Electrical for the shed

I'm still working on running electric out to the shed/barn/workshop.

Max electrical draw will be from a fridge/freezer, TV, Lights, small AC unit, and whatever tool I might I plug into the outlets like circular saw or router, bench grinder, etc.

I've attached a picture of the box I got for free from my parents new install:

major overkill for what I need.

So, from people who know, would I be better off trying to find a smaller box and selling this to someone who needs it? I could pull the 20A breakers out as they would be useful, but 100A is just too much for my line out to the barn, so it would need to be replaced anyway. If I try to sell it, what's something like this worth?

oops, forgot to attach.

I'd vote for using what you have, as the market for selling it may not cover the cost of buying a new/smaller panel. So what if its a bit overkill......it will give you the capacity to add more if needed in the future...depending on how much you can pull from your house.

Can't tell what kind of panel that is, possibly a Bryant? If it were me i would spring for a new panel, then you don't need to buy a ton of knock out seals and breaker blanks. New panel is about $35-40 at depot add in about 3 bucks for each single pole 15 or 20 amp breaker you want and about 8 bucks if you need any 2 pole breakers.

Fossil, older FPE breakers are practically worth their weight in gold as they are very hard to find.

it's a GE breaker box. Knockout seals, you're funny. that's what electrical tape is for.

the "logical" thing to do when you have too much cicuit breaker is to build a bigger shed/workshop.

, finally. Someone who gets it.
And, just so you know, duct tape even fixes duct tape. It just doesn't work well on duct.
Weird, I know.

How simple can I make this?

Can I just throw a 60amp breaker in my main box at the house, run 6ga out to the barn's subpanel with a 60amp main breaker there, and three 20amp breakers? I'd need a grounding rod at the barn, no?

I was starting to make this more complex than it needed to be, then thought I'd start over and rethink. I just wanna make sure this is ok like I'm proposing in this post (forget the box I posted above for a second)

I have a double 30 in the house and a run of (I think 02 aluminum direct burial) out to my shop about 50' feet away. In the shop there's a 50 or 60 breaker on main panel with various 20 amp breakers and one circuit set up for 220. There is a grounding rod in the shop.

Note: I am not an electrician and don't pretend to know if this is code or not. I just know this is what I have and it works.

There was a whole discussion when Don ran the wiring to his shed...check out:

http://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/...ld-i-use-10-3-uf-b-or-10-2-uf-b-and-is.76717/

the bottom line is that you should either run a separate ground back to the main panel OR have a grounding rod at the shed. For a short run, do the first on, for a long one, do the latter. In either case, you need to wire it correctly....read the thread for details.

thank you. I remembered that thread, but couldn't find it.

Since this will just be a sub-panel you can leave the 100 amp main in the panel, it will just be used as a switch to kill everything fed off of it, which is required if there are more than 6 breakers in the panel. The 60 amp breaker in your main panel will be the overload protection. As for the ground rod you'll need two spaced a min. of 6' apart.

What I would do, is feed the panel with 6/3 UF, this can be run indoors like romex, but can also be direct buried, leave all the breakers just as they are (no need to cover the holes that way) drive your two rods, connected with 6ga bare copper, then connect to whatever breaker you want to use (matching proper wire size to that breaker of course).

i need two ground rods?

Sorry thats incorrect, if the building is detached then the feed wire must supply a ground, and you have to have ground rods. If it is an attached structure then no rods are needed or should be used, only the ground conductor from the feed.

Also to the OP if this is a detached building the common wires (white) and the grounds needed to be on seperate bars in the sub panel, and any connection between the two needs to be removed.

my shed is detached.

Well code says one can be used, but the testing required to prove that one is sufficiant is rather a pain so most people just use the two. Now if this project isnt/doesnt need an inspection well....