I just wanted to post a few basic electrical safety items. The National Electical Code (NEC) has a zillion rules and exceptions, 772 pages worth, so i am not going to get into to much depth. Most of the advise in here is spot on, i just weanted to clear up a few things.
First: GFCI must be used on all outdoor, garage, bathroom, kitchen, and basement outlets of any size. This is the single biggest safety item you can install. There are three ways to install a GFCI; Circuit Breaker, Outlet, and Plug-in. CB and outlets are installed permanently into your house wiring, Plug-in is portable, looks like a 2' extention cord with a little molded box in the middle. they can be found at RV supply and some home supply stores. How they work
Second: Grounding The purpose of grounding (Equipment Grounding) is to give stray currant a path back to the supply to facilitate the tripping of over-current or Ground fault devices. This simple mean that if there is a short, the equipment ground is the electrical path not you. everything metal that is connected to something electrical needs top be grounded.
Third: Over-Current Protection These are the devices that prevent too much electrical current from flowing through wires and equipment. NEC table 310.16 list how much amperage a given wire size can handle, you must have a fuse or circuit breaker at or smaller then that number. This mean if you supply your Brewery Control box with a 50amp 120/240v CB, and tap off a 120v 15a outlet for pumps or relays, they must have a 15a fuse/CB protecting them. This is to prevent that little 15a outlet and 14awg wiring from overheating do to a potential 50amp current. A GFCI will not prevent this! Edit: After talking to engineer(UL code), he stated that if you are using Heater elements hard wired or Cord and plug connected greater then 1500w, each element must have its own set of fuses, unless thermally protected.
I am an Electrcial Contractor in California, I do Industrial and Commercial work, so feel free to ask me anything related.
First: GFCI must be used on all outdoor, garage, bathroom, kitchen, and basement outlets of any size. This is the single biggest safety item you can install. There are three ways to install a GFCI; Circuit Breaker, Outlet, and Plug-in. CB and outlets are installed permanently into your house wiring, Plug-in is portable, looks like a 2' extention cord with a little molded box in the middle. they can be found at RV supply and some home supply stores. How they work
Second: Grounding The purpose of grounding (Equipment Grounding) is to give stray currant a path back to the supply to facilitate the tripping of over-current or Ground fault devices. This simple mean that if there is a short, the equipment ground is the electrical path not you. everything metal that is connected to something electrical needs top be grounded.
Third: Over-Current Protection These are the devices that prevent too much electrical current from flowing through wires and equipment. NEC table 310.16 list how much amperage a given wire size can handle, you must have a fuse or circuit breaker at or smaller then that number. This mean if you supply your Brewery Control box with a 50amp 120/240v CB, and tap off a 120v 15a outlet for pumps or relays, they must have a 15a fuse/CB protecting them. This is to prevent that little 15a outlet and 14awg wiring from overheating do to a potential 50amp current. A GFCI will not prevent this! Edit: After talking to engineer(UL code), he stated that if you are using Heater elements hard wired or Cord and plug connected greater then 1500w, each element must have its own set of fuses, unless thermally protected.
I am an Electrcial Contractor in California, I do Industrial and Commercial work, so feel free to ask me anything related.