Author Topic: Mike's Shop and HVAC installation  (Read 3176 times)

Offline mikehinz

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 355
Mike's Shop and HVAC installation
« on: January 07, 2019, 09:25:18 PM »
Hi, I thought I'd show everyone my shop plus my most recent upgrade spurred on by Bill Lindsey's HVAC tale.

When we retired and moved from Houston up to central Kansas, we didn't want an acreage or too much space to maintain but I did want at least a modest shop.  So we ended up with a house just outside of Wichita that had municipal water/sewer, trash service etc.  We both grew up on remote farms and didn't wish to repeat the water well, cistern, septic system, haul-your-own-trash etc etc etc.  So for a shop, we did get a house with an attached 3 car garage that was finished out and insulated.  I was graciously granted one bay by my wife!  She parks inside the garage but I park my pickup outside most of the time, unless there's snow or ice in the forecast.  I've got things pretty well setup but I was suffering from cold just now and couldn't work out there more than an hour or 2 at a time because my hands just got too cold.  In the summer, it also got darn hot out there! 

So first are some pix of the general layout and equipment.  The Enco 13x40 lathe plus the Bridgeport.  Both along the S side wall.


The 'invisible dividing wall'.  Welding table with bench vise and Dake press plus toolboxes and mobile work cart.  All this can be moved toward the mill and lathe in case I need to get my pickup in the garage.


The east wall.  Storage racks with material and misc tooling, grinders and sanders, workbench with Wilton bench vise, air compressor and air hose reel.


View of the 'invisible wall'.  Work cart is pulled out to be in the front of the lathe.  I keep most commonly used lathe and mill tooling in that cart and pull it up close to whatever machine I'm using.  Under the wooden top is a 18x24 granite surface plate.


View of the south wall looking toward the garage door.


Closeup of the SE corner of the shop showing the electrical sub-panel, workbench with vise, air compressor and air lines.


And now the real upgrade!  That's the outdoor unit for a 2 ton (24,000 btu) Carrier mini-split heatput HVAC system!


And the indoor unit mounted nearest where I work.


I had the electrician that I use out here at the same time as the HVAC installer so he could wire up the HVAC system, plus I had him change the 2 way 110VAC outlet to all 4 way outlets plug run another 110VAC drop to the wall between the garage doors so that I had power for grinding and sawing near where I always do those operations. 

So as our good friends across the pond would say 'I'm chuffed!'  The older I get the worse I can tolerate the cold.  The upgrade should allow me to spend a significant more time in the shop.  Right now I only have been able to get out there a few hours in the mid-afternoon as that's the only time I can get the temperature barely high enough for me to stand out there. 

As far as HVAC capacity, my calcs showed that 24,000 btu was adequate and the local HVAC guy that did the installation confirmed the calcs plus he said his experience with this same unit was extremely good for the central Kansas climate.  I sure am looking forward to trying it out!

Enjoy!

Mike.
MIke
Wichita, KS, USA

Online Kim

  • Global Moderator
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 7860
  • Portland, Oregon, USA
Re: Mike's Shop and HVAC installation
« Reply #1 on: January 07, 2019, 09:57:06 PM »
Very nice shop, Mike!
Much like mine - one bay of a 3 car garage.  But over the years, I've expanded out into the 2nd bay :)

I've got a question:  So what's the black motor looking thing behind the Bridgeport, just below the indoor side of the heat pump?

Thanks for sharing pictures of your shop.  I like it!
Kim

Offline mikehinz

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 355
Re: Mike's Shop and HVAC installation
« Reply #2 on: January 07, 2019, 10:09:45 PM »
Very nice shop, Mike!
Much like mine - one bay of a 3 car garage.  But over the years, I've expanded out into the 2nd bay :)

I've got a question:  So what's the black motor looking thing behind the Bridgeport, just below the indoor side of the heat pump?

Thanks for sharing pictures of your shop.  I like it!
Kim

That's a 5HP 3 phase motor that's part of the rotary phase converter system to run the Bridgeport.  The mill I have has a 2 HP 3 phase motor which I think is original to the machine.  The other part of the phase converter is the grey box on the wall labeled 'Phase Craft'.  That system works very well but it's noisy as you can hear the motor on the wall running and it seems to resonate.  One of these days I'm going to try to put some isolation mounts on the feet of the motor and if that doesn't work, I think I'm going to install a cheap VFD just to get things quieter.  My mill is the vari-speed model so I'd run the VFD at fixed frequency and do everything with the mechanical drive on the mill.  YMMV!

Thanks for taking a look!

Mike
MIke
Wichita, KS, USA

Offline b.lindsey

  • Global Moderator
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13860
  • Dallas, NC, USA
    • Workbench-Miniatures
Re: Mike's Shop and HVAC installation
« Reply #3 on: January 07, 2019, 11:10:34 PM »
Very nice space Mike and well organized too. With the heat pump system, I hope you can enjoy many more hours in the shop.

Bill

Offline Dave Otto

  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4693
  • Boise, Idaho USA
    • Photo Bucket
Re: Mike's Shop and HVAC installation
« Reply #4 on: January 08, 2019, 02:35:56 AM »
Nice shop Mike, thanks for showing us around.
The heat pump is going to be a great addition.

Dave

Offline Tennessee Whiskey

  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3781
  • Springfield, Tennessee. USA
Re: Mike's Shop and HVAC installation
« Reply #5 on: January 08, 2019, 12:37:51 PM »
Real nice setup Mike. In the redneck fashion, I set my converter on an old lawnmower tire; instant rubber feet and a whole lot quieter. 

