Manage informal wiring in the darkroom?

My work-in-progress darkroom (very quiet of late, hmm..) has a bunch of electrical components all over the place, red LED lights, enlarger, timer, regular lighting for print inspection, etc., not a pretty picture.

How do you manage that sort of stuff, without creating a dedicated formal, "hard" electric system?

Notes:
I can make safe, ad hoc extension cords and secure them, but I need to clearly define "zones".
This U.S. style electrical hardware

Jay,

If you have one circuit that can take the amperage of all your electrical devices, I think I would likely wire a number of plug strips together in series. You can get unfinished plug strips, three-wire cable (Romex), and self-adhesive wire hide (two-part plastic covers for lengths of cable, the bottom is self-adhesive, the top snaps on with the cable inside) at just about any electrical supply store or big-box home-improvement center.

Then you could mount the strips at appropriate places (workstations, etc.) around your darkroom and neatly install the proper lengths of cable along a wall, etc. The whole circuit could be on a switched plug (just replace a wall outlet with a switched plug) so you could just turn the whole thing off when not in use.

If you need more than one circuit, a similar set-up with a couple of circuits would do.

Do use three-wire Romex and grounded everything. Anything on the wet side should be protected by a GFCI safety outlet. Maybe one circuit for the dry side, one for the wet would work.

I'm sure you'll get lots of other great suggestions.

Best,

Doremus

Thanks @Doremus Scudder I actually have four outlets, two of them on the wet side.

So, first get two GF outlets as they are needed, and then plan around having the wire hide laid out.
Maybe I should get a wire hide install guide from a manufacturer (TBD).

Jay,
You should be able to get all the info and materials you need from your local electrical supply store or big-box home improvement place. You can use either plug strips or wall-mounted four-outlet boxes at your work stations. Have fun and stay safe (do switch off the power before doing any wiring work )

Doremus

General advice: assume you will need more plugs than you expect!

MattKing said:

General advice: assume you will need more plugs than you expect!

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+1
And don't forget outlets up high for safelights, with switches if needed.

I really like room lights that are controlled by ceiling mounted pull cords.
And safelight systems that can be controlled by the appropriate outlets on enlarger timers.

"...use three-wire Romex..."

Let me be pedantic, and point out that the correct Romex for wiring a single circuit of 120V duplex receptacles is called "two-wire with ground"
Inside there will be a black wire, a white wire, and a bare copper wire for grounding.

"three-wire Romex" contains black, white, and red wires, and may or may not include a 4th bare copper wire for grounding.

I just paid $60(US) for 50 ft. of 14-2 romex with ground, so you want to be careful and not pay for something more than you really need.

If you are new to DIY wiring, I would recommend a reference book such as:
Black & Decker The Complete Guide to Wiring <Amazon link>

runswithsizzers said:

"...use three-wire Romex..."

Let me be pedantic, and point out that the correct Romex for wiring a single circuit of 120V duplex receptacles is called "two-wire with ground"
Inside there will be a black wire, a white wire, and a bare copper wire for grounding.

"three-wire Romex" contains black, white, and red wires, and may or may not include a 4th bare copper wire for grounding.

I just paid $60(US) for 50 ft. of 14-2 romex with ground, so you want to be careful and not pay for something more than you really need.

If you are new to DIY wiring, I would recommend a reference book such as:
Black & Decker The Complete Guide to Wiring <Amazon link>

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Right you are! I was sloppy in my description. Thanks for the correction!

Maybe you ought to hire a licensed electrician. Besides safety, if you decide to sell your house, and the potential buyer sees a makeshift job, he's going to ask for a Building's Department signoff that it was inspected and the work done by a licensed electrician.

Pay now or pay later.

Alan Edward Klein said:

Maybe you ought to hire a licensed electrician. Besides safety, if you decide to sell your house, and the potential buyer sees a makeshift job, he's going to ask for a Building's Department signoff that it was inspected and the work done by a licensed electrician.

Pay now or pay later.

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Alan,

I'd agree with you if the wiring was in-wall and designed to be permanent. What the OP needs, however, is just a couple of glorified extension cords, which can (and should) be mounted outside the wall using wire-hide or conduit and would plug into an existing outlet (installed by an electrician). It would (and should) be easily removable if one decided to sell the house or re-purpose the space later.

The same should apply to darkroom plumbing IM-HO. I have two lines with ball valves, installed by a plumber, in my darkroom. From there, all my water lines are PVC or reinforced hoses mounted on the outside of the wall on a board at the back of the sink. I could disconnect from the main line, take down the boards and lines and move the whole thing to another room with little effort. And, if there ever is a leak, it would be there, right in front of my face.

Best,

Doremus

Doremus Scudder said:

Alan,

I'd agree with you if the wiring was in-wall and designed to be permanent. What the OP needs, however, is just a couple of glorified extension cords, which can (and should) be mounted outside the wall using wire-hide or conduit and would plug into an existing outlet (installed by an electrician). It would (and should) be easily removable if one decided to sell the house or re-purpose the space later.

