

Click to view attachment

Once thats all done and ready, you can get them leccy board to come and throw a cable in, connect one end to the grid, and one end to the consumer unit (which they supply and is part of the quoted price):

Click to view attachment

Et voila. 3 phase 415 volts. Nominally I have a 100 amp supply, but there is nothing limiting this. I could have more if I needed it by just 'telling' the board that I'll be taking more amps. Its just a figure so they can keep tabs on approx maximum demand.

Costs were very roughly 900 quid for the leccy board's work (fitting the cable to the supply, the consumer unit etc etc), and about the same again for the electrician, all the internal cabling and sockets / plugs etc.

Regarding running costs, to have 3 phase rather than single phase adds an incredible £2.21 per quarter to my bill...

Hope that helps someone! Cheers, Al.

So with your new welder there's nothing stopping you building a car now, eh?

Hi Al ,

Thats all looking very tasty....a well kitted workshop is much more inspiring than a mess of extensions and a noisy generator out the back. Top job fella.

Have you sorted your lathe switch cos I've got a few spares in the old farm installation..

Cheers

Steveb

Hi Steve. Yeah, I'm pleased with it, though its taken a while to accumulate some 3 phase tooling (had to pay for the bloomin installation first!).

Sadly, the well-organised zen-like space is now full of Unimog. Need to get it finished and out so I can return to my vapour-build... I hope yours are coming along too?

I dug out those pinion conversions the other day. Let me know if you're interested. If not I'll flog 'em elsewhere.

A switch could be very handy. I'll get back to you after I next go back to the garage (few weeks).

Cheers, Al.

yep put my name on those pinion conversions ta we'll have a deal with some mog bits if you still want steering box & gearbox, my yard is filling up with mogs as well will be stripping the first one soon


Steveb

portals..a doorway to a different world

Ok mate - you've got it. One small correction though:

the secret is to bolt em to something thats running & let the engine take the strain

anyway thats what the jcb is for ....moving all my non running vapour builds

Cheers

Steveb

Aw crap... Don't YOU start!

I'll have you know that vapour-building is the way to a healthy back!

'Running'...? 'Engine'...? Does not compute.

Al

sorry Al.....maybe I should come clean and admit to my '49 in the corner of the shed which I started doing up in '84




...I am giving serious vapourthought to finishing it for the 60th anniversary but some more planning is req'd I feel



oh yeah and my 109 kept me in the shed for 3 years , never thought it wouldn't get done tho.

time is only another dimension to be stretched or compressed

cheers

Steveb

I take it that you mean your 60th birthday Steve

Don't you mean: