Daggar said:
If your compressor is curently wired for 220 then it will NOT run on 110. 220V power in this country is dual phase power. You'll have to pardon me if you already understand that, I had some difficulty following the initial post.
If your buddy ran it through a 110 outlet at his house then it's wired for 110. His blowoing a circuit breaker or fuse can indicate lots of things. It doesn't necessarily mean it will do the same at your place. Don't use extention cords. Plug it in and see if it works before making rash changes.
If there is a breaker box in your garage (often there is if it's an original attached garage) then putting a 220V outlet in is cake and won't cost you much. You can rewire the motor to run 220 (if able) and toss an outlet in.
Daggar is right. Make sure you connect electric motors to the voltage they are designed for.
I might be able to help since my job is electrical engineering
. Excuse me if this is a little long or if I offfend anybody. But here it goes..........
The voltage to the typical residence in the US is 120v/240v, single phase. You probably hear 110v, 115v, and 120v often used in conversation. For all intents and purposes, the are the same. Actually, the measured voltage should be close 120 volts for phase-to-ground (hot to ground). 240 volts, single phase is what you get when you measure phase-to-phase (hot to hot). It sounds wrong, but 240 volts is what you get when you have 2 hots supplying a load. This voltage is commonly refered to as "220". A majority of single phase 240v motors are labelled 230 volts. This is done because some electric company's voltage quality is not that great and might be a little lower than 240 volts, especially way back when. The motor is designed to operate, or see, a voltage in the 220v-240v range. If you connect a 230v motor to a 240v supply, there is no problem. This is actually good because there is a little less current, or ampacity draw. (voltage x ampacity = wattage) Higher voltage equals less current draw. However, if the voltage "dips" too low, say down to 200 volts, the same motor will draw more current and can overheat, or overload and will/should "trip" the circuit breaker, or fuse. The load on the motor (such as a frozen pulley) can also cause problems, but that is beyond the focus of this. The bottom line is that 220 motors and 230 motors (single phase) are one in the same.
So, if the 3hp, 230v motor is single phase, it will draw approx 17 full load amps. You will need a 30amp/2-pole circuit breaker in your panelboard (aka: breakerbox or fuse box). This will protect your motor and circuit conductors as per the NEC. Also, you should run 2 #10 awg copper (preferred) conductors for the "hots" or phase conductors and 1 #12 awg grounding conductor in a minimum 1/2" conduit from the circuit breaker, or fuse, to the compressor. You can also run Romex, or another type of multi-conductor cable. A proper means of disconnection should be there as well, such as a plug/cord setup with a receptacle (on the wall adjacent to the compressor). You can "hard-wire" the compressor, eliminating the receptacle (aka: plug) as long as the load (the compressor) is in the line-of-sight of the panelboard.
Whatever you do BE CAREFUL. Electricity can mess you up, or kill you, if you're not careful. If you don't feel comfortable with doing this type of work, or haven't done this before, get somebody with some experience to help you. Or, just get an electrician to help you.
Sorry for the long response. Let me know if I can be more confusing.
Bottom line is you should be able to use this compressor, so be
Mike
When I tested it at HIS house on 110v it filled up, but blew his fuse. He said it wouldn't do that on 220v, because it's wanting more power. What should I do? Can I run it safely on 110? Is there an adapter somewhere where I can wire it for 220v and somehow amplify the power from 110v? Any thought??? Was all excited about my new compressor, now I'm kinda bummed
