[S10xGN]

Hi All,

You talked me into replacing my PVC airlines, so I'm gonna go one better and move my compressor out of the shop to my back garage where it'll be in a cleaner environment. It's a 7.5 HP, 240V, 29 cfm, with 80 gal tank, currently on a 5 ft run of 10-2 wire and 30A breaker. The new placement will take 60 ft of wire and a simple switch box (keeping the original breaker as-is). Does anyone have a chart that shows wire size vs. run length? I'm thinking 10-2 should still be OK even at 60 ft...

Russ

[gator412]

I just installed my compressor, which sounds a lot like yours. Here is the link to the thread. Hope this helps.
James

What size wire?

[CDJr]

Just guessing, that motors gonna be somewhere around 30-34 RLA, so I would use at least #8 wire with a 50A breaker. I bet that 5 feet of #10 got hot when your compressor ran before lol. Cuz Im sure it was loaded! And Im surprised it didnt trip that 30A breaker occasionally. Do you know exactly how many amps the motor draws?

P.S. Congrats on ridding yourself of the PVC

[S10xGN]

I couldn't find RLA specs on the motor and it's turned so that I cannot see the tag. The run load is 24.3A. I think I'm gonna use 6-2 w/G just to be sure. I found this write-up for wire sizing, but it specifically precludes high-load motors. Shows 8ga safe for 55A and 6ga safe for 75A. My calcs show a VDI of 7.5 using 30A on 60ft of wire.

Russ

[S10xGN]

Bought 60ft of 6-2 w/ground @ $1.79 per (ouch!) total of $108.00. The 8-2 was only $0.20 per cheaper or $12.00 less... Wiring was almost as much as the 1/2" copper piping!

Russ

[CDJr]

YIKES!!! Thats high alright. Probably cuz theres as much copper in the wire as the pipe lol. Good luck with it