compressor woes


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Old 03-13-08, 01:10 PM
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compressor woes

hi.
i used a compressor this summer, plugged into an outlet through my house's aged electrics, which goes to a 15A breaker. now i'm in my basement shop, where i hooked up a sub panel, and dedicated a 15A breaker for this compressor, but it trips the breaker. so it tried it on my welders 20A breaker and works fine. it is also on the sub-panel.
does this mean my compressor was pulling more than 15A this summer and the breaker wasn't working? sounds bad, no?
thanks in advance
 
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Old 03-13-08, 02:06 PM
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Could also be tired breakers that are a little bit off spec. (either now or in the summer past).

With that size of a load, you should give it a dedicated 20A circuit if you can.
 
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Old 03-13-08, 02:40 PM
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What does the nameplate of the compressor say it's load is in amps? If it is anywhere close to 12 amps, you should be using a 20 amp circuit. My double hotdog Ridgid requires a 20 amp circuit, and that is all that can be on the circuit. Saws, etc. have to be on a different one or it will kick out.
 
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Old 03-13-08, 02:49 PM
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Breakers are mechanical devices so there is some variation in trip characteristics. You certainly could have a bad breaker, but it may also just be a little stubborn. Also possible that your new breaker is just a little weaker. May the old one trips at 17A and the new one trips at 14A or something like that.
 
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Old 03-13-08, 11:28 PM
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the other thing ya have to remember is try not to run the compressor with extendsion cord at all. C'est pas bon ideal.[ it is not good idea ]

some compressor will start hard espcally if the unloader valve get little sticky [ i did see it happend few time even my "monster" compressor did that to me once.]

with most portable compressor i generally tell them stay away from 15 amp circuit much you can. [ some can cause some issue especally it is true with back stabbed devices]

Merci, Marc
 
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Old 03-14-08, 04:18 PM
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it's rated at 15A, which makes sense to use a 20A.
you're right french, its on a 15' extension. so i shouldn't be surprised that it trips the breaker.

c'est quoi, french un 'back stabbing device'?

i'm still worried as to why it didn't trip a breaker when it was plugged into my house lines. it's all gotta go...

thanks everyone
 
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Old 03-14-08, 06:19 PM
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Appliances can draw more amps to try to make up for the voltage drop over long runs of wire.
 
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Old 03-14-08, 08:50 PM
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does that mean they are less efficient? (use more power)
 
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Old 03-14-08, 11:22 PM
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Originally Posted by fromhull
does that mean they are less efficient? (use more power)

oui c'est vari.

the reason why they will draw more power due the voltage drop when the voltage drop get much lower the motor have to work more harder to keep up with the work load and the motor can get more hotter and can end up burn up the motor.

anyways. with the backstabbing repectale what it mean that the wire stick in the small hole and have a spring clip to hold the wire in and they have issue with holding escpally under hevey load and get overheat that why we use the screw to hold the wire due it have more area to hold the wire and less chance to get it overheat.

Merci, Marc
 
 

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