Cletus



Offline mikehinz

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 355
Re: Mike's Shop and HVAC installation
« Reply #6 on: January 08, 2019, 12:39:35 PM »
Real nice setup Mike. In the redneck fashion, I set my converter on an old lawnmower tire; instant rubber feet and a whole lot quieter. 

Cletus

LOL!!  I'm about ready to try that!  The noise is slowly driving me crazy, and of course the scary thing is that I don't have that far to go to get to crazy!.

Mike
MIke
Wichita, KS, USA

Offline b.lindsey

  • Global Moderator
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13860
  • Dallas, NC, USA
    • Workbench-Miniatures
Re: Mike's Shop and HVAC installation
« Reply #7 on: January 23, 2019, 12:44:34 AM »
How is the heat pump working Mike. I was out at the shop briefly this morning and it was 28 outside and a nice 67 inside with no emergency heat strips on. Hope yours is allowing for more shop time.

Bill

Offline kvom

  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2649
Re: Mike's Shop and HVAC installation
« Reply #8 on: January 23, 2019, 12:44:51 PM »
Looks great.  I also have a mini-split for AC that works great in the summer.  I have in-floor heat so don't use the heater function.

While my BP is a pulley system, and I use the VFD for speed control, you might be better off doing the same as it would reduce wear on your variable speed head.  Worth trying it both ways.  With my VFD I removed the mill's switch and wired directly to the motor.  This prevents accidentally switching and damaging the VFD.

Offline mikehinz

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 355
Re: Mike's Shop and HVAC installation
« Reply #9 on: January 25, 2019, 12:06:08 AM »
How is the heat pump working Mike. I was out at the shop briefly this morning and it was 28 outside and a nice 67 inside with no emergency heat strips on. Hope yours is allowing for more shop time.

Bill

Bill, yesterday morning it was 19F here.  I did go into the shop and turn on the heat pump.  It didn't take very long and it brought the temp right up to 62 which was what I had it set at.  The initial temp in the shop was about 35F.  Plus the way the air blows from the indoor unit is right where I typically work at so that works out very well.  So far then, I'm very happy with it!

So now I have a nice shop environment but I'm still not able to do much in it.  Yesterday I did a little cleaning up and a bit of filing/sanding/grinding on the castings for my PMR #1 drilling engine, but that was about it.  I still have trouble moving my left arm much due to the surgery.  I wanted to install my 4J chuck on my lathe but I couldn't get it out of the cabinet and pick it up and I can't manage to change tooling in the mill because I have to reach up high.  So all that's frustrating!  But next week I have a follow-up visit with the surgeon and hopefully he'll be able to tell me when I might be able to do a bit more.  All I can say is that is' h**l getting old! 

Mike
MIke
Wichita, KS, USA

Offline mikehinz

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 355
Re: Mike's Shop and HVAC installation
« Reply #10 on: January 25, 2019, 12:13:10 AM »
Looks great.  I also have a mini-split for AC that works great in the summer.  I have in-floor heat so don't use the heater function.

While my BP is a pulley system, and I use the VFD for speed control, you might be better off doing the same as it would reduce wear on your variable speed head.  Worth trying it both ways.  With my VFD I removed the mill's switch and wired directly to the motor.  This prevents accidentally switching and damaging the VFD.

I'm sure that the heat pump will be great in the summer!  I'm also looking forward to reducing humidity in the spring so as to avoid fighting rust all the time. 

If I go for the VFD, I'd do exactly as you recommend.  I'd probably rewire the existing forward/reverse switch to remove the mains power thru it and use it instead to switch direction via the VFD.  Otherwise I do understand that you could easily blow the VFD by switching mains.  I'd certainly also play with the speed control via the VFD also.  I guess what I really like and am used to, is having that big directional switch to control the spindle.  Little fussy switches and knobs just aren't my thing!

Thanks for the useful info!

Mike
MIke
Wichita, KS, USA

Offline b.lindsey

  • Global Moderator
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13860
  • Dallas, NC, USA
    • Workbench-Miniatures
Re: Mike's Shop and HVAC installation
« Reply #11 on: January 25, 2019, 12:56:14 AM »
I hear you Mike. Glad the new system is working out well though!!

Bill

Offline Tennessee Whiskey

  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3781
  • Springfield, Tennessee. USA
Re: Mike's Shop and HVAC installation
« Reply #12 on: January 29, 2019, 11:26:10 PM »
In regards to getting old: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS3RiLcb4rA" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS3RiLcb4rA</a>  8) :lolb:

Liking all your work and posts

Cletus

Offline b.lindsey

  • Global Moderator
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13860
  • Dallas, NC, USA
    • Workbench-Miniatures
Re: Mike's Shop and HVAC installation
« Reply #13 on: January 30, 2019, 12:06:42 AM »
That pretty well sums it up Cletus  :lolb:

Bill

Offline 10KPete

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1606
  • Nordland, WA, USA
Re: Mike's Shop and HVAC installation
« Reply #14 on: January 30, 2019, 12:12:29 AM »
Yes, yes. Liked 'em then and like 'em now. And many no longer with us...

Go Cletus!

Pete
Craftsman, Tinkerer, Curious Person.
Retired, finally!
SB 10K lathe, Benchmaster mill. And stuff.

 

SimplePortal 2.3.5 © 2008-2012, SimplePortal