Sticky mains situation..... OLD wiring ;[

[mindfunk]

So, as the topic says, I have an old place. I don't want to do anything too drastic, BUT although I rent, its a commerial rental, and I can do anything I want.... both for the same reason, the place is getting ripped down in not quite 3 years.

I like the place, rent is cheap, and like I said, I can do whatever I want. Just dont want to put in too much time (or a huge load of cash) into it.

Anyway, the power is a total mess. I can't say for sure how noisy the ground is, because I don't have a very good reference. Every neutral and ground are tied to a barrier block in the breaker. A few older runs have no ground, mainly the furnace and a 220 line to the garage. Honestly, I'm not sure where the neutral/ground goes from the breaker/barrierblock. It goes outside through cement block to an area thats paved asphalt, and I can't even find it.

I'm right next to a river, but do have a good place to put a rod.

My thinking is to put in another breaker panel in the basement, right under my office/CR to which I can run a new line off of the existing breaker box and isolate my power from the rest of the place, grounding to its own rod outside.

Hopefully this can work, I'm trying to see if anyone here can steer me in a better direction. I'm thinking I should be able to (since the ceiling is exposed in my basement) reroute the existing outlets that will have gear to the new box.

Can anyone give me an estimate on what kind of line I should run from the existing panel, current wise? My situation is a computer, some active monitors, two crt video monitors, tube amps and some keyboards, a couple racks of outboard gear. What would be healthy for smaller, modest setup?

Also, should I keep things like the ac unit (built into the cement block wall) on the existing power? What about the computer, as it has a switching PSU?

I realize that I want all of my audio gear to share the same ground, and I'd like to star all the outlets to a new rod. The only link between my computer and the audio is of course my audio interface, so I'm not sure if I'd have a problem with having 2 discrete grounds in that situation.

Anyways, I'd really appreciate some thoughts.... I just don't want to tear apart the rest of the place. And maybe this way I can lose the dimmers in the gallery space, as this place is also home to 3 artist studios in the basement and garage and a not for profit art gallery. They need their dimmers. Despite anything I could possibly say ;] Besides, one of the artists is my fiance. Can't say no to that ;]

Thanks,

Billy

[Aaronw]

Hello Billy,

I'm right next to a river, but do have a good place to put a rod.

Are you going fishing? Sorry, couldn't resist.

Also, should I keep things like the ac unit (built into the cement block wall) on the existing power? What about the computer, as it has a switching PSU?

AC, you can keep on the existing panel.

First off, is the power coming into the panel single phase or three phase?

This will make a difference as to your wiring.


Star ground w/ new rod is good. Probably all you need for your subpanel is a 2/0 wire (the wire I ran is rated for 95 amps. It was 2 AWG I believe).

What kind of dimmers do the art galleries have? This could be an issue, as many of them can create noise in the AC.