Compressor hook up .

bigdee

Commander
Joined
Jul 27, 2006
Messages
2,665
I got this one to try .. https://www.harborfreight.com/indust...tor-68247.html
Ok lets say hypothetically this guy wasn't thinking at the time and wired his compressor with #10 solid wire .. Hind sight would have been to get braided wire ..
And lets say that while he was moving the compressor around to re- position it the wire sheathing was compromised by the wire clamp going into the sub panel box .. Other than just waking him up the 25 amp breaker did exactly what it was supposed to do . Trip .. Now lets say he had a 40 amp breaker and the same thing happened .. Would the bigger breaker have tripped ?


It certainly would, in fact a 60 amp would too. Overload on a conductor is based on time or how long the overload condition exists. A short circuit creates an extremely high current that will trip the breaker instantly. A breaker has two functions;
1. time based overloads. Breaker trips proportional to current vs time
2. Instantaneous trip. Breaker trips at a certain threshold of high current....no delay
The two physical functions that cause a breaker to trip are thermal (monitors overloads and will trip after a period of time) and magnetic (solenoid opens breaker instantaneously).

The other thing here is if the compressor can be moved around it can NOT be wired directly into the sub-panel. It would have to have a cord that was plugged into a receptacle.
 
Last edited:

sphelps

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 16, 2011
Messages
11,432
The compressor will be fastened to the floor .
Just repositioning it a little .
 

sphelps

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 16, 2011
Messages
11,432
Thanks HT ! Labs are the best and he was a good one ... He is in dog heaven now ...
Have thought from time to time to change my avatar pic to one of my boats or something but he looks at me in the pic and I just can?t seem to change it ...
 

HT32BSX115

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 8, 2005
Messages
10,083
Thanks HT ! Labs are the best and he was a good one ... He is in dog heaven now ...
Have thought from time to time to change my avatar pic to one of my boats or something but he looks at me in the pic and I just can’t seem to change it ...

We had a Lab Shepard mix that we put down about 8 months ago. He was almost 16 years old. I know just how you feel!
 
Top