20 amp circuit

[legion]

I bought a new air compressor. It fills the tank just fine, but if the pressure in the tank drops enough that it has to refill the tank, it stutters and trips the 15 amp breaker. I called the manufacturer and they recommended a 20 amp breaker on a dedicated circuit.

I've run a 15 amp circuit, and I know that circuit breakers exist to protect wiring. I'm guessing this means that running a 20 amp circuit would require different wiring. What, specifically, should I be using for a 20 amp circuit?

[peppy]

12/2 wire for the 20 amp circuit.

[ossiblue]

Most houses run 12 gauge wire for outlets and that will be enough for a 20 amp circuit. First is to check the existing wire gauge for the circuit in question. Then, note the type of 12 gauge wire used as different types are capable of carrying more amperage. The lowest amperage wire, NM-B or UF-B, will handle 20 amps. THW, THWN, can handle 25 amps.

In short, you may not need to change the wiring if you have a 12 gauge circuit already.

[Chocaholic]

If your house was built to comply with any building codes used in the civilized world, just install the 20amp breaker and be done.

Of course, your location says “state of failure”, so....

[ledhedsymbols]

NEC Says 14 gauge for 15 Amp breaker, 12 gauge for 20 Amps. Most of the time a residential circuit protected by a 15 Amp breaker is going to be 14 Gauge. Unless you have a different local code (which I doubt) just swapping breakers would not be a code legal install.

[legion]

I'm going to run a dedicated circuit for the air compressor anyway, and I want that circuit to be up to code.

[javadog]

Thou shalt consider the length of the wire run when selecting the gauge of the wire.

Just in case it’s a long one...

[legion]

I'll measure and post here, but the room the main panel is in in the basement directly abuts the area of the garage that the air compressor will be in. I'd think it would be no more than 30 feet, as I want to put the air compressor against an exterior wall and my plan was to run conduit from the utility room, up the interior garage wall, across the ceiling, and down the exterior wall.

[Gogar]

Lots, not all 12 gauge romex-style wire has a yellow sheath. Easy way to tell if you can see it.

[MBAtarga]

What does the motor plate on the compressor show for HP and current draw and voltage?

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by legion

I bought a new air compressor. It fills the tank just fine, but if the pressure in the tank drops enough that it has to refill the tank, it stutters and trips the 15 amp breaker. I called the manufacturer and they recommended a 20 amp breaker on a dedicated circuit.

If the unloader on the compressor is working properly the motor's starting current shouldn't be any more when pumping up a 90% full tank than when pumping up an empty tank. That hiss you hear when the motor stops pumping is the unloader releasing and isolating the pressure in the tank from the air pump. When it starts again, it should be working against 0 pressure just like it was an empty tank.
OTOH, if the compressor was rated for a 20 amp circuit, you should have 12 g wire and a 20 amp breaker.

[legion]

It looks like it would be about 50 feet of wiring from the box to where I want to put the air compressor. If I put it on the wall closest to the utility room, it would be about 22 feet of wiring.

The manual says:

Use a dedicated circuit.

For best performance and reliable starting the air compressor must be plugged into a dedicated circuit, as close as possible to the fuse box or circuit breaker.

The compressor will use the full capacity of a typical 15 amp household circuit. If any other electrical devices are drawing from the compressor circuit, the compressor may fail to start. Low voltage or an overloaded circuit can result in sluggish starting that causes the motor to overload protection systems or circuit breakers to trip, especially in cold conditions.

Note: To hand the initial electrical load of starting the air compressor, a circuit breaker is recommended. If the circuit breaker is connected to a circuit protected by a fuse, us dual element time delay fuses (Buss Fusetron type "T" only).

Label:

[Bill Douglas]

If you were to run new wiring, and have new circuit breakers, why not go the whole hog and put in a heavier setup so you can use a welder. Or a plasma cutter plus compressor running at the same time.

[VincentVega]

Since you are running new, make it 240.

[Zeke]

If you are planning on running a new circuit (which I doubt is totally necessary) then run a 12/3 and change the compressor over to 240v. Or course you'll need a double pole breaker. Most would run a 10/3 and a 30 amp breaker for other uses like a small welder, but the 12/3 on a DP 20A is fine.

Hah! BD and VV were posting as I was typing.

[legion]

Originally Posted by VincentVega

Since you are running new, make it 240.

The guy at the store told me I would be able to do that, the manual said nothing about it, but it appears (if I'm reading the label correctly) that I can go 240.

Working backwards, I have a 150 amp main panel. We're thinking of adding on to the house. I should probably just bit the bullet and get my service and the main panel upgraded.

[URY914]

"220...221 Whatever It takes"

[MBAtarga]

Chris - you say this is a brand new compressor. Tripping a breaker on start-up with the tank under pressure is symptoms of a faulty unload valve. If the compressor starts fine with an empty tank but not with a tank under pressure - I don't think that the issue is electrical.

https://fix-my-compressor.com/compressor-trips-the-breaker-on-restart/

[legion]

That's the thing, the unload valve does dump the pressure in the cylinder itself.

[legion]

Also, I was able to figure out that our half bath is on the same circuit as the garage outlets, so even if I unplug everything in the garage, I can't prevent a kid from leaving lights on in the bathroom.