I'm considering a Yorkcraft 8" jointer that comes with a 2hp motor that would draw 22 full load amps at 110 volts. However all I have to run the jointer on is a 110v 20 amp circuit. I don't expect to use the jointer frequently.
Am I out of luck?
Steve
If you don't run it frequently, you won't have to reset the breaker very often. If you manage to get it running, it may go long enough to make a pass on a short board.
BTW. 80% of the rating is considered a safe load,
Your mileage may vary but, Generally speaking an electric motor draws the most amperage just before it stalls and during start up. If you are running the saw to its full load capacity it may not last very long and the breaker tripping may serve as an indicator that you are running at capacity although the breaker is intended to protect the wiring in your building. Most circuit breakers will allow brief periods of higher amperage before tripping. IMHO you will probably be OK. I have a compressor that runs on a 15 amp circuit and it has a 15 amp rating and I can also run a fan, and light at the same time on the same circuit. But do not continue to run the big router or the breaker will trip as the compressor nears completion of its cycle. :~)
It is hard to say. I doubt that it will ever be under "full load" so that shouldn't be a problem. Where your problem might be is in it starting as that is when they always pull excessive current. I ran my entire shop (except for the lights) on one 20 amp circuit for years and only blew the breaker twice, both times when starting the DC while another machine was running. If this jointer is a "good deal" that is time limited, I would go for it. Is there a reason that you cannot upgrade to a higher capacity circuit?
Or just as easily, is there any reason why he can't run the motor on
240V? i.e. is it a convertible motor? (I'm passing the question to the OP through your post since I had already deleted the OP.)
I don't disagree with the others that it will kinda work as long as you don't mind tripping breakers and all the safety issues that involves.
But I would also warn against voltage drop. That can really kill a motor and yours will be pretty bad on a 20a line. If you can convert to 240v and put in a new circuit, that would certainly be the right thing to do.
Yeah, but switching a 120v line to be a 240v line is simply a new circuit breaker, a new outlet, and two pieces of black tape. A ten minute job. Increasing the amps requires running bigger wire as well as getting a new breaker and outlet.
I believe that the OP meant that all he has is a 20 amp 120 volt line. Jim
Unless that circuit is also feeding other receptacles, lights, etc.
As stated by the OP above my post, he said all he had was a 110V 20A circuit and I was asking why he couldn't switch to 220V one.
Or the panel it is running from does not have a 220V position (double slot) available.
I agree that the best solution is an upgrade to 220 v circuit. But this will take two slots in your breaker box, so you will need to have an empty slot or give up a current circuit - but you would not have to chanage the wire, only the receptacle. And, of course, the connection to the motor has to be redone (which is probably possible for this size motor). But if you do decide to keep it on 110 v, make sure that the wire size on the current
20 amp circuit is 12 gauge or larger (10 guage would be preferable). I have seen many cases where someone at some time simply replaced a 15 amp breaker on 14 gauge wire with a 20 amp breaker w/o changing the wire. That is dangerous!!!
That is the operative question. There are a couple of options if this is a dedicated circuit with only one outlet.
Not necessarily.
Many brands of breaker panels can accommodate half-sized double pole breakers. Some panels will only take them in certain slots, but moving breakers isn't usually a big deal.
Barry
Appreciate everyone's comments. My attached garage/shop has only one
110V 20A circuit for all the outlets/lights and the breaker box is in the house's basement about 90 feet away, so I think my re-wiring options are limited and costly.Anybody know if there's any good 1.5HP 8" jointers available? Is it worth considering replacing the Yorkcraft 8" jointer 2.0HP motor with a
1.5HP?Steve
Before replacing the motor, I would run it with the one it has and see what happens. In most cases, you should be fine since I believe that both my 1.5 HP dust collector and 1.5 HP table saw will use more power than your single
2HP jointer. You also might want to consider having a 60 Amp 220 line pulled into your garage and put a sub panel out there for your shop needs and leave the existing one for the lights. Then you can wire your shop to the specifics of your tools easily.Really? Which ones?
Rewire the motor for 220 volts, but leave it connected to 110.
I have a used table saw with a 1hp motor I have run for several years. All OK, but seemed a little underpowered. Come to find out the motor was set for 220 volts but I was running it on 110.
Low voltage (brown-out) doesn't hurt a motor unless the motor is heavily loaded. Then it draws excessive current to try and make up for the low voltage. At half the rated voltage, the motor will stall before it can hurt itself. If it were left stalled, it may get hot, but since you wouldn't leave it that way, no harm done.
Try it. It won't cost anything and I expect you won't even notice the lower power unless you do some deep cuts on wide boards. If you don't like it, you can always put it back to 110 and try something else.
Allen
I think mine are either Square D or GE.
The breakers are even sold in HD & Lowes. One of my panels will only accommodate half space breakers in the bottom 6 slots (3+3), the other, larger panel will take many more. The very modest house (not custom by any means) was built in 1990, so they aren't THAT new.
I know what you are talking about at HD but IIRC, none of them support 220V but I could be wrong. In order for that to happen, the double half sized breaker would need to come in contact with both poles and I am unaware of any box that would support that or how it could even be done unless the box has slots reserved for only that type of breaker. All of the double single slot breakers I've seen just give you two 110V circuits in the space of 1 but they are both on the same pole. I have to go to HD later and now you have me curious so I will head to the electrical department to check that out.
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