Source
r/electricians•
boythinks

Need advice on setting up power tools for wood working

I have been doing hand tool woodworking as a hobby and have decided to get some power tools to tackle some bigger projects. I want to use a DeWalt table saw (1850 watts, 10 Amps) and a dust collector (560 watts, 10 Amps) together (haven't yet purchased), but I am not sure if using both at the same time is a bad idea.

All this is in my garage with a single power point. I live in Sydney which typically has 230V, 10 Amps outlets

My question is, are the ratings on power tools showing me what they draw at max load or just what they draw as a standard?

And

If I use an adapter that has an overload protection can I use both the table saw and the dust collector at the same time?

Please also let me know if I am completely off track.

** Right now there isn't an option for changing the power to my garage to a higher amperage.

Posted Jan 26, 2020, 7:15 AM UTC

28
Aurora-420•

If you can’t up your 10amp outlets(seems very low) I would suggest having the saw and collector on separate outlets with separate circuits and you should be fine.

2
boythinksOP•

The garage has two plug points (as in you can plug in two things) does that mean they are on different circuits?

I assumed it was just one circuit...

1
Aurora-420•

You only have one outlet in your whole garage??

1
boythinksOP•

Yes :(

Was never an issue as I usually do everything with hand tools...but feels quite restrictive for doing anything with power tools.

1
Sabnitron•

Yes, that is very restrictive. You will not be able to run the table saw and the dust collector.

1
__--Pete--__•

That's a total of 2410 watts, you'll likely be OK. The outlet is rated at 2400 but an extra 10w isn't going to be a problem.

If there's just one outlet in the garage it might be on the same circuit as other outlets in the house though and if there's a lot of stuff running off those other outlets you might blow the fuse/breaker.

Typically an run of 10 Amp outlets has a 16 Amp fuse .

I'd give it a whirl, worst case you blow the fuse and get to find out what else is on the same circuit.

1
boythinksOP•

My theory originally was that the table saw and the dust collector won't draw full power all the time.

I was also thinking of putting in some kind of surge protection that would cut out if the power draw was too high.

But I just don't know enough to judge how stupid my thinking might be.

I haven't bought the dust collector yet, is there a way I can test this out before I purchase it?

1
__--Pete--__•

The power draw will be highest when they startup or under a lot of load.

The extractor will pull a bit on startup but settle down to something less than it's stated maximum when its running.

Likewise with the tablesaw, it'll draw less when the blade is spinning with no load and a bit more when you're working it hard.

You should be able to turn the extractor on first and the saw second.

All 4 way powerstrips have to have a 10Amp breaker in them now. If you plugged both tools into one of those then the breaker in the powerstrip should pop out before the fuse in the main board blows. (Don't run anything else off the board or outlet though.)

You can also get plug in power meters from bunnings that will tell you exactly how much each tool is using.

1