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I know you have seen these questions before

2K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  AllanJ 
#1 ·
After searching this forum i see plenty of "House to Garage" questions, codes & ideas.

My question may be a little more direct. Either i will do it with what i have or not :)

Money is tight but do have some things laying around the shed that I think i may be able to use for a simply shed "enlighting"

I have in my garage:
1 spool, labelled 141UF Underground cable, 14AWG, 600v, PVC - 500 feet single.
box of 15 amp GFCI Outlets, 120v

My question is simple. Should I technically be able to run a wire from already existing outlet on house, 50 feet to shed with 14 AWG wire and make a junction box containing 2-4 of the 15 amp outlet (build in breakers) I know 14 AWG is not ideal at all but considering i only need power to do the following.

recharge cordless drills
run a mini grinder (2.1 amp)
Occasionally other tools as; small circular saw in burst (12 amp), sander, jigsaw etc. dont plan on running any heat/air.
Smaller 5 gallon / 12amp compressor.
+ a light and a radio and little things.

Most of my work is done by the garage so it's not a necessity to have all these things there. technically a light and some various little things would do. mostly for storage but it woudl be nice to have an outlet down there.

+ a light and a radio and little things.


best regards
 
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#2 ·
Yes it is possible with a few caveats;

Must run from a 15 amp circuit not a 20 amp (due to the #14 wire you are using). The existing circuit has additional unused capacity (lightly loaded)

The circuit you are running from must not be restricted by code for uses other than the room installed (Ex: kitchen counter circuits, bath circuits, etc).

Running a new circuit from the breaker panel would be much better.
 
#3 ·
Thansk for your reply,

So it should be ok to simple run a line 14awg single conductor x 3 hot, nea & ground to a simple panel containing 2 double 15 amp outlets with breakers?

The panel is unfortunately on the other side of the house, digging trench from there would be hard.

The exterior outley i have been using is one of those heavy duty zinc casings containing 2 outlets. both grounded.

Yes it is possible with a few caveats;

Must run from a 15 amp circuit not a 20 amp (due to the #14 wire you are using). The existing circuit has additional unused capacity (lightly loaded)

The circuit you are running from must not be restricted by code for uses other than the room installed (Ex: kitchen counter circuits, bath circuits, etc).

Running a new circuit from the breaker panel would be much better.
 
#4 ·
I've seen it done that way to many times.
What ends up happening in reality is the main line is so small it severly limits what you can run and and there's no way to safely add more circuts.
So you end up having to go back and do the whole job over again just because you undersized the incoming line.
 
#5 ·
Stop and back up, I read your original post as you had #14 UF cable. UF is a cable assembly with 2 insulated conductors and a bare ground in a non metallic cable sheath. Now it sounds like you have individual conductors (wire vs cable). To use this you need continuous conduit from the house to the garage.
 
#6 ·
Use of that spool of black type 141UF single conductor is very limited, probably the best use is for low voltage garden lighting where the run is of limited length or the wattage is very low (LEDs).

In your case you would need white wire for the neutral, and green or bare wire for the equipment grounding conductor.

At this rate you might as well install a heavier feed such as 8 gauge 14-3 (red, black, green, white) direct burial cable. You can temporarily terminate it in a junction box next to the outdoor receptacle with just the black wire energized. Future extension to the panel will allow up to 40 amperes at 240 volts.
 
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