Is 10 gauge wire enough to run compressor?

My friend ran 10-3 wire from his power box to his new workshop about 150 away, he says with 10 guage wire. He says it has three wires so I assume this is what they call 10-3. He wants to buy a 60 gallon, 3 hp compressor, one of those $400 one's at tractor supply that are 240 volt and push about 10.3cfm @90psi.

I'm worried that his wire is not heavy enough. I have (3) 4 guage wires running to my workshop which will run 75 amps, more than I'll ever need. He ran his wire before telling me, so it's already buried and done.

His wire looks awful small. I know when I run my portable compressors to take out tile in people's homes, they will kick off 15 amp breakers all the time. I need to find a strong plug like where the washer is plugged in. I know his larger compressor will demand a lot more juice to kick over and run.

Will his 10 guage wire support the proposed compressor, or will he ruin the motor on it as I suspect? BTW, he is also running many shop lights in the shop, which will add to the draw some.

Thanks for your help,

thetiler (not theelectrician)

Reply to
thetiler
Loading thread data ...

You are correct. #10 wire is far too small. I'd use at least a #50 wire.

Just multiply the wire number by 10 and you get the proper voltage. #10 wire is for 100 volts #50 wire is for 500 volts.

Use the #50 for maximum power.

Retired Electrician

Reply to
retiredelectrician64

Don't assume. It may be 10-2 and he may be counting the ground.

What does the manufacturer recommend? What are the amp specs for the compressor? Not all 3 HP's are created equal and they don't all draw the same current.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

wonder what breaker hes useing with that 10 wire... i think 30amp is the biggest breaker reccomended. i think according to chart he should have used 4 number 8 wires to his garage to wire up a new breaker pannel ,,and have a 50 amp breaker on it at the house where it connects........ i think that guy reccomending 50 wire is jokeing.. have wired up several garages with 4 #8 wires and have worked well.lucas

formatting link

Reply to
ds549

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote: ..

?????

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

I hope this is a joke. The wire gauge is determined by the amps, not the voltage. And 50 gauge wire? LOL

In fact, at 240V, this circuit will be drawing half the current as a compressor on 120V, which helps, but certainly 10 gauge is too small to be supplying a shop with compressor at 150 ft. One wonders what people are thinking when they do this. I mean compared to all the labor, the cost of right sizing, or even oversizing the cable is mice nuts.

Reply to
trader4

His compressor at 240 volts will draw in the neighborhood of 15 amps. Any lights he has on the circuit will surely dim when the compressor starts, but should otherwise work fine.

Reply to
RBM

the killer is the long cable run, the wire will heat rather than power the motor, buried wires heat more since they cant dissapate heat as well as those exposed.

given all this it will probably work but snt a good idea.

i have number 10 gauge wire on a 5hp 30 gallon compressor but the wire is only a few feet long....

never gets warm

Reply to
hallerb

I used this method to power my flux capacitor. You can double the wires and multiply the voltage. I used 3 # 50 wires to get 125,000,000 volts (500^3)

Reply to
RayV

50 gauge wire would be hard to see.

Reply to
Mark Lloyd

In this case "retired" should be replaced with "retarded", LOL!

Reply to
Tony Hwang

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.