Do you know your amperage of the breaker for your welder?

I would go the new compressor route.....old is just that could end up costing a lot to get the older one installed and working....no warranty....parts may be hard to get....condition of tank (bomb) etc.

New compressor can be two stage if the breaker for the welder will support it.

If not...

The electrician could use that space (breaker for the welder) in the panel for a breaker that is sized for the new compressor and install a new wire and 220 volt receptacle for compressor. Cost would be small if the panel is located near the future location of the compressor... If not the wire to the new location could be expensive as it to must be sized and installed appropriately.....

With the possible larger amperage of the new breaker you could still use your welder with just maybe a change to the cord on the welder and switch form compressor to welder when you need to strike an arc.......like horse power more amperage is always better.

Hope this helps.....good luck with your air.......

 

I think the amperage for the welder is 30. If I went with a new compressor. I probably wouldn't be able to get a 2 stage compressor. Simply because of funds. So would probably have around 800.00 to spend. I know it's not that much but... The compressor could be close to the panel or close to the welder plug.

I'm thinking new compressor route too but I hate to give up 2 stage. The Puma from Northern Hydraulics is more in my budget right now. Nice it's new but made in god knows where.

 

Check out this one from Home Depot. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-80...-3-Cylinder-Single-Stage-Electric-Air-Compressor-C801H/203187346#specifications I bought one just like it from Lowes. They are all you need for air tools for working on cars, sanding & painting, etc. You will need 240V to run the compressor.

 

Check out this one from Home Depot. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-80...-3-Cylinder-Single-Stage-Electric-Air-Compressor-C801H/203187346#specifications I bought one just like it from Lowes. They are all you need for air tools for working on cars, sanding & painting, etc. You will need 240V to run the compressor.

How long have you had it? Looks like a lot of compressor for the price.

 

What are the volts and amps on the motor?
You shouldn't need a motor starter on a small motor, a pressure switch to turn on and off (on the compressor) with a switch to turn on and off is good, and if plug and cord connected that's all you need.
If hard wired (not sure why you would, depending on amps and volts though) then a motor rated switch is a good idea.
Your breaker is your only means of overcurrent protection typically, and 'heaters' or thermals are not needed. If the breaker panel is in the same space as the compressor and within "line of sight" you don't even legally require a disconnect (or plug and cord) at the compressor.

If it needs a disconnect with thermals then you would need a motor starter/ disconnect, but that would be odd to see generally on a home compressor.

Can you take a picture of the motor nameplate and post it? It should be really easy to hook up.
Still, if you have an electrician run a new circuit etc. it's not going to be cheap, those bastards cost a fortune...

 

Hopefully you can see the tag in the pic good enough.

The pressure switch is for the control side and has no actual switch on it. Has wires coming out of it going to what I assume would be a on/off switch. That controls the motor side of the power. Again I know nothing about AC electrons. I'm a low voltage DC guy. I see on the newer ones have a switch right on the pressure switch where line power goes right in it. My motor wiring does not go through the pressure switch. It's only rated for control amps. I think 3 amps IIRC.

Anyways. The breaker panel is not far away but is on the other side of a wall in the basement.

I thought breakers and fuses protect the wire and heaters protect the motors??

Thanks for help.

 

I would think that most newer compressors 80 gallon and smaller are all designed similarly where the line power (from plug) comes into the pressure switch (which has an on/off switch) and then the outlet of the pressure switch goes to the motor (full 15-20 amps). The pressure switch acts like a motor starter in this case. But I believe these motors are usually 3 hp or less. Since you have a 5 hp motor that runs 25 amps you would want to make sure a new pressure switch is rated for that. You say the pressure switch you have is only rated for low amps, so you would need to wire in a 30 amp or higher relay or starter for the line power to the motor. A 110 volt (or whatever voltage the relay coil uses) power supply (with or without an on/off switch) would be needed to feed the pressure switch and then out of the pressure switch to the relay coil.

Personally, I would use the 220 volt plug for your welder and compressor. Just swap plugs when you are using one or the other. But if you need both at the same time, then yes, you will need another breaker and receptacle.

I'm not an electrician, so I'm not positive that the relay would meet NEC code, but if it was mine, that's how I would do it. As said above, a motor starter shouldn't be needed, and you shouldn't need to worry about thermal protection of the motor.

:beers:

 

That's a pretty healthy motor for an air compressor, but you could still do it with a pressure switch.
It just has to be a 30a rated pressure switch, and then it would either need to be hard wired to a 30a rated fused disconnect or you could use something like a range cord or any 30a rated 230 volt cord/receptacle.

Heaters and motor starters are typically for larger motors, but also not necessarily always, I work in commercial/industrial and occasionally you will see a smaller (5h for instance) use a magnetic motor starter/ disconnect. Depends on the engineer's specifications and lots of other things.

You could do it several ways, but a motor starter is overkill IMO (this is a home compressor correct?) and you can buy a 30a 5 horse at 230v rated pressure switch with a built in off on switch, and either use a small 30a fused disconnect or the cheapest route is a 30a rated cord/plug. You need something to turn it off completely basically, most breakers are rated to work as switches but it's bad practice in my opinion.

