I moved into this new apartment and it comes with a garage (and at a great price reduction!) so naturally I need to make it better. there is only one power outlet (on the ceiling) but I have remedied that (read: bodged up) by connecting a long power cable to the plug not being used by the opener. the cable has 4 power outlets on it and is rated at something like 1650 watts. I'm not gonna be doing any welding, I basically just want lighting and perhaps battery chargers. i'm gonna make a bench to work on, but what else would be helpful?
Oh yeah, I also have a 20% off coupon for the local Harbor Freight and I'm willing to use it on one item once per day per customer, until they take it away from me or the expiration date hits at the end of September. are their jacks any good?
HF jacks aren't bad I have the big orange one and its been fine for jacking up a 2400ish pound car. HF also has other coupons so check their web site, local news papers ( in the inserts on saturday/sunday), AAA magazine and others, also if you have FaceBook like their page and it will give you more printable coupons as well as in e-mails.
http://widgets.harborfreight.com/wswidgets/common/displayCoupon.do?hdr=mag&week=3311&campaign=a&page=3311a_itc.html&cust=02003246447&keycode=1004
Extra savings.
Hmmm... I saw they have a 2.5 ton jack that looks low enough to fit under my car, but my van is about 3 tons, and the 3 ton jack won't fit under my car... quite the predicament... i suppose some makeshift wooden ramps could suffice for the van. anyone have any good ways of lighting a garage that doesn't involve nailing anything to the walls? Nail holes probably aren't cool with management.
Rufledt wrote:
Hmmm... I saw they have a 2.5 ton jack that looks low enough to fit under my car, but my van is about 3 tons, and the 3 ton jack won't fit under my car...
Am I correct in thinking you'll be jacking up one end at a time at most? I suspect you won't be lifting 3 tons all at once no matter which way you approach that...
if you do jack the van up in the air by a single point.. be sure to post pics
lol i do only plan to raise one side at a time, i just like being safe.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjw2gQEBSc0- one lift point
For lighting, three 2X4s and a florescent fixture should do you. One 2X4 the width of the garage, two the height of the garage less the thickness of the one across the top. Fasten the fixture to the one the width of the garage and wedge it to the ceiling with the other two. No holes necessary. If I could draw I'd show you what I mean. Need more light, two sets of boards 8 feet apart and use 8 foot fixtures. You can add as many as you need.
It's probably a 15 amp circuit, and is probably shared with adjacent garages, so you don't have a lot of capacity for anything beyond a light or two and maybe the charger.
Toyman- I get what you're saying. Good idea
Stuart- thats what i was guessing. The garage has one light built in, for the rest I was thinking just a couple fluorescent lights, and perhaps some battery powered lights, battery powered tools (when hand tools aren't enough). I was planning on charging in my apartment, too, where I have the capacity. There must be some capacity in the circuit, though, to operate the openers which are plugged in to the other outlet in all the adjacent garages (3 others in the same building).
