220 Help

[Andy D]

Because it is fed from a sub- panel you may be better with a 4 wire feed. 2 hots, a neutral and a ground.

 

[don4331]

adsm08:

I took time to read the instructions on the compressor:

It is designed for direct wiring; the instructions (p.8) recommend a 30A breaker, they also say 12/2 is good enough wiring (p.10) but in fine print, say it must meet all codes; NEC says you need 10/2. (3 wire 220V).

My attached garage has a similar setup - high amp breaker in panel in house; panel out in garage, then breakers for the various appliances. When I make changes, I turn off the breaker in house, then the panel breaker that way both breakers need to be turned back on for something bad to happen.

 

[jeremysdad]

Looking at the manual, good with 2 wire...black to one pole, white to the other, bare wire to the ground bar.

12/2, 30 amp double pole breaker...

Don't forget the water filter in the air line...and run it at 110 psi. It'll wake your impact up.

Shopping list:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_70016-295-28828223___?productId=1098047&pl=1&Ntt=12+2+romex

http://www.lowes.com/pd_13538-296-HOM230CP_0__?productId=1014737&Ntt=

http://www.lowes.com/pd_221014-4712...=3414724&pl=1&Ntt=air+compressor+water+filter

There are 2 types of breakers, and you'll need fittings for the water seperator, obviously.

Godspeed.

 

[Shran]

What everyone else said should get you going. I guess my advice would be to have an electrician at least come out and look at your breaker panel and see if it is rated for the extra load (probably is.) But I did look at a house a while back that only had 60 amp service! And my current house has a 100 amp panel but it's almost full. I will have to be making some changes for the shop I'm building as it will have a 100 amp panel as well, tied into the one in the house.

One other thing that you might do while you're at it, upgrade your air fittings to 3/8 if you haven't already done so. I've been using a piece of crap 30 gallon 110v compressor for years, I slowly put it together out of spare stuff I found and it was pretty terrible with 1/4 fittings even at 120psi. I upgraded ALL of my compressor, hose and tool fittings to 3/8 and what a world of difference it made. I run out of air pretty fast but who cares when the tools work like they're supposed to!

 

[naford]

So did you get it working? If not could you call the guy that did the electrical work for help? It might cost you a little bit but is worth it if your not sure. My brother used a 220plug then he can use either the compressor or the welder. Saved on running wire and breaker.

 

[adsm08]

I picked up the compressor and all the various accessories yesterday. I got the breaker and wire in the box today. The one I got at Lowes doesn't fit my box, but I found a double pole (and a bunch of singles) stored inside the sub-panel, just sitting in the bottom.

I had to run back to Lowes today for a masonry bit and another male-to-male adapter for the air lines.

I probably won't get it going until later this week. I need to dig out my used tires from the snow, cut some anti-vibration pads, and secure it to the floor, then finish running the wire over to the compressor. To do all those things I need to borrow the BIL's sawzall and hammer drill. It'd be nice if I could get him to come help me too, since I still need to get it off the pallet.

The wife is off tomorrow, so I might try to get the tools tonight and work on it tomorrow.

 

[Mark_88]

How much do these things vibrate?

And how thick is the concrete floor??

I'd be looking into those spring loaded bolts that are made for this sort of thing as opposed to simple anchor type bolts...if you're going to fasten it down that is.

I heard hockey pucks work great for that sort of thing...but I'd want some springs in there to make it look complicated and sophisticated...and expensive...

 

[adsm08]

I really don't know how much it vibrates. I haven't gotten it started yet.

The instructions said to use wedge anchors. If they don't work out I'll figure something else out. I had an old tire that I cut up and made some rubber pads for the feet out of, that ought to help vibrations.

 

[Mark_88]

I kinda figured you'd have it all worked out or were talented enough to be able to make adjustments where needed...

The electric compressors are probably smoother with less vibrations than the portable gas engine ones so probably not even an issue...

I just remembered my Dad had to tear out a two car garage floor once because the builders didn't pour it thick enough and didn't use rebar...

Not that i want to get you all worried about your new floor....lol...and it seems you've already considered this potential problem.

 

[adsm08]

Thanks Mark.

By the book my floor isn't thick enough. The owner's manual says to use 5" wedge anchors. The neighbor and I were talking the day I brought the compressor home and we figured the floor probably wasn't any thicker than 4", so I got 3.25" anchors, which means I needed 3.5" holes. I went clear through on at least one of the holes I drilled, so we will see how that holds up. I'm most worried about water coming up through, the garage is technically in a flood zone but has had the ground around it graded and raised to get it "out" of the flood zone. One of the other anchors just isn't holding in the floor, but so far I haven't had any real issues related to vibration. She doesn't walk or make undue noises. In fact the worst thing I have run into so far related to compressor vibration is the nut that holds the drain on my water separator keeps falling off.

Anyway, picture time:

Here is my full setup, as it exists now:



60 gallon 11.5 CFM compressor unit, regulator and drier, all Kobalt from Lowe's.

From there I ran a soft line (which may get replaced with hard pipe at some point) up over the rafters and attached it to a 25 FT auto-retracting reel. All hoses are 3/8" ID.

Some point in the future, when money is less tight, I want to get a second reel and put one at the front of each bay of the garage but for now one in the middle will do.


I've also picked up a sander and paint gun in the last few weeks. Go check my truck's build thread for details about that.


And then just to show off, my tool boxes:

 

[Denisefwd93]

Anchors to the floor are mostly about keeping the thing from creeping around when it's running. . A vertical post by the tank with a big strap would keep it from tilting over.

Love the semi precious carpets

 

[enjr44]

I think I would put an water heater "earthquake" strap around it since you can't get the mounts tight.

 

[Mark_88]

Looks good! Hope it holds for you and no problems.

I have four of those water separators...two the size you have there and two smaller ones that I was using for oil separators...did you happen to get more of those sintered brass filters? I had to drive 100 km round trip to the supplier just to buy them...didn't have a CC and they wouldn't ship C.O.D.

Nice setup...

 

[adsm08]

Yeah, I like those carpets too. We got them from some friends during a moving sale. When we moved we decided the area rugs left in the new house were nicer, so I threw those in the garage. It isn't a lot of padding, but still nicer than standing on bare concrete.

I'm really not worried about it trying to walk away, unless something goes wrong in the rotating assembly. Like I said, the only reason I can even notice the vibration is the drain lock nut on the drier keeps falling off. Two of those mounts are tight. I think the issue with the 3rd one is the hole got oblonged while I was drilling. It's the last one I made and the bit was not cutting as well.

I didn't get more filters, but I should be able to get them easy enough. Worst case I just get a new drier. There are 3 Lowes and a Tractor supply within 15 miles of my house that all keep them in stock. The TSC is literally a good stone's throw from where I am working now.

 

[Mark_88]

I bought all of mine at Tractor Supply Company (TSC) and I was really ticked that they didn't stock the filters...some silly policy by the manufacturer (mine were Campbell Hausfield) that prevented TSC from keeping just the filters in stock...I got the nipples and a few other supplies from TSC though...

Not a big deal...you can simply dry them out and I'm sure they can be cleaned if not replaced...for my application I didn't actually use them once I figured out they would not filter out the oil very well (or very long, actually)...