You are correct, breakers protect the conductors up to the disconnect or equipment, heaters protect the motor. But a small horsepower motor (especially on a home use compressor) can utilize the breaker as a disconnect if in line of sight of the equipment, but a small 30a fused disconnect at the compressor is a good idea. That's what I would do, along with the 30a rated pressure switch.

Does that make sense?

 

I agree with Sean. The 30 amp pressure switch would be the simplest route to go. I briefly looked for one, but couldn't find one. I did find:

Packard C230B 2 Pole 30 Amp Contactor 120 Volt Coil Contactor from Amazon. It was only $9.99 with free shipping. It would work with you existing pressure switch as I describe above, but the wiring would be more complicated. I could send you a simple wiring diagram if you would like.

 

Thank you both for the insight and advice. Yes that does make sense. Yes this is a home compressor. Originally it wasn't. But now it is. I'll look into that route and see what comes up. Just for my own knowledge. What exactly does a motor starter do? Sounds like a dumb question but I throw it around like I know what it is. But I really don't what it does.

I may take you up on that wiring diagram later. Let me see what I can come up with first.

I am also thinking about getting a new compressor. The old one I have is horizontal and I would really like a vertical 1. Take up less room. I know I can't replace the old one for a new one for the same price as getting this one going. But I also don't need all the air either.

Again Thanks for your time and help. I really appreciate it.

 

Brian, That Speedaire compressor is a good one and so is the Baldor motor. Check into replacing the tank with a vertical tank. Then you could keep the 2 stage pump. The Home Depot, Lowes, etc. compressors won't compare in quality to the Speedaire. Many of those are Campbell Hausfeld's rebranded. I'm not saying they are bad compressors just that they won't have the longevity of the Speedaire. Also most of those run a higher rpm hench the longevity issue. At least test the pump before giving up on it. If it happens to be trash then that's another story.

 

In a real basic sense, a motor starter is a fancy relay. You send it control power to switch the contacts. As said above, they are used/needed for large motors. They have much larger contacts for high amps and replaceable thermal overloads.

 

Speedaire is a good product. I bought an older used unit 6 years ago and it runs 6 days per week. Parts are available throught Grainger, as well as tech support. I'd get yours running. If space is an issue, build a shed for it. One of your diversified local electric motor techs may have more insight about hooking it up than your electrician.

 

A starter is needed because 30A pressure switches probably don't exist.

 

They are available. They are going to run you more than a run of the mill 2 horse switch, but they have them. Check out Grainger, they will have something.

Gwbutch has a good idea there, you could use what you have with a 30a rated contactor, as he said the wiring is a bit more complicated but any do it yourselfer with a wiring diagram could do it. Might be the least expensive route. A 30a pressure switch is probably going to be 100$. It would have the on off switch though, thats nice.

 

I run a Motor starter type circuit on my home compressor with two switches to turn it on and off. This allows me to have the compressor in the basement away from the overspray and sand blasting dust but keeps me from running up and down the steps everytime I need to turn it on. Getting a hold off the right parts will be the hardest part of it if you have ever run conduit before.

Jeff

 

I run a Motor starter type circuit on my home compressor with two switches to turn it on and off. This allows me to have the compressor in the basement away from the overspray and sand blasting dust but keeps me from running up and down the steps everytime I need to turn it on. Getting a hold off the right parts will be the hardest part of it if you have ever run conduit before.
Jeff

To do what you describe is simple. Just use a few 3 way switches to control the pressure switch.
All parts in either case are off the shelf unless we get into high current switches...

 

I think a lower cost starter will be less than $100...

This is sort of a cost/benefit/engineering question. A starter can be had for ~$30 and use the existing pressure switch. Also offers some overload protection. Best solution.
A new P-switch can be bought for ~$100. A somewhat specialty part.
Even replacing the existing P-switch and doing the starter is probably less money. Low current pressure switches are cheap.

 

Ok. I've been of the grid for a bit. But taking all the advice and letting it soak in. I have decided to use my existing compressor. There isn't anything out there for what I can hook this one up for and meet the same spec. So after talking with the electrician and my guys at work (industrial electricians as well). I am going to use a magnetic starter with heaters and wire it in and be done. I got all the goods from work as we have many, many used and new parts to keep the place from down time on the machines. So the cost of the parts were $0. So there's still little bit of work in the panel to make room but it shouldn't cost that much in the end. I can't thank you guys enough for the input, help, advice, opinions and everything else. My hats off to you guys. I appreciate it. I'll keep you updated if I have any other questions.

Thanks, Brian

 

Glad you figured it out!
Well since you have all the stuff available and at zero cost that's an easy solution.
That's the benefit of working in the industry, being a commercial/industrial electrician myself I have access to that stuff as well. Problem is I don't want to work on it during my day off.....

 

Single Phase motors do not use a starter. They are capacitor start. Get the proper pressure switch rated for probably 30 amps. You do not want too many starts per hour or you will have problems with your breaker, wires, and motor. Amazon has that motor listed at $700.

 

Please provide links to the correct probably 30A pressure switch.

 

I had the same problem, no more room in my main breaker box. So I cut into my dryer wire and installed a small breaker box. I then had two leads exit the box, one to the dryer and the other to the compressor. I only use one item at a time. Haven't had a problem in 10+ years.

 

You might have missed it but he has all the parts he needs to make it work, so no need to further pursue the 30a rated pressure switch.

But if you want to see one, search Grainger they have them. It's not that unusual of a piece.