Power mains question: wire gauge

[Jasen Betts]

Until the motor or compressor is replaced with a larger unit.

a larger compresser is likely to have a soft start where the pump
compression is releived until it's up to speed.

 

[rickman]

What utter idiot suggested #6?

Try reading from the top of the post...

Rick

 

[[email protected]]

The suggestion was to put in a sub panel, if there is a likelyhood of
more tools that require 240.

....and it's almost always cheaper and easier to run tools separately
from the main with more common, and *far* less expensive, #14 or #12.

 

[[email protected]]

Those are toys, but they might be acceptable to amateur woodworkers.
The ONLY thing I use a compressor that small for is to blow dust out of
a computer.

Utter nonsense. It's good enough to run any nailer or any hobby
equipment, with the possible exception of a paint sprayer. Actually,
mine isn't any bigger, though it has a universal motor (and so rated
in magic Sears HP). BTW, the OP *did* say 1/2HP. If you want to grow
a full auto body shop from that...

 

[[email protected]]

How much wire have you pulled?

Enough to know I detest anything approaching 36 wire. An a appeal to
authority? Come on.

 

[[email protected]]

Yawn, that's a dimbulb sized stawman.

No, simply giving you back some of your "logic".

 

[[email protected]]

Certainly.

Even when they are across the production floor from the main
breaker box? I can see you've never worked around a machine shop.

Certainly. Almost always.

 

[[email protected]]

Yawn. He change that to 3 HP but as usual, you just want a pissing
match. Yes, you can use a nailer with a tiny compressor if you don't
mind it running constantly, and having to work slow because of the
recovery time. My dad is a retired cabinet maker, and won't use
anything under a 2 HP compressor for his nailers.

He actually changed it to "3.1HP", which is pure bullocks. Goody for
your dad. It's a total waste to use a 2HP compressor just to drive
some tiny nails. Of course any "cabinet maker" would commit suicide
before using nails in cabinetry, but...

 

[[email protected]]

"approaching 36 wire"?

I didn't get the shift key pressed for the '#', but you knew that.

I've run into a lot of places where they had a pullsting in with
wires. It gets wrapped around the wires as it's pulled in, then srticks
to the inside of the conduit if they use pulling lube. Attempting to
pull in more wire doesn't work too well if there are any bends in the
conduit. The last pullstring I ran into was with some fiber optic
cables. I had to pull everything out of the conduit because they were
tangled. Then I had to use the fiber to pull in a piece of Cat5 cable
which was used to pull the fiber back, with several Cat5 cables.

I guess anything can happen if you don't know what you're doing.

 

[[email protected]]

Yes.

You never think things through.

Good God, you're pissy tonight. Take a pain killer and come back
tomorrow!

Then you go on the attack, like Dimbulb, Allison or Sloman.
Clueless.

I said I would run AWG 10 for a compressor,

I'd run 12AWG. It's a *lot* cheaper and will handle the load quite
well.

OR AWG 6 to a sub panel, if it made sense.

It *rarely* does.

Sense is something you
frequently lack. When I wired my 30' * 40' garage, it only had lights
but I used a 100A 20 circuit breaker box. The big tools will eventually
be installed near that box, but if any end up in the opposite corner,
I'll run a 1.5" conduit, some AWG 6 and install a sub panel in that
corner. There is a concept in wiring buildings called 'Futures' where a
few extra breakers are installed in a new panel, and conduit is stubbed
from the breaker box up into the ceiling or attic while the walls are
open. That allows two things. If a breaker fails, a replacement is
available. If a new circuit is needed, the conduit is run to an
accessible spot, and doesn't require messy & time consuming work in an
occupied building.

Yawn. You clearly overbuild everything, maybe because it's fun.
However, it's *NOT* economical. Running a separate service for each
tool (which is rarely even needed) is almost always cheaper.

More than once I was called to a school when something critical was
down and found a failed breaker. I used the spare, and they ordered a
replacement. Simple, and cheap insurance.

Yawn.

 

[DaveC]

How about run what you need now with a pull string included?

I've not had much success with pulling new conductors in a cable with
existing conductors. I found that the pull string doesn't lay nicely along
side the conductor when installed, instead threading itself through the
conductors. When it comes time to use the pull thread, the new conductors
intertwine with the existing ones... a real mess.

Unless there's a trick to this that I've not heard about...

Thanks.

 

[DaveC]

I've run into a lot of places where they had a pullsting in with

wires. It gets wrapped around the wires as it's pulled in, then srticks
to the inside of the conduit if they use pulling lube. Attempting to
pull in more wire doesn't work too well if there are any bends in the
conduit. The last pullstring I ran into was with some fiber optic
cables. I had to pull everything out of the conduit because they were
tangled. Then I had to use the fiber to pull in a piece of Cat5 cable
which was used to pull the fiber back, with several Cat5 cables.

That's been my (limited) experience too.

 

[Robert Baer]

Air compressor 1/2 hp motor rated 220v (2-wire, not 3-phase) @ 15A. Distance
from load panel ~100 ft (as the conduit runs).

15A can be handled by 14 gauge, but I'd normally go with 12 gauge due to
start current.

With such a distance, is it recommend to up-scale the wire to 10 ga?

Thanks.

YES!!

 

[Tom Biasi]

That's been my (limited) experience too.

Those things can happen but they have never happened to me if I was the
one to run the wire and string.

 

[[email protected]]

Hell, we had six breaker boxes on the production floor at Microdyne
for outlets for workbenches on a 200' * 190' production area. Then
there was a power room with over 200 breakers for the other equipment.




Certainly that you've never worked in a machine shop?

Wrong, of course. There was one panel with a separate drop for each
tool.

BTW, did the OP specify a machine shop? I don't remember that part.

 

[[email protected]]

Sigh. He's RETIRED. He built more than cabinets in his home shop.

So it's not a "machine shop". Giggle. Get real, Michael.

He has more than a nailer that needs compressed air in his shop. Go hump
someone else's leg.

You're the one doing the humping, Michael.

 

[[email protected]]

You end up living in Alabama.

I don't live in Alabama, fool.

 

[Tom Biasi]

The biggest thing is to make sure the wires go in straight. Kinks or
twists will make life miserable later. I've seen people pull Romex
off the center of the roll, without unrolling it. It makes a mess;
bad enough when pulling through rafters but it's a disaster in
conduit.

Some people also pull THHN or CAT5 off the box spool the same way, also
makes a mess.
It takes more time but if you spiral (cable) your bundle the pull cord
will not get mixed. Never has for me.

 

[[email protected]]

That must have been a tiny shop.

Hardly, but you're dreaming again.

He said he was going to suggest it to the owner, so who knows.

So why not 500KV? You never know?

 

[[email protected]]

Not anymore. He worked for a schoolboard in their maintenece
complex. They had a MACHINE SHOP, cabinet shop and garage where they
did maintenece on all their vehicles. They had in house support for
everything except new costruction & roofing


Keep showing your petty ignorance.

Still dry humping? Come on, Michael. Drop it already.