The same should apply to darkroom plumbing IM-HO. I have two lines with ball valves, installed by a plumber, in my darkroom. From there, all my water lines are PVC or reinforced hoses mounted on the outside of the wall on a board at the back of the sink. I could disconnect from the main line, take down the boards and lines and move the whole thing to another room with little effort. And, if there ever is a leak, it would be there, right in front of my face.

Best,

Doremus

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Sounds good for your application. I mentioned it though because a lot of people do wall-installed power or plumbing which is risky and violates the code if not licensed, filed, and inspected. It never gets signed off. Then they have a problem when selling the house when the buyer's home inspector goes through the house and flags it. (It may also be defective work jeopardizing their homes and safety).

My cousin replaced an underground oil tank to natural gas heating. When he sold his house years and years later, he had to spend over $4000 digging up the ground and back yard destroying his petunias and bushes etc. just to assure there were no EPA violations. Funny thing is that the utility company did the work. But they failed to file and he got stuck having to re-do the work to get it inspected and signed off before he could sell his house. It delayed the sale for months.

When I bought my house, a resale, a light switch to a new staircase to the attic was not signed off. Only the architectural work was. I was the one who asked for the signoffs and the owner didn't have the electrical. Fortunately, it wasn't a big deal. The inspector came out and it was OK and signed it off.

Update: Finally managed to install my GFCI on first outlet from power box, and it protects the two other "load" outlets near liquid zone. I will go with wall-mounted power strips on the wall, no wiremold, no digging in wall.

I have an "L" configuration, one branch dry, the other wet, so I need to get a mental plan on where I want wall power strips (at torso height?). I have a few reference darkroom books, I may find ideas there.

And to the post above, I know what you mean, we bought a foreclosure (from Countrywide, the joy..) with non-signed off permits, a lot of redos!

Alan Edward Klein said:

Maybe you ought to hire a licensed electrician. Besides safety, if you decide to sell your house, and the potential buyer sees a makeshift job, he's going to ask for a Building's Department signoff that it was inspected and the work done by a licensed electrician.

Pay now or pay later.

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So USA does have regulations to do with plumbing and electrical, was beginning to think otherwise.

awty said:

So USA does have regulations to do with plumbing and electrical, was beginning to think otherwise.

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Actually homeowners are allowed to do a number of repairs and light installations, as long as the work is authorized via paying a permit fee, and a final, or in-progress, inspection.
And this varies by towns, counties and states...

There's really nothing in my darkroom that pulls very much juice. A safe light, timer, the enlarger, a small print viewing light, radio and a microwave or hair dryer to fast-dry test strips. Maybe the laptop sometimes. This is all spread out, so they just plug into the nearest outlets.

Like Jay said, codes vary widely from place to place. Basically, you can to whatever you wish inside w/o a permit in most places. Outside, it's another story, especially if you live in a hurricane zone.

On Galveston Island, they wouldn't let me upgrade just one window, if I did that then ALL the windows had to be replaced w/ hurricane code windows. The home was a 2 story with 18 windows, so the bill would have gone from $400 to almost $8000 w/ taxes. I got around that by keeping all the original windows outside and just adding a few on the inside. No one was the wiser, and it helped w/ noise and insulation too. A lot of the codes are stupid. They wouldn't let me put an 8' wood fence in the back of the property, but would let me a tree line of 10' trees and shrubs, which served the same purpose. Dumb.

jay moussy said:

Actually homeowners are allowed to do a number of repairs and light installations, as long as the work is authorized via paying a permit fee, and a final, or in-progress, inspection.
And this varies by towns, counties and states...

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Here you can change a light bulb and a tap washer and that's about it. Mind you people still do their own plumbing and electrical, it's just not legal for them to do so.

For my first darkroom I just used a pre wired daisy chain extension lead. Worked fine, darkroom was only small. Second was professionally wired with its own switch board with circuit brakers, plenty of power outlets, lighting and most importantly air-conditioning!! Still have to do the plumbing, which I'm licensed to do, be basic as I hate doing plumbing.

jay moussy said:

Actually homeowners are allowed to do a number of repairs and light installations, as long as the work is authorized via paying a permit fee, and a final, or in-progress, inspection.
And this varies by towns, counties and states...

Click to expand...

And is done to the applicable local codes (NEC typically).

momus said:

There's really nothing in my darkroom that pulls very much juice. A safe light, timer, the enlarger, a small print viewing light, radio and a microwave or hair dryer to fast-dry test strips. Maybe the laptop sometimes. This is all spread out, so they just plug into the nearest outlets.

Like Jay said, codes vary widely from place to place. Basically, you can to whatever you wish inside w/o a permit in most places. Outside, it's another story, especially if you live in a hurricane zone.

