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Electrician HELP..

T

TVA

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Btw, idk how it is where you at, but my friend said that workers for power company around Spartanburg is lazy as hell!!! Both mentally and physically!!!
It’s a far cry from Puget Sound Energy and Potelco he used to deal with before!!!
 
R

Ronsii

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s/e Heavy equipment operator
I think you'll find that kind of workers everywhere... I've worked with pse guys and potelco crews.... There's always that kind of workers in the business.
 
Willie B

Willie B

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Mount Tabor VT
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TVA said:
Yes, I should have clarified about direct bury and in sealed box. They maybe rated for direct bury, not sure - but I wouldn’t like that.
Click to expand...
Me too. We commonly use them on these barbecue/hot tub/400,000 BTU propane fire pits the millionaires build at their vacation homes. A single conduit supplies several branch conduits placed in the ground before the masons lay stone walls.

When I think of the waste of a 400,000 BTU propane fire pit I'm in shock! Most often it's rich men with daughters building the perfect wedding venue.
 
T

thepumpguysc

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Sunny South Carolina
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Master Inj.Pump rebuilder
Yes using the existing wires is tha plan .. it had 120 w11 leds & a 120 air compressor w no problem..
The lites & 12 outlets are on different breakers.. 120 v air compressor was plugged into a receptacle..
After hooking 240 to the panel & allowing the new compressor to fill up.. I felt around the panel and everything was cool as a cucumber..
 
T

TVA

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I apologize, for some reason my understanding was that you have only one three wire cable going out to the shop!
Look at the motors name plate, find FLA amps. That’s should be your running current with full pressure and hot ambient.
LRA is your current at which your motor protection and/or line breaker should trip.
Then you can calculate your wire based on AWG and distance the size of your breaker.
And everything above in 240v or “high” voltage on name tag in case of tag is for dual voltage, or just post the picture of name tag.
 
T

thepumpguysc

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Master Inj.Pump rebuilder
Compressor motor says 15amp & I ran 10/2 wire from the breaker box to the compressor motor.. What a b!tch THAT WAS..
All the other wires in the compressor were 12/2 & plyable..
I only used about 4-5’ of wire.. probably shoulda used 12/2 but didn’t wanna run into problems using undersized wire..
Only to find I didn’t even have 240 out TO THE SHOP.. lol.. who’da thunk it..??
 
T

TVA

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There’s nothing wrong with oversized wires! Usually solid wires go up to disconnect box, and stranded on equipment side.
Does the compressor have motor starter with overload protection or pressure switch just breaks one of the 240V wires?
 
T

thepumpguysc

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Hi Guys, I thought I updated this thread.. guess not.. Sorry.
With the help from 1 of our members I think it was Willie B who discussed this "off forum" I got 240v OUT TO the shop.!!
He pointed me in the right direction to a series of breakers that would fit AND WORK in my main disconnect..
I NOW HAVE 240 going TO the shop & the compressor runs like a champ.!!!
What a life saver this site is.. I would have been at the mercy of the "jack-legs" out here in the country or pay 3 Grand for the electric company to come in & run a separate wire & pole..
& all it cost me was 32.00 for a breaker.. & w/ points from Amazon, it only cost me 14.00.!!!
Its SO NICE not to wait on that 120v compressor to fill up.!!! & u wanna talk about quiet..?? The NEW compressor {60gal.} is VERY quiet compared to the old one.!!!
I was really torn about putting it inside..{because of the noise} but w/ my back problems & no help, I was stuck..
I had bought enough wire to put it outside {in the future}.. but now with the actual noise level, I doubt it will ever make it out there..
I wanna thank everyone involved in helping me with this problem.. TPG
 
Willie B

Willie B

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Mount Tabor VT
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I feel less good. He still is using a cable that can't safely provide 120/240. I can accept three insulated conductors. Not so long ago it was code compliant. What you are doing is hazardous!. I hope you can't find me when somebody gets killed. For the record: I object!.
 
kshansen

kshansen

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Central New York, USA
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Retired Mechanic in Stone Quarry
Yea, strange how some people survived with the old wiring in some houses and such.

First house I lived in after getting married had as I recall two or maybe three fuses plus the wiring that supplied power to the electric dryer and electric stove, both in kitchen. This was a good sized two story farm house, two large bed rooms upstairs, smaller one downstairs plus large kitchen, dinning room, living room and bathroom.

House I'm in now just for the office I built in one end of the basement has five breakers just for that room! Main panel in house has something like 36 breakers and that does not count the sub-panels in the garage and the barn/storage shed! Some of that is due to the all electric design but still compared to previous house a major upgrade. Also some of that may be due to the fact when we built this house we had a friend who was a disabled electrician advising us! And he liked three-way and four-way switches too!
 
Last edited:
old-iron-habit

old-iron-habit

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kshansen said:
Yea, strange how some people survived with the old wiring in some houses and such.

First house I lived in after getting married had as I recall two or maybe three fuses plus the wiring that supplied power to the electric dryer and electric stove, both in kitchen. This was a good sized two story farm house, two large bed rooms upstairs, smaller one downstairs plus large kitchen, dinning room, living room and bathroom.

House I'm in now just for the office I built in one end of the basement has five breakers just for that room! Main panel in house has something like 36 breakers and that does not count the sub-panels in the garage and the barn/storage shed! Some of that is due to the all electric design but still compared to previous house a major upgrade. Also some of that may be due to the fact when we built this house we had a friend who was a disabled electrician advising us! And he liked three-way and four-way switches too!
Click to expand...

Its amazing how much stuff them old 30, 50, and 70 amp panels have run in them old houses as long as the penny's under the fuses didn't melt. Would have thought a lot more would have burnt down then did.
 
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