pyconaut
commented
3 years ago I will repost this arround the dfferent electrical buildout plans, as there is a lot here.
We will probably want a lot of the wiring around the space to be 240V 3 Phase Open Delta (3P4W) wiring between the breaker panels (which we will want multiple of for different areas (probably 2 or 3 per floor))
This is because you can pull 120v, 240 single phase, and 240 triple phase all off the same wiring, which will be useful in the future if we rearrange the big tools or get more and need to install more plugs. All we would need to do is change things at the breaker panel, and add a different plug at the other end.
these articles exsplain it really well
https://www.electricaltechnology.org/2021/02/high-leg-delta-wiring-240v-208v-120v-panel.html
https://www.oempanels.com/240v-single-phase-and-240v-3-phase
Having 3 phase wiring will be very useful as it would allow us to upgrade to better machines in the future (people have tried to donate us 3 Phase machine tools before, that we had to turn away).
We also want a lot of 20A curcuits as many wood and matelshop tool will draw over 15 amps and sometimes even trip 20A. So maybe even one or two 30A and 50A curcuits Our nice dust collector is a model that is known for this. Also we should have a lot of breakers in general for things like the 3D printers.
also we should have all of our outlets be combo AFCI/GFCI outlets as our space would probably need them in the entire space (except for citical infrastructure (though we will probably get a UPS for those systems anyway)). we can also get combo AFCI/GFCI breakers if we really want.
A lot of people are underestimating how much more wiring we need, as in the old space we did not have close to enough plugs (we hade a lot of things on power strips that should never be on power strips), and we had a lot of plugs (each post had 8, church had 20, above hackatorium had 12, turing had 20, the front left wall had 4 every 3 feet and all of them were usually in use, fox lounge had 12, woodshop had 20, sewing / music had 16, sparkle forge had 20).
I am quite sure noisebridge would not come close to passing a fire inspection from our wiring alone (it was the most common citiation we got at 2169 when they came to inspect). I did put a bit of money and a lot of time into fixing the issue for the DMX lights system at the front of house. I think new hackitorium will require a much more robust electrical buildout then before to make this a non issue.
On the drop down side, it is abit more complex.
The dropdown plugs we had at the old space that we used in the hacitorium would be considered power strips (as they plug into the plug in the ceiling). that means that we can not plug power strips into them (which we always did). If we have enough so that everyone can plug in their stuff it might be ok.
Or go for the route that might allow us to plug power strips into it by getting a suspended dropdown that is plumed directly into our electrical. (these can even have data and air run to them, which would be cool in the shop). These use "bus drop cable" that is then reiforced with strain relief hardware, attached to a bungee system, or a wire reel system.
I am unsure of the legality of this second route as it seems to be a gray area code wise in some places (at least from online discussions i have read).
I think we might want to try to do some fundraising for material donations for some of these parts as the cost of breakers and plugs can add up fast.
a normal 125v combo AFCI/GFCI outlet https://www.amazon.com/Leviton-AGTR2-W-SmartlockPro-Function-Receptacle/dp/B01CG8MTN4 $27.60
if noisebridge wants to have at least as many plugs at it used to or more, we are at 200 plugs or so which would mean we need 100 of these which is almost $3000
and the breakers are even more exspensive https://www.homedepot.com/p/Siemens-20-Amp-AFCI-GFCI-Dual-Function-Circuit-Breaker-Q120DFP/205488018 $56
and we would need probably at least 20 of those at least so that is another $1,100
the higher voltage breakers would probably add another 2k or so.
the extra breaker boxes, coduit and recepticals would add probably 5k minimum
and then there is instalation which would add cost as well.
I think this could end up costing at least 30k, and maybe up to 50k to 60k.
And I have not even calculated in stuff like lighting, and more switches.
We really have to think about this as starting from a building that has almost no electrical outlets and very little lighting overall.
the more gear we can get donated the better, and then just have it installed.
Also from discussion it sounded like a lot of people were interested in smart plugs and smart breakers which adds more cost if we want those. Something like these
https://www.leviton.com/en/products/residential/load-centers/the-leviton-smart-load-center
https://www.luminsmart.com/platform/smart-electrical-panel/
Sadly I do not think there is an open source version of smart breakers currently, or smart plugs. And we would need to make sure they can not be hacked into (if they are able to turn things off remotely). I do know people who are interested in trying to make some open source smart breakers and plugs at some point, but it would be pretty hard right now.
Somewhat related to electrical is going to be getting noisebridge a UPS and possible battery backup stuff installed in the future.
A big part of this is I am thinking of trying to get a grant for noisebridge from the filecoin foundation to build out some filecoin infrastructure at noisebridge and arround the bay, and all have it backed by a wireless network that is self sufficient in a blackout, or small disaster, through battery backup at each location. This would keep the filecoin storage up in rolling blackouts and in a moderate disaster, as long as it can connect to the outside world. (maybe one of the locations (noisebridge, or the internet archive) could get starlink, or some satalite internet, to connect in case of a disaster and keep the network up). I am thinking of going for 1 million dollars or more and have about 30% or more go into the power redundancy aspect, 30% for just computers and servers for the network, 20% go into the network buildout, and 10% for paying for people to help install and test the stuff that can be done by unlicenced people (setting up the servers, and testing the system). Since this grant would have strings attached it could not be donated directly to noisebridge, but to a project at noisebridge should be fine, and it would end up benifiting noisebridge as well.
Battery backup could also save noisebridge or any one of the participents money buy allowing them to use their own power during peak times (if they use a rate power plan). And If the batter backup is big enough it could even make money by buying power at low cost times and selling it back to the grid at peak cost times (while still having enough battery to power the filecoin system for days or weeks even if a disaster happened right when selling electricity). And since in most of the bay area you can choose to use 100% renewable for your power generation.
https://www.cleanpowersf.org/residential
https://www.cleanpowersf.org/commercial
This would also support green energy providers and give them money to exspand.
I have more ideas, but would rather talk in person.
Some discussion here: https://noisebridge.slack.com/archives/C7X0TG4G3/p1624231819252400
JD thinks probably 2-3 15AMP circuits would be good
We should get some wider input on this