On Galveston Island, they wouldn't let me upgrade just one window, if I did that then ALL the windows had to be replaced w/ hurricane code windows. The home was a 2 story with 18 windows, so the bill would have gone from $400 to almost $8000 w/ taxes. I got around that by keeping all the original windows outside and just adding a few on the inside. No one was the wiser, and it helped w/ noise and insulation too. A lot of the codes are stupid. They wouldn't let me put an 8' wood fence in the back of the property, but would let me a tree line of 10' trees and shrubs, which served the same purpose. Dumb.

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We have a coastal house as well (in Texas). FWIW, if a window is broken, replacement of that one window can be done without dealing with the others. Just a word to the wise Know what I mean Vern?

Around here, you need a permit and will probably be inspected if you make a wide variety of changes to most electrical or plumbing.
If you are doing something like replacing a switch or a light fixture or a 110V receptacle, no permit required.
In our last place we had an electrician replace the single flush mount overhead fluorescent light fixture (4 foot tubes) in the centre of the kitchen ceiling with three flush mount round integrated LED fixtures, spaced evenly across the ceiling. That involved routing wiring above the ceiling from the existing centre box to the two added new boxes at the ends of the room - about an 8 foot span between the farthest two.
The electrician had to obtain a permit for other work needed anyways, and included the ceiling light work on the permit as well, but he indicated that obtaining a permit for the ceiling lights was voluntary. If that was all he was doing, or if we had done the work ourselves, it would not have been necessary to obtain the permit.
Our electrician was very experienced - he was often consulted by the municipal inspectors about issues of code interpretation - so the inspection authorities elected to accept his detailed report on the work done rather than requiring an on site inspection. Apparently that happens reasonably regularly with experienced red seal certified tradespeople and relatively simple jobs. They get on site inspections for more complex work, and randomly for the simpler jobs. Homeowners doing the work themselves will be required to pass onsite inspections.
Having a permit and a passed inspection is freally important if you have a subsequent fire and then try to make a claim on insurance.

MattKing said:

Having a permit and a passed inspection is freally important if you have a subsequent fire and then try to make a claim on insurance.

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As you noted, this is a local jurisdictional requirement. I was licensed in 21 States (US) and each time I took the exam, I was amazed at how the different area defined scopes and permit requirements. CA and NY were the worst with liens being placed on the property the first step of the process even for <$1000 worth of work. In other areas, it was shocking how much work could get done without permits (residential). After speaking with hundreds of inspectors over the last 25 years, it was always clear that following code was THE most important aspect of the job regardless of who did it. Insurance companies will look at this as well in the event of a claim. The contractor of record will be liable if it was not to code (which dramatically limits risk) followed by the equipment manufacturer (of which I was one). As I used to tell my crews - just do it right the first time. It doesn't take much longer and everyone will be happy and safe.

The codes are evolving all the time as well.

And there will always be the local quirky inspector: mine requires this exotic clamp system on ground wires that nobody else uses in area!

jay moussy said:

Actually homeowners are allowed to do a number of repairs and light installations, as long as the work is authorized via paying a permit fee, and a final, or in-progress, inspection.
And this varies by towns, counties and states...

Click to expand...

The link below shows a list of what can and can not be done in New Jersey with and without official inspections. Maintenance and minor work might not need it. But there are most new installations that do. For example, you can't install a new bathroom in your basement without a license and inspection. Ditto with new electrical power lines.

You better know your state's and city's building codes before you do the work yourself. They vary greatly from one state to another. When the home inspector for the potential buyer notices your new bathroom with new lighting fixtures and toilet, he's going to ask you for the Building Dept inspection report and approval. What are you going to do when you don't have it? Even assuming you installed it per code years earlier since there was no inspection at the time, the new inspector may require you to upgrade the work to fit current regulations.

if your going to be doing the wiring up from ground zero you NEED to get the good wire and ignore the cost.

You need to rig each one as at LEAST a 15 amp breaker, and GFCI are nice and mandatory but they dont always work.

Also dont think that everyone working at the hardware store or big box store knows ANYTHING.

redbandit said:

if your going to be doing the wiring up from ground zero you NEED to get the good wire and ignore the cost.

You need to rig each one as at LEAST a 15 amp breaker, and GFCI are nice and mandatory but they dont always work.

Also dont think that everyone working at the hardware store or big box store knows ANYTHING.

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My electrician installed a receptacle that was not childproof, required by code revisions that were ten years old. He installed a precode one bought in, where else, a big box store. So he had to replace it before the inspector came. He knew it too yet didn't advise me until I told him I was setting up the inspection Then he "remembered" and called me to hold off until he replaced the receptacle.

Don't assume the electrician knows either or won't cut corners. I tell my electrician I want him to file everything for a final inspection. That insures he'll do the work correctly to current codes.

Finally, get the Building's Department inspector to sign off the work to avoid issues later when you sell the home. I think it cost me $75 to file the work scope and inspect it. It's worth it.